 |
||||||
Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many
went up from
the country
to
|
||||||
"Easy come, easy go, that's
just how you live, oh take it all, but you never give. Gave
you all I had, and you tossed it in the trash. To
give me
all your love is all I ever asked. 'Cause what you don't
understand is I'd catch a grenade for you, throw my hand on the blade
for you,
I'd jump in front of a train for you, I'd do anything for you, I would
go
through all this pain, take a bullet straight through my
brain. Yes, I would die for you but you won't do the same."
|
||||||
|
Bruno
Mars' song "Grenade" is a song of someone who is not giving the
way that the person in the song thinks another should be giving in a
love relationship. The
problem, of course, is one that anyone involved in a dating
relationship can understand: it takes two to be involved in the
love
relationship, and the man in the song is only looking at his side of
what is happening. She is refusing to
respond to him
probably
because she has found another interest in her life, and has moved away
from
him. At least, that is the way the video
presents the song. In our dating world, we must choose our future
partner. Choice implies not only that we choose someone, but that
we not choose someone else. It is indeed a painful moment for a person
discovering romantic love when he/she wants to be chosen, but is not.
The same can be said for anyone who suffers rejection. The ultimate example for the Christian is Jesus who wanted his people to choose his understanding of a kingdom of love that he wished to begin on this earth. His own people not only rejected the thought, but as can be seen throughout the Gospels, desired to actually kill him. There must have been extreme mental pain for the human Jesus to know that the very people that he wanted to help were bent on hurting him. He had a decision to make with regard to what to do, therefore. Should he stay away from Jerusalem since as the Gospels relate, the religious leaders would arrest him there? Or should he make the decision to go because he knew that the redemption of humankind rested with him? Jesus made the right decision even though he suffered the immense mental pain of being rejected. In our world, with all of its possibilities that cause mental pain--whether it be rejection by a former lover or hatred by enemies or harmful acts that carry lasting consequences or simple disappointments--we must make mature choices even as we suffer the mental pain. We must realize that the pain we suffer will be temporary, and will give rise to different results for our lives that will in the long run be better. Such a knowledge, of course, does not often help the present moment. The present is more or less defined by the mental pain. But the truth for a Christian must always be that there will always be something better for us because God is directing everything toward our good. Therefore the solution to the mental pain that we feel should be one based on the belief that things will be better rather than the despair of the moment. |
||||||
| PRAYER Good and
gracious God, your Son felt the mental pain of human rejection in his
life. It is a pain that we feel as well. Give us the grace to see that
you will always bring good out of our pain as you did for the human
Jesus. Be with us, we pray.
|
||||||
+++++
GUIDE
FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT
Theme: We must always be aware that even extreme mental pain will pass, and that any decision we make while in pain should be made carefully. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Project: outline the reason for Passover and its celebration in Jesus' time. 2. In your opinion, with your understanding of Scripture, what did most people of the time think Jesus was trying to do? 3. The last verse of the Gospel passage sets up the betrayal by Judas. What do you think was the principal reason why Judas betrayed Jesus? 4. The Gospel passage is chosen because it shows that the religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus, and that fact caused Jesus mental pain. What were some other mental pains that Jesus felt in his human nature? 5. How do people "give" to one another In a dating relationship? 6. Text analysis: "To give me all your love was all I ever asked." What does "giving all love" mean in our world today? 7. The person in the song speaks poetically about the willingness to suffer immense pain on behalf of the other. What do you think is the most pain involved in any dating relationship? Why? 8. Do most break-ups of romantic relationships end in anger? Yes or no and why? 9. Compare the pros and cons of someone else choosing a marriage partner for us. 10. Give some examples in your own life in which something did not work out and caused pain, but turned out for the better. Likewise, give some examples from our outside world. 11. Do you believe that God is directing everything toward the good? Yes or no and why? 12. The video to the song shows the person in the song committing suicide. Why is "suicide" looked upon as an answer to the pain? What can be done to help someone who is thinking of suicide? 13. Practically, what must be done to help ourselves or others overcome the feeling of despair? 14. What does the song "Grenade" teach young people? |
||||||
©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
||||||