Valentine's Day Profaned

Valentines Day comes to an end, and people shower their loved ones with flowers and candies. They think of a cute little cherub flying around with an arrow shooting people, but this has nothing to do with feast of Saint Valentine. He was a priest who lived in Rome under Claudius II, and was beheaded for being a Christian on February 14, 270. He was a martyr, a doctor and a priest. Sadly, much of what popular society presents today has no relevance to the honoring of the great saint.

Reflecting upon the life of St. Valentine should help every Christian to reject the world and embrace Christ, but more and more this day is profaned. A clear example is the Philippine government's Valentine's Day campaign [Valentine flowers and condoms ‘vulgar’: Bishop]. During the campaign, they chose to distribute condoms with flowers to adult customers. Again there is this classification of this day being about lovers, but the true meaning is completely missed; further, we have devaluing of human life by encouraging promiscuous behavior, as we have people who are not married participating in an incomplete sexual union for the pure purpose of sexual gratification. There is no fulfillment of the natural human design, as intended by God nor is the true respect given to the human being as they are being encouraged to give into base desires, when in actuality, we are made in the likeness of God and are able to transcend base desires.

As much as the world would like to deceive us into thinking that this is love, it is so utterly one sided that couldn't be farther from the truth. Condoms used within marriage set a condition upon the love that is given. It says I love you, but I will not give myself completely to you. I will set conditions upon the way you receive me and ultimately I will withhold the greatest of gifts, that which makes us most like God in our covenant, the gift of life. [For consideration: Sacredness of Human Body and Marriage: Pope John Paul II] The condom heart on the left is not love, but is a tool for lust, a distortion of truth, a method to obtaining a base desire without its true consequence; the creation of a life. What is worse, is that these tools of deception are distributed to married and unmarried alike. In this respect, it is encouraging those who are not married to give into their carnal desires, and even worse than that it is a true mockery of the union that should occur in marriage, in the bond between husband, wife and God. In addition, these evil tools give the illusion that the users are protected from sexual disease, but this too is a horrid deception.

Condoms are not safe. They may reduce the risk of certain diseases, but even if they were 99% effective (which they are not!), would you want to risk catching something for a moment of sexual gratification? That would mean 1 out of 100 people would catch the disease in question, which is horrible, but the statistics are much worse than that!

• "The rubber comprising latex condom has intrinsic voids about 5 microns in size." The HIV virus is 0.1 micron. Roland, Rubber World. June 1993. Roland and Sobieski, Rubber Chemistry and Technology. Vol. 62, 1989. (Condom Failure Rate Fact Sheet )
• Condoms reduce the risk of HIV infection by about 70% if they are used "consistently and correctly" IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation) Medical Bulletin Feb. 1997. (Condom Failure Rate Fact Sheet )
• The ISO standard for condoms allows 2 per 350 to be defective (about six defects per thousand.) (Tough luck if you happen to be one of those six) (Condom Failure Rate Fact Sheet )
• The only sure ways to avoid sexual transmission of diseases (including AIDS, chlamydia, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhoea, hepatitis B, and syphilis) are not to have sex at all or to limit sex to one uninfected partner who is also monogamous. Food and Drug Administration (USA) Consumer Magazine Sep 1990. (Condom Failure Rate Fact Sheet)
  For more information please go to http://www.hli.org/

It would seem that nature itself is showing humankind that the precepts of God should be followed and that marriage, monogamy, the sanctity of marriage are all necessary things. Man can try to manipulate the world and deceive himself, but the truth always has a way of revealing itself and we now see countries that are essentially dying. We have declining birthrates, so low that they will eventually become non-existent countries (Singapore's fertility rate is now at 1.23), and we still have diseases spreading around the world; spreading not because of lack of contraceptives, but because of the belief that contraceptives are a cure all. We also have the abomination of a day meant for a great saint. Saint Valentine sacrificed his life for Christian ideals and for that he paid the ultimate human price. How much more should we stand firm then and follow his blessed example, shedding this modernistic nonsense and claiming back the truth of human splendor in God, and following the way of Christ.
 
Pax tecum.