True love comes from Christ, faithful told

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas made the statement as Filipinos will celebrate two occasions on Wednesday, February 14, Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the 40-day Lenten Season. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA — A Catholic prelate reminded the faithful to celebrate true love which comes from Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to redeem the sins of mankind.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas made the statement as Filipinos will celebrate two occasions on Wednesday, February 14, Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the 40-day Lenten Season.

“Let us relocate love from romanticism to heroism. Let us move our gaze from Cupid with his arrow to Jesus Christ on the cross. Let us move from cheap love to true love,” he said in his homily, entitled “Lessons of Love for Ash Wednesday.”

The Lingayen-Dagupan prelate noted that February 14 is a good day to reflect on the real meaning of love, as two occasions are happening on the same day.

“Ash Wednesday falling on Valentine’s day gives us a good occasion to dig more deeply into the meaning of love as much as to correct kindly our wrong notions of love,” he said.

Villegas added that love is best expressed in three ways – through sacrifice like fasting and abstinence, praying in silence and solitude, and selfless giving.

“The three keys for Valentine’s Day are the same three keys for the season of Lent – sacrifice, prayer and giving,” he said.

The Lent ends on Easter Sunday or the resurrection of Jesus Christ, three days after he was crucified and died on the Cross.