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Jesus
saw a man named Matthew sitting at the
customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up
and followed
him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and
sinners
came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this
and said
to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors
and
sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well
do not need a
physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words,
‘I
desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the
righteous but
sinners.”
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In
the movie "Ratatouille," Remy was a rat, but in the realm of fantasy, a
very unusual rat. He had
talent, and the talent resided in the culinary art. But he was destined
to be a rat, and that's all. Then he listened to his conscience who
spoke after the manner of the famous cook Auguste Gusteau. Believing
that
"If you're focused on what you've left behind, you will not be able to
see what lies ahead," Remy launched into the future, to become what no
rat had ever become before. He became a culinary genius. But to
accomplish it, he had to leave what he had. As he told his father who
asked where he was going, he replied "With luck, forward."
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If
someone would have asked Matthew, where he was going, as he launched
out into a life of following Jesus, he probably would have answered
simply that "he didn't know." As he worked with Jesus over the years of
his ministry, he no doubt would have changed his answer to words like
"With luck,
forward," or more in the Christian context, "With grace, forward." He
was choosing a different lifestyle that was infinitely better than the
one of a sinful tax collector that he had chosen, and it was a
"forward-looking" vocation: not only would it help himself, but it
would help others as well.
In the movie "Ratatouille," Remy hears from his conscience the important concept that if you think only of the past, accepting what you have always done to be what you will always do, you will never be able to discover something better. In the cartoon world, even a rat can go on to become a famous cook, a vocation that in his eyes was fulfilling to him, and helpful to others. In the real world, we must have respect for the past because we learn from it. In that past, at times we did things that we were not proud of and at times we did things that would help our future. But, in order to accomplish anything good, we have to move forward into the future. Such a future may involve a lot of change or very little change, but whatever we are doing can be done a little better. We live in wonderful times in which given the technology and training we have, we can literally accomplish anything we want. But we have to be willing to work for it. In the Christian understanding of things, God will always give us the grace to move forward to help ourselves and others. |
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THOUGHT
Studying your life
right now, what good thing do you hope to accomplish in the
future?
PRAYER Good
and gracious
God, you bring people to change by giving them the grace to move
forward to something better in life. You direct us by our conscience to
choose the good things that will help ourselves and others. Thank you
for your grace, and may we use it well. 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 |