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The Spirit drove Jesus out into
the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by
Satan. He was among wild beasts and the angels ministered to him.
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"Here we
stand somewhere in between this moment and the end. Will we bend
or will we open up and take this
whole thing in? Maybe
you and me got lost somewhere, we can’t move on; we can’t
stay here. Maybe
we’ve just had enough; well, maybe we ain’t meant for this
love. You and me tried everything, but
still that mockingbird won’t sing. I
don’t wanna love you now if you’ll just leave some day. I don’t wanna turn around if you’ll
just walk
away."
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Jesus went into the
desert for a significant amount of time before he
began his ministry. Theologians agree that Jesus was preparing himself
for the
important work of redemption during his sojourn there. One of the
common
ways of describing his human action is that he learned the idea of
“sacrificing
himself,” that is, he learned to give up some things in order to
accomplish
something that was more important. Jesus knew that if he learned
the value
of “sacrifice,” he would prepare himself to give totally of
himself on behalf
of others.
In the song, up to that point in time, the love had not worked out, and the man in the relationship is ready to move on in life because his fiancée has not been true to him in the past. He is opening up to her directly, but in the song one does not know how each of them will respond to the situation. Applied to a love situation as Rob Thomas does in his song, it brings up the situation of young love. Two people feel attracted to one another early in their love lives, and they would like to make their attraction into something that will last, but both of them have other interests, other people that they like because they are still only discovering romantic love. And so the mockingbird that will mimic the sound of love if he hears it is not able to make that sound because he has not yet heard the ideas of love between the two of them. Applying those ideas to everyday living, making sacrifices is one of the traditional ways of growing in spirituality in the Christian Church. The element of sacrifice is a very important part of our spiritual growth. The more we give up personal preferences for the sake of the good of the whole, the better off we are, and the better off our world becomes. There are many situations in our school, at home, or with the community where we are asked to "bend" our own desires in order to help someone else. Sacrificing what we want, we develop the virtue of opening ourselves to others, and in the process, become better people and at the same time bring about a better world. |
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THOUGHT
What sacrifices are young
people called to make?
PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son prepared himself for the act of redemption by learning the value of sacrificing himself as he prayed in the desert prior to his public life. Give us the grace to understand the meaning of sacrifice so that our lives and the lives of others may be better. Be with us, we pray. |
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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