When I was in college, I was blessed to spend a semester abroad in Ireland, the mother country of my grandma and grandpa, who grew up on the west coast. Studying at University College Dublin, I learned much about life, love and being Catholic that spring of 1997. A specific Jars of Clay song, “Love Song for a Savior” was a favorite for me at that time. The message of that song and a fleeting moment now means a lot more to me than I realized back then. A little back story may help…
Unlike other study-abroad students, who were place with other foreigners, I lived in a dormitory flat with 4 Irish girls. They were all good friends. And, I was clearly the outsider. For one, I liked heat, real warmth, something that costs too much for college students in Europe. Secondly, I had not yet learned to love tea time. Lastly, I had many positive experiences of the Catholic faith as a teen and was motivated to live it.
In fact, during my 3-week spring break, while traveling in Rome, after Holy Thursday Mass, Pope John Paul II passed by in his pope-mobile. He blessed me and the young couple walking near me, the only people on the street. I thought little of it at the time, but I would later fall in love with this man and view him as a spiritual father.
Back in Ireland, being an outcast among my flat mates and their boyfriends, I often took to my Walkman. “Love Song for a Savior” by Jars of Clay was often played in my headphones or audibly in my room. The refrain states, “I want to fall in love with you…” over and over again. Overhearing this song one evening, Jane, one of my Irish roommates, stated, “I really like that song.” At the time, she was deeply in love with her boyfriend. Some of my roomies were sleeping with their boyfriends, most of them drank a lot on the weekends and none of them attended Sunday Mass, even though they all grew up Catholic. I blew off Jane’s interest in the song as just connected to her relationship with her boyfriend.
I didn’t get it. Romantic love is an open door that allows people to understand the love of God. My now beloved John Paul II and Jars of Clay got something that I am now more deeply discovering. The love between husband and wife is a powerful analogy used numerous times in Scripture. God is always trying to reveal Himself to us and he made it plain and simple. The love of man and woman gives us a little glimpse into the massive love the Lord has for each one of us. The Bible starts and ends with a wedding – Adam and Eve at the beginning, the wedding of Christ united with his bride, the Church, in Revelation, and Song of Songs in the middle which mingles both beautiful realities.
St. John Paul the Great’s Theology of the Body delves deep into this nuptial mystery. As Jason Evert asserts in his book, John Paul the Great: His Five Loves, our spiritual father loved human love. As a young priest, he often spent time with his married friends, listening and learning much about the sacrifice, joy and intensity included in romantic love. It’s attractive to consider and experience and yet impossible to sustain without God’s grace.
This beautiful mystery is why the Jars of Clay song piques interest. It uses love language, connecting human romantic terms with the invitation of Jesus. The Lord invites us into relationship and we can choose whether or not to respond, “I want to fall in love with you.” From a band of four men, it was refreshing to hear them understand that the ultimate love relationship is the love of the Lord for his people.
My friendships with my Irish flat mates improved as the semester continued. We mutually opened our hearts to the other and they became dear friends. I even had a difficult time returning to the states in June. I learned JPII’s Theology of the Body about a year after coming home. I wanted to rush back to Ireland and relay to them this incredible teaching and reality. I wanted to affirm their desires for love and let them know that there is a love that satisfies, fulfills and lasts forever, better than all human romance.
When I hear the song now, and consider the sacrificial, eternal love Jesus has for me, how can I not respond, “I want to fall in love with you.”