True love
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
4 May 2003
Love is a four letter word sometimes covering a multitude of sins. When we speak about love in English, we are hampered by a limited vocabulary. The ancient Greeks who wrote more than 2000 years ago have four different words for different types of love. We often use one word "love", with perhaps "charity" as a second string.
Some American research claims that eros or passionate love, "that strange bewilderment that overtakes one person on account of another person" never lasts more than a to 30 months. After that the object of the love is changed or the love itself changes for better or worse.
The Jeweller's Shop recounts the love stories of three couples Andrew and Teresa, Stefan and Anna, and Christopher and Monica, children of these two marriages.
The setting is the mysterious Jeweller's Shop where they all buy their rings and where Anna attempts to sell hers. The Jeweller is a representation of God.
Andrew and Teresa did not fall violently in love. They both realised slowly that they should belong to each other, were made for each other, but they did not have the profound feelings this love deserved. Their love broadened and deepened with the years. Christopher their son was born and his father died prematurely in the war. Years later Teresa realised their love was genuine and continued beyond the grave in Christopher.
Anna and Stefan's marriage went sour. They became strangers; Anna felt treated like an object and Stefan had to fight for his rights.
Anna then met Adam, a mysterious figure who taught her about love and prepared her to meet the Bridegroom, who represents Christ.
However in the Bridegroom she sees Stefan's face, the man she hates but should love. This is a turning point for her as she realises she is partly to blame. Later on Stefan too realises that their marriage had gone drastically wrong, that they must do better. They had the courage and humility to begin rebuilding.
Christopher's father had died when he was two and he told Monica "I do not know what a man ought to be". Monica was needy and withdrawn, frightened to enter marriage because "her parents live like two strangers".
However they faced their fears, left the past in the past and decided to go forward together because "love is a constant challenge thrown to us by God". Three typical stories.
The author of the play was a young Catholic priest, Karol Wojtyla, now Pope and Bishop of Rome.
