Pearls of the Word

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Mimicry

by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf

"Become, then, imitators [mimetes] of God, just like cherished children" (Ephesians 5:1)

Children need to have a model to imitate. The word 'imitator', mimetes in Greek, gave birth to the English word 'mimicry' from the French word 'mimétisme', which describes the likeness that certain living beings adopt with the environment in which they live, like in the case of a child, who, looking at his father, will copy his gestures and attitudes.

The child who imitates his father is, then, a child who feels himself loved: Jesus, himself, did only what he saw his Father do. For a child, it is a real discovery and a pleasure to imitate the one who takes care of him, and he devotes himself to it unreservedly. Therefore, it is impossible to imitate Jesus without having an intimate relationship with him (1 Peter 1:14-16).