Ref. Common of Martyrs: Romans 8:31-39, Psalm 34, John 12:24-26

Can any of you tell me how we show our love?

— One way, and what we consider a very important and essential way to show love, is that we give ourselves completely to the those we love.

Can any of you think of ways to do this?

— Today we celebrate the Commemoration of St. Valentine, a Christian who gave himself completely to his brothers and sisters and to God. He was a martyr, which means that even under tremendous pressure, even under tremendous torture, he refused to reject God, to reject God’s ways and teachings. He stood by Jesus always and forever.

He gave himself completely to God, out of love.

Now for another important question: Do you have to be perfect to love someone?

I can rephrase that: Do you have to try to be perfect around the people you love?

— The answer is no.

Have any of you ever heard the saying I’m ok, you’re ok?

— It’s a very popular saying. It comes from a book published in 1969 by Thomas Harris. It was one of the most successful self-help books ever published, selling over 15 million copies. People still buy it.

The phrase relates to the way we deal with other people. We’re supposed to think that everything about ourselves is OK and everything about everyone else is OK too.

Do you think that’s true?

–The honest answer is that I am not OK and you are not OK. We are all broken. We are all sinful. We are all imperfect.

The amazing thing about God, about Jesus, is that He loves us even though we are not OK. He loves us even though we sin, make mistakes, and are not perfect. He loves us no matter what.

God loves us so much that He died on a cross for us —“ to take our sins — our not being ok —“ away.

The message for St. Valentine’s Day is a message of love. God’s love overcomes our not being perfect. Once we realize that God loves us no matter what, we can set to doing what He asks of us.

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us:

Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.

Like St. Valentine we are to stand by Jesus, even when it gets very hard to stand by Him, even if it means giving ourselves completely.

Remember, Jesus told us:

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

He asks us to love one another. He asks us to love each other even though we are not perfect and those around us are not perfect. He asks us to look past the imperfections, the annoying things, the way people look, act, talk, and think, to see that He loves them and that we must love them, no matter what.