大象传媒

From Father Brian D鈥橝rcy, a Catholic Passionist priest:

A friend of mine told me recently of an incident which took place when he was learning Chinese. It was difficult but interesting. His teacher wisely passed on lessons about their customs alongside grammar and vocabulary.

One day when discussing tenses, the teacher explained that in Chinese culture the past is spoken of as being in front of you; while the future is pictured over ones shoulder and behind you. 鈥� you can鈥檛 see it.

It鈥檚 the opposite with us.

Yet there鈥檚 some truth in the Chinese custom for too often we too insist on keeping the past in front of us instead of putting our failures behind us and getting on with life.

On the other hand if we don鈥檛 come to terms with our past, it can haunt us forever.

I was reminded of this dilemma whilst watching the film Green Book which won Best Picture at the Oscars. 聽

The film is loosely based on a true story. Up until the mid-60s in the United States, particularly in the Deep South, segregation was law. African Americans were forbidden to eat with, share facilities or travel freely with white people.

聽At the time Don Shirley was a successful Black classical and jazz pianist. He had to hire a white New York Italian bouncer, Frank, Tony the Lip, Vallelonga, to be his driver and bodyguard during an eight week tour of Southern clubs. Their relationship develops in an interesting manner. Suffice to say that it chronicles the cruel prejudices they were forced to endure.

The film takes its name from an actual Green Book, which was written by Victor Green in the 1930s, as a guidebook for African American travellers. It helped motorists to find motels and restaurants which would accept them. It鈥檚 impossible for us to imagine such indignity indeed injustice today.

Or is it? Racism is rife in today鈥檚 world.聽 Religious persecution is still a major problem.

That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 essential to keep our worst failures in front of us - to ensure the crimes of the past are confronted and never repeated.

As a priest, I believe that no one is beyond redemption. 聽鈥淩edemption begins 聽when we learn to accept the future consequences of our past mistakes.