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[Jesus
said] "You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, because
my time has not yet been fulfilled." After he had said this, he stayed
on in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he
himself also went up, not openly but [as it were] in secret. The Jews
were looking for him at the feast and saying, "Where is he? And there
was considerable murmuring about him in the crowds. Some said, "He is a
good man, [while] others said, "No; on the contrary, he misleads the
crowd." Still, no one spoke openly about him because they were afraid
of the Jews.
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Superhero
John McClane in the movie "Live Free or Die Hard" had a job to do as a
New York City police officer. As he mentions in the movie, he was just
"doing his job." Called to arrest a young computer programmer, and take
him to Washington DC, he finds himself enmeshed in an evil attempt to
confuse anything in the country that runs by computer (which is just
about everything)
and accomplish a "fire sale," shutting down everything that uses a
computer. McClane acts in typical fashion with all of the exaggerated
violence that is common to media these days, but in essence, he was
merely doing a job that he was prepared to do. Often what happens to us
takes on a life of its own, but someone who wants maturity to rule
one's life will do everything possible to adjust to any situation
well.
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There
is ample proof from the Gospels that Jesus was both divine and human.
Even the Gospel of John that concentrates on Jesus' divinity points out
his humanity. In the Gospel passage in which Jesus had to decide
whether or not to go to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles, the
human Jesus changed his mind. If it were possible to get into his
thinking, perhaps he looked at the situation carefully, then saw
exactly what his "job" as teacher and prophet might be, and changed his
mind accordingly.
One of the good qualities of human nature is the ability to change, to recognize that even though we have thought otherwise at one time, we may have to re-think a situation. Most notably, we see this as a person accepts a "job" or position in an organization. He is trained in the profession, and given the fundamentals about "doing the job," but working it out is up to the individual. A person of maturity and integrity will know what his "job" might demand, and be willing to adjust to circumstances in order to carry it out well. Such is the thinking of John McClane in the movie "Live Free or Die Hard." Obviously, we are not called to save the world in the way a fantasy John McClane was called to do, or save the world as Jesus was called to do, but we all have a "job" to do, whoever we may be. We may be students who are training to be good human beings or people who have temporary jobs or people who have chosen a particular way of life that will last a lifetime such as marriage or even people who have retired from earlier jobs and whose role in life is now to help others. The point is that we are involved in something that can be labeled a "job." As John McClane says, "we have a job to do." Such a job may require adjustments and changes to lifestyle, but Christians will take the example of the human Jesus, adjust to the situation, and then "do our job" as best as they can. |
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THOUGHT
Studying your life right now, what is your
"job"? How can you do it better?
PRAYER Good
and gracious God, your Son had a "job" to do here on earth. As he was
dedicated to his role of saving humankind, he had to adjust to the
circumstances in which he found himself. Help us understand what our
present "job" is and help us do it in a truly Christian and human way.
Be with us, we pray.
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |