Help With Love

[Egidio]

I am preparing a conference for some youth on the topic of love/charity.
I wanted to do a comparison between what popular culture thinks of love, and the REAL THING! Fortunately, I have been somewhat seperated from pop culture for some time, and so apart from a general idea, I really don't know what is being said about love.

More specifically, I am after lyrics from songs, or lines from movies defining love. Right now, the only one that comes into my head is Tina Turner's song which defines love as "a second hand emotion". As you can see, I am somewhat out of touch (Thanks be to God!!)

Now I don't intend on trawlling through songs and films to find appropriate quotes, but I would like to ask you all to let me know of any lines form songs or films which demonstrate what the world things love is.

May God Bless you for your help !!

[color=#0000cd][font=comic sans ms,cursive][size=5]AVE MARIA!![/size][/font][/color]

[Papist]

Pop culture thinks love is a feeling, and if it does not make you feel good 24/7 then it is not love.

Here's something that is full of stuff that explains what love truly is, [url="http://www.catholicculture.com/jp2_on_l&r.pdf"]http://www.catholicculture.com/jp2_on_l&r.pdf[/url]

[PadrePioOfPietrelcino]

http://www.frmikescully.com/about.html

Fr Scully reflects on music and pop culture, he has done of a review of every top 10 hit for like the last 30 years.

[sixpence]

not exactly what you are looking for but I thought it might be relevant... *Warning: contains some scantily clad ladies but no language*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Gf4-eT3w0

[CatherineM]

Real love is about cleaning up barf.

[dUSt]

Real love is spending as little time as possible with your loved one so you can both stay sane.

[To Jesus Through Mary]

Alisha Keys "Love is my Disease"
http://www.elyricsworld.com/love_is_my_disease_lyrics_alicia_keys.html

[Nihil Obstat]

Maybe it would be a little too academic for the discussion for it to be meaningful, but you might start with [url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html"]Deus Caritas Est[/url] kind of as a foundation for the proper understanding of love.

"[i]We have come to believe in God's love[/i]: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
[...]
Since God has first loved us (cf.[i] 1 Jn[/i] 4:10), love is now no longer a mere “command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us."

[Egidio]

Thanks y'all. I will offer special prayers for your help!


[size=5][font=comic sans ms,cursive][color=#AFEEEE]AVE MARIA![/color][/font][/size]

[beatitude]

Your topic is very well-trodden by priests and catechists. One thing that used to bother me as a teenager was the way every adult seemed to think we were in thrall to pop culture (even though adults have their own pop culture and are far from free of its influence). It is possible that your listeners will have heard 'real love v. pop culture' many times before, so perhaps ask them straight whether they see love reflected in pop culture, if it's helpful to them or not, etc. You may be surprised by the answers. Let them teach you something as well.

It could also help to ask what love means to them, and to get them to spend some time (perhaps with their friends/in small groups) reflecting on that before they share it with the group. Often we think we are teaching teenagers about love, but human beings tend to have an innate understanding and that will emerge if they're given space to think about it. I would ask them to name the most loving thing anybody ever did for them. (Don't force anyone to participate - just throw the question out there. Some will be comfortable answering, others won't.) This would get the discussion going and probably reveal some interesting things, which you could use as a basis for talking about theology.

Edited September 20, 2012 by beatitude

[Egidio]

[quote name='beatitude' timestamp='1348141474' post='2484620']
Your topic is very well-trodden by priests and catechists. One thing that used to bother me as a teenager was the way every adult seemed to think we were in thrall to pop culture (even though adults have their own pop culture and are far from free of its influence). It is possible that your listeners will have heard 'real love v. pop culture' many times before, so perhaps ask them straight whether they see love reflected in pop culture, if it's helpful to them or not, etc. You may be surprised by the answers. Let them teach you something as well.

It could also help to ask what love means to them, and to get them to spend some time (perhaps with their friends/in small groups) reflecting on that before they share it with the group. Often we think we are teaching teenagers about love, but human beings tend to have an innate understanding and that will emerge if they're given space to think about it. I would ask them to name the most loving thing anybody ever did for them. (Don't force anyone to participate - just throw the question out there. Some will be comfortable answering, others won't.) This would get the discussion going and probably reveal some interesting things, which you could use as a basis for talking about theology.
[/quote]

I agree totally. There is nothing more nausiating than an adult giving a talk youngsters about what the adult THINKS it is like to be a youth today! I have no intention of patronizing these kids!!!

The group however is not your average group of kids, they are all homeschooled, and probably know the catechism better than me! I intend, (at their parents request) to give them a talk on the practical aspects of living out their faith, especially as they get older and start making many more choices for themselves.

The 'love' aspect of the talk is just to make it clear what they can expect from the world; a kind of 'heads-up' about the pitfalls that are waiting for the unsuspecting. Really, I am just trying to think of the things that i wish i was told in my youth, that might have saved me from a lot of mistakes and heart ache.

There will be group discussions, with the girls splitting into their age groups ( I forgot to mention that it is a retreat for girls).

I appreciate your input, any more ideas will be most welcomed .

AVE MARIA!!