To Love Somebody The Way He Loves You
There's a light
A certain kind of light
A certain kind of light
That never shone on me
I want my life to be
Lived with you
Lived with you
There's a way everybody say
To do each and every little thing
But what does it bring
If I ain't got you,
Ain't got you?
You don't know what it's like, baby
You don't know what it's like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you
(Bee Gees - 1967)
Last week I was watching America's Got Talent. Actually, I wasn't really watching it. I just had the TV on while I was working on my computer. I did happen to catch the very last act though. Hego t the golden buzzer from Simon Cowell. The name of the performer was Michael Ketterer and the song he sang was "To Love Somebody". He dedicated his performance to his children.
"To Love Somebody" is a song written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. Supposedly they wrote it for Otis Redding but he died before he could record it. The Bee Gees then recorded it in 1967. Barry Gibb was asked in an interview "of all the songs you've ever written, which song would you choose?" Barry said "To Love Somebody" was the song that he'd choose because it of its "clear, emotional message." Just a little music trivia for the fans.
The song has always been one of my favorites. Sometimes when I listen to it I think about if I really do know what its like to love and be loved in an extraordinary way. Do I let that certain kind of light shine on me and do I shine it on others? Not always.
Michael Ketterer has a life song behind his song. He is a Christian singer. He is a pediatric mental health care nurse. He is a husband and father. He has six children, five of them were adopted out of foster care, coming from a life of abuse and neglect. One of them has cerebral palsy, in a vegetative state when they first got him, who is alert, aware and engaged today. Children like that need an extraordinary kind of love full of patience and kindness. When he got the golden buzzer and his whole family rushed on stage, I had to ask myself if I would have had the capacity, do I know what it's like, to love somebody the way those children have to be loved?
Michael sang with a piano accompaniment that was so simple it was almost like singing acapella, letting his heart, his soul, his love drive the song. I suspect that is what drives his life as well. His performance was the kind of performance where you close your eyes and let it wash over you, falling on you like rain. Those are sometimes the most powerful kind. Authentic and sincere, it won him the golden buzzer.
I checked Michael out on youtube. He tells the story about how he and his wife adopted their children. He says adoption is "a topic that drives us closer to our Father and his heart for us." He hopes that we "see his story through the lens of Our Heavenly Father and who he is." This message of the Father's love is the one he brought with him. It is the song he sang. Do you know what it's like to love somebody the way the Father loves you?
This past Friday was the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The month of June is dedicated in the Catholic Church to the Sacred Heart. It is with this devotion that Catholics contemplate and seek to emulate the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus truly understood what it was like to be loved by the Father and to love him in return. He came to manifest that love for us. He came that we could see the Father's heart for us. It was his heart that beat with this love every day of his earthly life. It was this heart that was emptied of itself on the cross to redeem us. It was this heart that resumed its beating triumphantly in the resurrection. Jesus knew what it was like, and it is through his Sacred Heart that we can as well. It is divine love in the human heart that allows us to love somebody the way he loves us.
"To Love Somebody" is a song written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. Supposedly they wrote it for Otis Redding but he died before he could record it. The Bee Gees then recorded it in 1967. Barry Gibb was asked in an interview "of all the songs you've ever written, which song would you choose?" Barry said "To Love Somebody" was the song that he'd choose because it of its "clear, emotional message." Just a little music trivia for the fans.
The song has always been one of my favorites. Sometimes when I listen to it I think about if I really do know what its like to love and be loved in an extraordinary way. Do I let that certain kind of light shine on me and do I shine it on others? Not always.
Michael Ketterer has a life song behind his song. He is a Christian singer. He is a pediatric mental health care nurse. He is a husband and father. He has six children, five of them were adopted out of foster care, coming from a life of abuse and neglect. One of them has cerebral palsy, in a vegetative state when they first got him, who is alert, aware and engaged today. Children like that need an extraordinary kind of love full of patience and kindness. When he got the golden buzzer and his whole family rushed on stage, I had to ask myself if I would have had the capacity, do I know what it's like, to love somebody the way those children have to be loved?
Michael sang with a piano accompaniment that was so simple it was almost like singing acapella, letting his heart, his soul, his love drive the song. I suspect that is what drives his life as well. His performance was the kind of performance where you close your eyes and let it wash over you, falling on you like rain. Those are sometimes the most powerful kind. Authentic and sincere, it won him the golden buzzer.
