St. Valentine’s Day - Part I

02-09-2025Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our culture has embraced February 14th as the day to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. St. Valentine was a 3rd-century martyr whose life and deeds are celebrated worldwide. Although the Roman Catholic Church continues to recognize St. Valentine as a saint of the Catholic Church, he was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 because of the lack of reliable information about him. He is the patron saint of lovers, people with epilepsy, and beekeepers.

St. Valentine, the bishop of Terni, had a strong commitment to Christian marriage. His support was vital for the protection of marriage since Emperor Claudius II wanted soldiers, and marriage was getting in the way of his military power. History tells us that St. Valentine continued to offer marriages which led to his imprisonment and eventual martyrdom.

The attacks on marriage and the family have continued throughout history. In 2005, before her death, Sr. Lucia, one of the three visionaries visited by Our Lady at Fatima, wrote in a letter stating that “the final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about marriage and the family.” She said “Don’t be afraid because whoever works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought against and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. Nevertheless, Our Lady has already crushed his head.”

Sister Lucia’s words are quite obvious in our current culture because the family and marriage is being relentlessly attacked by the media, in movies and music, by celebrities and even in cartoons which are supposedly made for children. The amount of immoral content that confuse and blur the truth is dizzying. When these attacks happen within our families, we can feel demoralized and defeated at times. But there is hope. As God’s children, we know that the war has been won. Christ wins!

One of the greatest battles of all time that is impacting the family has to do with the use of contraception. The flippant use of the word contraception has been tossed about so carelessly, that it has been sanitized to the point that many people have come to believe that the Church has somehow changed Her position or given up on the official teaching of the Catholic Church. Nothing could be further from the truth.

How did we get here? Much of the confusion comes from the casual use of the marital embrace. Sex on demand has become mainstream. Billions (if not trillions) of dollars feed the sex industry. The internet and the proliferation of online platforms have only contributed to the degradation of the family and specifically the marriage bond as God intends. The union between one man and one woman within the context of the Sacrament of Holy Marriage has been and will always be God’s design for marriage.

With all the misinformation buzzing around, many are left to wonder what the Catholic Church actually teaches about contraception and sterilization and why Her teaching matters today. To be clear, the Church’s teachings on love, sexuality, marriage, and contraception are based on Her sincere concerns about the human person, marriage, the family, and ultimately for every human being’s relationship with our God who loves us.

To be continued…

God Bless,

Fr. Don Kline