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Jesus
said to them [after his Resurrection], “These are my words that
I spoke to you
while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law
of
Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds
to understand the
scriptures. And he
said to them, “Thus
it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on
the third
day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached
in his
name to all the nations, beginning from
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“Restless
tonight,” the group Finger Eleven begins their song
“One Thing,” “‘cause I wasted
the
light. Between
these times I drew a
really thin line. It’s
nothing I planned
and not that I can, but you should be mine across that line. If I traded it all, if I
gave it all away for
one thing, wouldn’t that be something. I
promise I might not walk on by. Maybe
next time, but not this time.” The
person in the song has made a mistake in the past, and the one thing
that
ruined the relationship was his mistake. Now,
if he wants the love to continue, the one thing he should do is to work
toward
re-establishing the
connection between the two of them.
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The song
“One Thing”
by Finger Eleven is obviously a
love song, but as with many love songs, there are ideas that can be
learned
about life as well as about romantic love. One such idea is the
question, “What is
the one thing in life that
should direct what we do?"
If we are learning the process of romantic love of another, part of it will be to learn from mistakes, as the person in the song wanted to do. But if we are in the process of being a true follower of Jesus Christ, the answer to the question might revolve around learning to be a witness of his. The one thing in life that will make us be a better follower of Jesus Christ is to be a witness of who he is and what he said. Being such a witness will mean a number of things. As Jesus points out to the astounded Apostles after his Resurrection, it will mean most of all witnessing the forgiveness of sins to a world that desperately needs hope and encouragement. Yes, we have sinned, and we do things that can be viewed as mistakes. But just as lovers will be so much better when their mistakes are forgiven, our lives will be so much better when we understand that we are forgiven for what we have done. Jesus says that part of the “one thing” that we should announce to this world as his witnesses is “repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus, God, forgives us, if we want it. What a tremendous feeling of hope such a fact should bring to the Christian believer. |
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THOUGHT
What is the “one thing” in your life right now that you could do to make you better? PRAYER Good
and gracious God, you are the “one thing” that we
should desire above all, and
you are willing to forgive our sinfulness. Help
us as we strive to be witnesses of your Son, to
truly seek your
forgiveness by recognizing our mistakes. 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 |