hello

Greetings to each and everyone of you.


This section for English-speaking viewers –
and all those enjoying the culture –

has developed over the months and is now offering materials of all kinds:

texts, images, poems, videos, etc.

It will continue to provide you with rich contents week after week.

 

17th Sunday of Year B – 2024

26 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 'holy tricks', astuteness of God, bread, human logic, John 6:1-15, loving tricks, Providence of God, Saint Catherine of Siena, testing

The gospel texts teach us in all kinds of ways.
As we meet Jesus there, we can discover much about God and… much about ourselves.

In today’s celebration, the text of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is given to our reflection (John 6:1-15).

I am tempted to give it the title: “The human logic and the astuteness of God”!
Some of you reading this may smile, others are puzzled.

 

What prompts me to think in these terms are the two verses saying something rather intriguing:

“Looking up at the crowds approaching, Jesus said to Philip,
‘Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat”.
He only said this to test Philip;
he himself knew exactly what he was going to do”.

Philip replies with the human logic that knows the practical impossibility of buying food for such crowds in a deserted area –
how can Jesus even think of it!
John, the gospel writer, who might have overheard the conversation gives his own interpretation:
Jesus is testing Philip.

Why? What was Jesus’ purpose in testing Philip?
What did he want his apostle to understand?
We can only surmise that Jesus wanted to teach him something.
We may suppose that seeing what Jesus eventually did – multiply the loaves and fishes – Philip realized a bit more who Jesus was.
But this is a guess, an approximation of the truth, perhaps.

Catherine of Siena was a 14th century Dominican who became a saint and was eventually recognized as a doctor of the Church.
We are told that “her spirituality was one of radical trust in the providence of God”. *
In her writings, she speaks of “the holy tricks” of the Providence of God!

She goes on to explain that, somehow, God uses such loving ‘tactics’ to draw us to himself.
Clever and astute, the way someone who loves would act!

This is where this gospel text brought me… to meeting a loving astute God whose love goes far beyond our human logic!

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/17e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

 

* Mary Ann Fatula, o.p., Review for Religious, Jan.-Feb. 1985
Source: Images: Ebenezer Baptist Church            https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/           https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-29-saint-catherine-of-siena

World Youth Day – 26 July 2024

26 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles

World Youth Day is a global gathering where young people deepen their faith, experience the universality of the Catholic Church, and commit their lives to Christ alongside hundreds of thousands of like-minded peers.

The Archbishop of Seoul, S. Korea invites you to WYD Seoul 2027! See you at WYD Seoul 2027

Today marks the beginning of the Year of Frassati! To prepare for the 100th anniversary of the day Blessed Pier Giorgio entered into eternal life on the 4th of July 1925, the Archbishop of Turin, Italy is inviting all young people to discover the life of “The Man of the 8 Beatitudes,” as Holy Mother Church prepared for the Canonization during the Jubilee of 2025.

« 2025 will mark the centenary of the death of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young man who was born and lived in the city of Turin, venerated by the Church for the great enthusiasm of his Christian faith and for the contagious example of his charity, especially towards those poor. » Msgr. Roberto Repole   (Dario Mobini)

Source: Text: https://worldyouthday.com/   Image: Wikipedia

World Drowning Prevention Day – 25 July

25 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: awareness, boat, death, lakes, life-saving solutions, lifejacket, pools, rivers, wells

World Drowning Prevention Day, declared through the April 2021 UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/75/273 “Global drowning prevention”, is held annually on 25 July. This global advocacy event serves as an opportunity to highlight the tragic and profound impact of drowning on families and communities and offer life-saving solutions to prevent it. An estimated 236,000 people drown every year, and drowning is among the ten leading causes of death for children aged 5-14 years. More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in rivers, lakes, wells, domestic water storage vessels and swimming pools in low- and middle-income countries, with children and adolescents in rural areas disproportionately affected.

Drowning is sudden, abrupt, and shocking, with people often not realizing it’s happening until it’s too late.

What leads to drowning often happens in just a few seconds:
A small child slipping unnoticed into a pond or pool on a sunny afternoon;
Feeling invincible after a few drinks and jumping into the ocean for a swim;
Accepting that one extra passenger on the boat, despite knowing it might capsize;
Deciding it’s too much of a hassle to put on that lifejacket.

So much can happen in a single moment. But with the right awareness and actions, what happens in those seconds can also be changed – for the better.