I checked Michael out on youtube. He tells the story about how he and his wife adopted their children. He says adoption is "a topic that drives us closer to our Father and his heart for us." He hopes that we "see his story through the lens of Our Heavenly Father and who he is." This message of the Father's love is the one he brought with him. It is the song he sang. Do you know what it's like to love somebody the way the Father loves you?
See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God. 1 Jn 3:1
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. Eph 1:4-6
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.
It is with this simple prayer from our heart to his heart that we aspire to and are given the capacity to love with the heart of Christ.
The public devotion to the Sacred Heart was brought to us by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary between the years of 1673 and 1675 revealing His divine heart to her. In one apparition he said to her, "My divine heart is so passionately in love with humanity, and with you in particular, that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer. They must burst out through you."
Many Popes have written on the importance of devotion to the Sacred Heart, among them Leo XIII, Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Due to the requests of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary, as well as the soundness of the doctrine and its timeliness in rekindling love and trust in the merciful heart of our Savior, this devotion has a high place of importance in the Church. The heart of Christ is the heart of the Church.
Although the universal practice of the devotion is attributed to St. Margaret Mary it can be seen in the early centuries of the Church. We see it alluded to in scripture as St. John laid his head on the chest of Jesus during the Last Supper and most certainly felt it beating with tremendous love. Who also saw it pierced at the crucifixion. St. John used the word love more times in his gospel than in any single book of the bible except for the Psalms. St. John never referred to himself by name in his gospel. He referred to himself "as the disciple Jesus loved" in order to represent each individual Christian. So that each of us could see ourselves as the beloved. Each of us can know the heart the Father has for us in the heart of the Son.
St. Gertrude records a vision in which St. John invites her to rest with him on the chest of Jesus. Afterwards she asks why he did not speak more specifically about the Sacred Heart in his gospel. St. John replies:
"My mission was to write of the Eternal Word...but the language of the blissful pulsations of the Sacred Heart is reserved for latter times, that the time-worn world, grown cold in the love of God, may be warmed up by the hearing of such mysteries"
We are certainly living in a time-worn world, grown cold in the love of God. The remedy is that a certain kind of light be shone to warm it. The remedy is found in the heart the Father has for us that was made visible in the heart of the Son, who want their life to be lived with us. It is in the divine heart, so passionately in love with humanity, whose pent-up flames of charity must burst out through each of us. We can be eloquently reminded of this in a gesture as simple as that of a man taking a stage to sing to, and for the sake of, his children.
Although the universal practice of the devotion is attributed to St. Margaret Mary it can be seen in the early centuries of the Church. We see it alluded to in scripture as St. John laid his head on the chest of Jesus during the Last Supper and most certainly felt it beating with tremendous love. Who also saw it pierced at the crucifixion. St. John used the word love more times in his gospel than in any single book of the bible except for the Psalms. St. John never referred to himself by name in his gospel. He referred to himself "as the disciple Jesus loved" in order to represent each individual Christian. So that each of us could see ourselves as the beloved. Each of us can know the heart the Father has for us in the heart of the Son.
St. Gertrude records a vision in which St. John invites her to rest with him on the chest of Jesus. Afterwards she asks why he did not speak more specifically about the Sacred Heart in his gospel. St. John replies:
"My mission was to write of the Eternal Word...but the language of the blissful pulsations of the Sacred Heart is reserved for latter times, that the time-worn world, grown cold in the love of God, may be warmed up by the hearing of such mysteries"
We are certainly living in a time-worn world, grown cold in the love of God. The remedy is that a certain kind of light be shone to warm it. The remedy is found in the heart the Father has for us that was made visible in the heart of the Son, who want their life to be lived with us. It is in the divine heart, so passionately in love with humanity, whose pent-up flames of charity must burst out through each of us. We can be eloquently reminded of this in a gesture as simple as that of a man taking a stage to sing to, and for the sake of, his children.
You don't know what it's like to love somebody, to love somebody the way He loves you.
What a wonderful blog you have. I am new to blogging and it's inspiring to see how you have created your blog.
ReplyDeleteVicki! Hi! It's Mariann a.k.a. catholicchild...remember me? Something strange happened today. I was charged on my account for Vericast. Is Tim coming back, do you know? I hope you are doing well. Our life here, has been crazy as usual.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you and your family,
Mariann