This year Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday have coincided – a fairly rare occurrence.
Apparently, it last happened in 2018 and, before that, in 1945.
This may, of course, present problems for the romantically-inclined if the object of their affection is planning to give up chocolate for Lent.
Perhaps the florists will be even busier than usual…
On first sight, the juxtaposition of the two festivals might seem rather uncomfortable.
After all, one traditionally celebrates love with wining and dining, while the other is the beginning of a period of abstinence and reflection.
Yet the two are not as far apart as one might imagine.
In Lent, we commit ourselves to remember Christ’s journey towards his death on a cross: a journey which was undertaken from love.
This was love of the deepest and purest kind; the sort of love described by St Paul in a letter to some first-century Christians.
If you’ve ever been to a church wedding, you may well have heard St Paul’s description read: ‘Love is patient, love is kind…It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.’
Nowadays, people often choose not to give something up for Lent, but instead to commit themselves to something good and positive.
This Lent, maybe we could commit ourselves to remember the self-giving love of Christ – and to show more of that patient, unselfish love to those around us.
The Revd Ann Cogle, curate at Reading Minster, writing on behalf of Churches Together in the Centre of Reading