Source: Text & Image: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-drowning-prevention-day/2024

16th Sunday of Year B – 2024

19 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: believers, God's plan, God's will, honesty, integrity, Jeremiah 23:1-6, righteousness, transparency, uprightness

It goes without saying, as believers, we try to please God.
We strive to follow Jesus’ teaching and to fulfil God’s will in our daily life.
From day to day, we make special efforts to behave as we think he wants us to do.

At times, we wonder if we really manage to do this…
Thinking about what we said, what we did on a certain day, we may find that we did not succeed very well.
Looking back on certain situations, perhaps we find that our response to people was not what Christ’s response would have been.

We may feel discouraged… we may think that our efforts do not achieve what we would like…
We may feel that no matter how we try, our life is not really Christ-like.

A few words in today’s 1st reading may bring us some comfort (Jeremiah 23:1-6).
The prophet Jeremiah, speaking about God, tells us that God is:

“The Lord-our-integrity”.
Or, in another translation:
“The Lord-our-righteousness”.

In other words, the Lord himself is the one who will make us more and more as God wants us to be… if we only allow him to do so!
He is the one who will achieve his plan for us and through us.

Integrity is this quality of honesty, transparency, that characterizes someone truly open to God.
The righteousness we aim for is the goodness and uprightness of someone who does not ‘cut corners’ as we would say in today’s language.
Someone acting with integrity does not pretend nor show off.

This way of living may not be achieved easily – we know this from experience.
But as we remind ourselves of God’s presence with us – he who is “the Lord-our-integrity” –
we take heart, and we do our best day after day.

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/16e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

 

Source: Image: https://www.scripture-images.com/bible-verse

World Youth Skills Day – 15 July 2024

15 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: conflict resolution, entrepreneurship, global challenges, opporatunities, peace, skills, sustainable development, Youth

Youth Skills for Peace and Development

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship, as well as for addressing global challenges and advancing sustainable development.

The theme for World Youth Skills Day 2024 is Youth Skills for Peace and Development. It highlights the crucial role that young people play in peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts.

The world faces a multitude of challenges today, many of which affect the youth. Violent conflicts disrupting education and stability, a polarized online environment fostering negativity, and persistent economic inequality limits opportunities. These issues threaten not only individual futures but also the overall stability of societies. It is crucial to equip youth with the necessary skills for fostering a culture of peace, nurturing responsible global citizens, and promoting sustainable development to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future for all.

On World Youth Skills Day, let us unite in recognizing the potential of young people as agents of peace and commit to providing them with the skills and opportunities to address challenges and contribute to a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable future.

 

Source: text & Image: https://unevoc.unesco.org/wysd/World+Youth+Skills+Day

 

 

15th Sunday of Year B – 2024

11 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Ephesians 1:3-14, forgiveness of sins, free gift, freedom, God's adopted children, Holy Spirit, hopes, peace of mind, serenity

Rich, deep, and enlightening are the words I would use to describe the text of today’s 2nd reading (Ephesians 1:3-14).
Paul is writing to the first Christians of Ephesus, and he has much to tell them – much about God and much about themselves.

Reading again this long reflection, I find it a description of who a Christian is.
The words used by the apostle Paul reveal our true nature:

      – Before the world was made, the Father chose us to live through love in his presence.
      – He made us his adopted children.
      – He gave us this as a free gift.
      – Through Jesus we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
      – He has let us know the mystery of his plan.
      – In Christ we are claimed as God’s own, chosen from the beginning.
      – Chosen to be people who put their hopes in Christ.
      – We have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit.

As we live, from day to day, we may not often take the time to ponder this extraordinary reality.
If we did, the whole atmosphere that permeates our daily lives could be completely transformed.

Adoption by God, gift, freedom, forgiveness, hope…
More than enough to live with peace of mind, to live in serenity, relying on this God who claims us as his own,
“the Father who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven”.

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: 15è dimanche de l’année B -2024

 

Source: Image: https://www.scripture-images.com/bible-verse/kjv/ephesians-1-3-kjv.php

World Population Day – 11 July 2024

11 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: development, education, fertility, growth, health care, lifespan, migration, planet's resources, rights of the individual, rural areas, urbanization

World Population Trends

It took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to 1 billion – then in just another 200 years or so, it grew sevenfold. In 2011, the global population reached the 7 billion mark, it stands at almost 7.9 billion in 2021, and it’s expected to grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9 billion in 2100.

This dramatic growth has been driven largely by increasing numbers of people surviving to reproductive age, and has been accompanied by major changes in fertility rates, increasing urbanization and accelerating migration. These trends will have far-reaching implications for generations to come.

