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The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, to test
him, asked him
to show
them a sign from heaven. He said to them
in reply, “In the evening you say, ‘Tomorrow will be fair,
for the sky is red’;
and, in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy, for the sky is red
and
threatening.’ You know how to judge
the
appearance of the sky, but you cannot judge the signs of the times. An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a
sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”
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In
what is probably the simplest storyline of a series of movies, the
Bourne Trilogy which closes with this final session of "The Bourne
Ultimatum" presents one continual pursuit of a person's real identity.
Jason Bourne is constantly pursuing the thought of who he is. In this
final
session, he finds out that he is David Webb, and why he became Jason
Bourne. And it was not an answer that David wanted to hear. The
doctor who made him Jason Bourne tells him, "You picked us. You
volunteered. Right here, even after you were warned." David realizes
that the evil he had done, the evil that he had thought was forced on
him by
others, was really his own choosing.
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What
do you do when you have become someone that you do not like? Jesus
would simply say: "You read the signs, and you repent." Or as he points
out to the Pharisees and Sadducees, you read in particular the sign of
Jonah, the
sign of a need for change, as the prophet Jonah preached to the people
of Nineveh.
In the movie, we do not know whether David
Webb of "The Bourne Ultimatum" repented for his sins or not. We are
led to believe that he did enjoy a good life after his ordeal, but if
he were a Catholic as his army tag said he was, he would have
recognized that one starts over by repenting of past failures. Anyone
who recognizes a need for a change in one's attitude in the future must
begin with
repentance for the past.
Who are you? Or better yet, what have you allowed yourself to become? It is an extremely important question for a person in the spiritual life. Are there some things that have crept into your life that you should get rid of? Are there some virtues that should be part of your life? One of the most hopeful thoughts for the Christian is that our God will help us change into what we know we should be. And we can begin it right now. Like David Webb, we can finally realize who we are and what we have become, and we can begin again. |
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THOUGHT
What are the first
steps that one takes in order to begin again?
PRAYER Good
and gracious
God, your Son told us to read the signs of the need for repentance in
our lives, to realize what we are becoming as we study ourselves, and
to change if necessary. We are confident that you will give us the
grace we need to accomplish such a goal. 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 |
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