Feb 14 2010
Pastor’s notes
Today is Valentine’s Day. Valentine was a Christian martyr. He was imprisoned for refusing to deny his love for Jesus and eventually he was sentenced to death. Specifically he continued to conduct Christian marriages against the orders of Emperor Claudius II who had felt that young men were simply getting married to avoid serving in the Roman Army. He died on February 14th 269AD having been clubbed to death and beheaded, leaving a note to the jailer’s daughter – a child with whom he had shared his love for Christ. She had become his last friend … he signed the note, “from your Valentine.”
This is very different to the romantic love that has become attached to Valentine’s Day since Miss Esther Howland of Colorado in the USA sent the first Valentines Day card to her lover in the 1800′s. In a sense this became an americanisation of the Roman pagan festival of Lupercalia. In early Rome boys and girls were kept strictly apart but on the Festival of Juno – the Roman Queen of goddesses, all the girls put their names in a jar and the boys drew them out and the couple so drawn were partners for the duration of the festival of Lupercalia. The idea was one of a short term romantic liaison – very different to Valentine’s concern for the sanctity of marriage.
So today, use the moment to celebrate your spouse. It is so easy for us to feel as if the love has grown cold, and the relationship has become boring, but from that’s not true. We have just drifted into taking each other for granted. Do something different today to show that your love is still as real as ever!
Please note that there will be NO SNAC meeting tonight. We decided last week to meet on the 1st & 3rd Sundays when I don’t go to Southern Cross. Next Sunday we will show the Mighty Men Video.
Be reminded that the Men’s Breakfast is on Saturday and the Parish Council meet will also meet on Saturday at the church.
From this week I will be in the church office on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 8.30am to 1pm. Once a month I will be in Bruce Rock on a Tuesday but I will give notice of that. Please feel free to make an appointment. My contact number at any time is 9041 1117.
God bless
Rev David de Kock
No responses yet