Special Teen Issue

Ways for your music to tune you into God
Music has always been a part of our praise and worship of God.
Jesus and Music: Music was a part of the life of Jesus. The Psalms were sung by cantors in the temple. Our Lord Jesus would have heard and probably learned these songs and hymns as he grew up in the company of Mary and Joseph. Scripture records that on the night Jesus entered his passion, he sang a hymn with his apostles before going to the Mount of Olives (see Mark 14:26). Jesus used song to express his love and thanks to God the Father. In the book of Revelation, there are many visions of angels and saints singing loudly to God. Song was and continues to be an important way of expressing our love for God. It can help us in other ways as well.

Tune In Idea #1
Take a song that you know and give it new words that direct it back to God:
For example, there was a hit song by The Romantics (a group popular in the 80s) called What I Like About You. The song had a great beat and the words were catchy enough that everyone could memorize them. The beat of the music helps us do this! So, I made up new words to the song and turned it into Jesus Really Loves You! Here is a part of the song:
Jesus really loves you,
He loves when you pray ...
In the morning, or the evening,
or just any time of the day ...
yeah ...
he whispers in your heart,
making sure that you and he will never be apart.
Because it’s true!
He really loves you!
You can do this for almost any popular song: Sometimes you can change just a few words, and you can almost hear God singing the song to you, or you singing the song to God. It’s a great exercise that’s loads of fun, and at the same time will become a prayer for you. You may even experience the joy and love of the Holy Spirit guiding you as you do it.

Tune In Idea #2
The second exercise with music is more meditative:
1 Pick a song that touches your heart in some way. Maybe it makes you sad, or happy, or energetic. It does not have to have words ... in fact, wordless songs are better for this exercise.
2 Identify the feeling you have when you are listening to the song.
3 Then, think about the life of Jesus, and try and find a Scripture passage that would match the emotion you might be feeling.
4 After you have identified the emotion and the Scripture verse that matches it, read the passage quietly to yourself. See if you can put yourself in the place of the one feeling the emotion in Scripture.
5 Play the song while you do this to help you.

What I have found happen is that God gives me new insights and sensitivity to the thought and feelings of those in the Scripture. They were real people with real feelings like you and me. Our Lord had emotions, too. He was fully God and fully man! Being God did not take away his ability to feel. We know Jesus wept; we know he rejoiced; we know he felt great sorrow and distress; and, we know he felt great joy.

When you become aware that our Lord had feelings, or those in Scripture felt a certain way, they will become more real for you. The exercise will also help you think about the times when you felt those emotions. That is always a good time to pray about various situations in your life. You will be able to pray with your heart.

This exercise will also help you be more sensitive to the feelings of those around you. It may help you understand people more, and love them more. So, my brothers and sisters, may God bless you in this exercise! Tune into W-O-R-D – Our Lord Jesus Christ! (Turn to John 1:1 if you didn’t get this!)

By: Fr. Bill Ashbaugh is pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Howell
Originally Published: September 2002