What does love look like?

What does love look like? This timeless question was posed by St Augustine, who went on to supply the equally timeless answer: It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want... In other words, love looks like service, and compassion; it looks like concern and generosity, selflessness and every little act of kindness and care. 

I was reminded of those words this morning, at a school assembly, where the headteacher spoke about love in action. What does love in action look like? he asked - before indicating a sack - one of many - full of items donated by the children for a local charity. When I got up to speak I commented on the fact that today is St Valentine's Day: a day filled with hearts and flowers, and cards bearing declarations of undying love; a day on which we are told that love looks like a bouquet of red roses, or a romantic meal or special gift. But real love, love in action love, looks more like an unprepossessing black sack, full of donations for strangers - a sack which could easily be overlooked, or even mistaken for rubbish, but which is in fact filled with generosity and kindness, and is infinitely precious because of this. 

And what else does love look like? It looks like Jesus, Love Incarnate; the original, most sublime and delightful Love in action. It looks like Jesus in his actions and his encounters, his times of prayer and of teaching... and of course, it looks like him in his death; his final outpouring of self-giving love. As Pope Francis reminds us in Dilexit Nos: The cross is Jesus’ most eloquent word of love. A word that is not shallow, sentimental or merely edifying. It is love, sheer love.

We know what love looks like... And away from all the Valentine's Day roses and the heart-shaped cakes and trinkets, we can see real love - true, steadfast, passionate, committed and faithful love - in action. We see it in a hundred thousand people and situations... in actions and words which bring hope, bring light into darkness, create a better world... Can we also see it every time we look in the mirror...?