The recent past has seen enormous changes in fertility rates and life expectancy. In the early 1970s, women had on average 4.5 children each; by 2015, total fertility for the world had fallen to below 2.5 children per woman. Meanwhile, average global lifespans have risen, from 64.6 years in the early 1990s to  72.6 years in 2019.

In addition, the world is seeing high levels of urbanization and accelerating migration. 2007 was the first year in which more people lived in urban areas than in rural areas, and by 2050 about 66 per cent of the world population will be living in cities.

These megatrends have far-reaching implications. They affect economic development, employment, income distribution, poverty and social protections. They also affect efforts to ensure universal access to health care, education, housing, sanitation, water, food and energy. To more sustainably address the needs of individuals, policymakers must understand how many people are living on the planet, where they are, how old they are, and how many people will come after them.

Source: Text: https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/en/evento/world-population-day-11-july/    Image: https://indonesia.un.org/en/239134-world-population-day-11-july

On this World Population Day, let us renew our commitment to creating a world where every individual’s rights are respected, and where population growth is managed in harmony with the planet’s resources. Together, we can build a brighter future for generations to come.

Source: Text: Google

14th Sunday of Year B – 2024

5 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: curing, faith, Luke 17:19, Luke 18:42, Mark 6:1-6, Matthew 9:22, Matthew 9:27-31, power, preaching

Reading through the gospel texts, we find much to marvel at.
We see Jesus who goes from town to town, preaching, yes, but also curing all kinds of sick people.
Those afflicted with ailments and handicaps come to him to be made whole.
Jesus restores them to health.

Often, as he cured one or the other, he said to the person:
“Your faith has restored you to health”.
He said these words to the woman who was losing blood for many years (Matthew 9:22).

To the blind man of Jericho to whom he gave back his sight, Jesus said:
“Your faith has saved you” (Luke 18:42).

He said these same words to the grateful leper who returned to thank him for having cured him:
“Your faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19).

On this Sunday’s gospel text, we meet Jesus teaching in the synagogue, as he usually does on the Sabbat (Mark 6:1-6).
But we are told: “He could work no miracle there…”

What happened?
How is it that now Jesus can no longer help sick people?
Surely, his power has not suddenly disappeared!
What is preventing him from healing those in need of his intervention?

The answer comes at the end of the text:
“He was amazed at their lack of faith”.
It is astonishing, yet it seems obvious that God’s power can be limited by… our lack of faith!

There is an interesting scene where two blind men come to Jesus asking him to make them see.
Jesus asks them: “Do you believe I can do this?” (Matthew 9:27-31).
When the two men say that they do, Jesus replies:
“Your faith deserves it, so let this be done to you”.

So, we could say that a miracle depends on God’s power and… our own –
the power of our faith to enable God’s intervention.

Awesome power that is ours!
Awesome God we believe in!

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/14e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

 

Source: Image: https://www.daily-prayers.org/jesus-life-stories-2/jesus-teaches-in-the-synagogue-at-capernaum-2/

13th Sunday of Year B – 2024

28 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Colossians 1:15, created in the image of God, Genesis 1:27, I believe, inspired by the Spirit, tremendous reality, Wisdom 1:15-16; 2:23-24

Some texts from the Bible give us messages that are truly surprising.
The words we read, or hear during a celebration, can be really astonishing.
But it seems that somehow… we get use to the messages they give us.

Yet, it sometimes happens that we are jolted out of our routine.
We may be suddenly shaken, and deeply touched, by something that we thought we knew!

This could be the case with one verse of today’s first reading in the book of Wisdom (Wisdom 1:15-16; 2:23-24).

The text says:
“God made man (human beings) in the image of his own nature” (Wisdom 2:23).

The same thought appears in the very first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, which tells us:

“God created man (human beings) in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him (human beings),
male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

The text is well known to us but… do we realize what it truly means?
Each one of us, man and woman, is a reflection of God himself.
Something of God’s nature is part of our own human make-up.
Our humanity has been mysteriously fashioned by him to resemble who he is.

Perhaps, at this point, we need to accept this tremendous reality and to say: “I believe!”

“I believe!”
I believe that God has molded me into something similar to his own being.
I believe that God wanted to find something of himself in me,
I believe that he wanted me to resemble him –
resemble him in my being like him, inspired by his Spirit,
resemble him in being like his first Son, Christ –
the one who is the perfect image of himself (Colossians 1:15).
I believe that he knows I cannot be so on my own,
I believe he, himself, will enable me to become so… from day to day
until the day when seeing him face to face I realize… who I am… and who he is!

“I do believe!”

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/13e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

 

Source: Image: Scripture images