Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Valentine, priest and martyr.
Here, St. Valentine was a holy priest in Rome who assisted the Christians being martyred during the third century.
He was apprehended and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome,
who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith to be of no avail,
commanded him to be beaten with clubs and afterward to be beheaded.
This order was carried out on the 14th of February,
about the year 270.
Now, this may make some of us wonder,
how do we get the popular celebration of the memorial of St. Valentine as the feast for lovers?
Some say that it all began with Geoffrey Chaucer,
who wrote a poem to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England
to Anne of Bohemia,
in the High Middle Ages.
And in this poem, he includes these lines.
For this was sent on Valentine's Day,
when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.
And so now it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for one another
by means of Valentine cards, flowers, candy, etc.
So it gives us an opportunity to reflect,
on human love, especially between the young,
and the difference between honorable Christian courtship
and what's common today,
that of recreational dating.
Now, first of all, what do we mean by recreational dating?
Well, this is a 20th century phenomenon,
when two young people enter into an exclusive, intimate relationship.
With no real intention of getting married.
Some call it going steady, or going out, or seeing each other.
But whatever you call it, there's no intention, really, of getting married.
And we see how these type of relationships for the young
are a very, very bad preparation for marriage.
And at least in part, and I think in good part,
explain the reasons why there are so many difficulties in marriages today.
And why the divorce rate is up around 50%.
I mean, think about what happens when two young people
do this thing of recreational dating.
They enter into a bond, and they break it.
They bond together emotionally, and very often physically,
and then they break apart.
Now, obviously, that is not the type of pattern you want to set
before entering into marriage, which is an indissoluble bond.
And can't be broken. That is a valid marriage.
Furthermore, this is a bad preparation for heaven.
Because as we know, intimacy outside of the marriage context
is a mortal sin.
And St. Paul says very clearly that fornicators
will not enter into a marriage.
They will not enter into a marriage.
They will not enter into a marriage.
They will not enter into a marriage.
They will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
So we have these youths running around in mortal sin,
and this also explains why they lose their faith.
There are also bad observable effects.
High rates of teen pregnancy,
children being born outside of marriage,
and being raised in single-parent homes.
Or sometimes it results in abortion,
fulfilling the words of St. Paul.
That the wages of sin is death.
And it also leaves many, many adults psychologically scarred.
Again, entering into these emotionally charged relationships
and then breaking them apart.
It breaks the person.
Again, this is all evidence of how sin is not good for us.
How sin does not bring happiness in its wake,
but brings salvation.
Sadness and destruction of the human family
and of the human person.
Now contrasted to this is honorable courtship.
Okay, now what do we mean by honorable courtship?
Courtship is a relationship in the context of family life,
where families are included between this relationship,
between a young man and a woman.
And this relationship has a view to marriage.
That is, the young man and the young woman
are already seeking for a husband or a wife.
The purpose of courtship is to discover
if it is God's will for them to enter the sacrament of marriage.
Again, notice how God plays a part in this.
We're discerning, is this God's will?
Or is it not God's will?
Courtship presupposes that both the young man and the woman
are spiritually, emotionally, and financially ready
for marriage.
Again, you don't go looking for a husband or a wife
if you're not prepared to enter into marriage.
The catechism also speaks about honorable courtship.
In paragraph 16,
32, it says this.
It is imperative to give suitable and timely instruction
to young people, above all in the heart of their own families,
about the dignity of married love,
its role and its exercise,
so that, having learned the value of chastity,
they will be able, at a suitable age,
to engage in honorable courtship
and enter upon a marriage of their own.
So today,
let us ask the intercession of St. Valentine
for all of the youth,
that they will learn the great dangers
involved in recreational dating,
which, again, is a path to unhappiness,
and the great beauty of chastity
and honorable courtship.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Thanks for watching!