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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.

 

World Quality Day – 14 November

10 novembre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: awareness, business, change, organisations, products, professionals, quality, satisfied customers, services
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The purpose of World Quality Day is to promote awareness of quality around the world and to encourage individuals’ and organisations’ growth and prosperity

The CQI’s first World Quality Day conference took place on 13 November 2008 at the Imarsat Conference Centre in London and proved to be the forum for innovation, inspiration and creative ideas that it had promised to be.

World Quality Day takes place every year on the second Thursday of November. Businesses across the world take part in a variety of activities such as business-wide seminars, presentations, quizzes and competitions at their workplace. Events are usually organised by quality professionals based within organisations and are designed to spread the ‘importance of quality’ message to non-quality professionals.

When applied to organisations, the function of quality is to protect and enhance reputations, improve profitability and drive change. Ultimately, quality is an outcome – a characteristic of a product or service provided to a customer, and the hallmark of an organisation which has satisfied all of its stakeholders.

Source: Text & Image: WEBPLUS.INFO
 

33rd Sunday of the Year, C

10 novembre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: "Sun of righteousness", God's compassion, God's forgiveness, God's love, God's mercy, healing, Malachi 3:19-20, November, reality

November is there – the days are shorter and the clouds are often masters of the sky. It seems that the days are dark, dull and dreary and… somehow dispiriting.

But let the sun suddenly shine through the clouds and everything is changed: the colours take on richer hues – the reds are blood patches, the yellows are golden touches, the browns are rich copper blotches.

All this because the rays of the sun have pierced through the darkness.

This is the reflection that came to me as I read the 1st reading of this 33rd Sunday (Year C: Malachi 3:19-20). The last words tell us: shutterstock“The sun of righteousness will shine with healing in its rays.”

A message of hope if ever there was one! And it is truly needed as we read the gospel text for this Sunday (Lk.21:5-19). The scenes described there resemble our November weather: dark and dreary and they evoke pictures of death. Troubles, terror, tragedy – yes , all these are part of life, the sad and painful part of it. But it is not the whole picture. It is not the full reality. Healing is possible, healing is available, there, so near, from the one who offers it to us by his very presence.

The “sun of righteousness” is God’s love and mercy, God’s compassion and forgiveness. It is offered to us to heal in us all that is weak and disable, all that lacks faithfulness, all that prevents us from being what God expects us to be and to become. All…  

Source: Image: Shutterstock  

World Science Day for Peace and Development – 10 November

9 novembre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: awareness, democracy, development, education, peace, science, society, UNESCO

2015 UNESCO SCIENCES Calendrier chevalet (final).inddScience is highly diverse. Each year, World Science Day for Peace and Development offers an opportunity to demonstrate why science is relevant to people’s daily lives and to engage them in debates on related issues. In 2016, the celebration focuses on science centres and science museums to highlight their important contribution to science communication.

Citizens’ participation in governance is the core of democracy and an indispensable prerequisite for the empowerment of people. Science communication is crucial for public participation and engagement and in this regard, science centres and museums’ role goes beyond providing information on scientific issues. They are places where people can come together and explore the very mysteries that make up our world. They are fostering creativity, increasing scientific literacy, supporting teachers to inspire their students in STEM, improving the quality of science education and promoting learning experiences within a social context, as well as changing possible negative perceptions of the impact of science on society, thus attracting youths to science careers and encouraging them to experiment and expand our collective knowledge.

Proclaimed by the UNESCO General Conference (Resolution 31C/ 20) in 2001, the World Science Day for Peace and Development is an annual event celebrated all over the world to recall the commitment made at the UNESCO-ICSU World Conference on Science (Budapest 1999).

The purpose of World Science Day for Peace and Development is to renew the national, as well as the international commitment to science for peace and development and to stress the responsible use of science for the benefit of society. The World Science Day for Peace and Development also aims at raising public awareness of the importance of science and to bridge the gap between science and societies.

Source: Text & Image: UNESCO

International Day of Radiology – 8 November

7 novembre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: diagnosis, diseases, health care, MRI, radiology, science, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

This year, on November 8, the European Society of Radiology (ESR), the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) will celebrate the fifth International Day of Radiology (IDoR 2016), along with radiological societies the world over. This follows the successful International Days of Radiology, starting in 2012, which were held with the aim of building greater awareness of the value that radiology contributes to safe patient care, and improving understanding of the vital role radiologists play in the healthcare continuum.

Medical imaging is one of the most exciting and progressive disciplines in healthcare and a field of great activity in terms of technological and biological research. X-rays, MRI scans, ultrasound and numerous other medical imaging technologies, as well as the eye-catching images associated with them, are known to many people, but the exact purpose and value of these services is not widely understood by the public.

We therefore chose November 8, the day that Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered the existence of x-rays in 1895, as a day of action and awareness. We hope to alert the world to the stunning medical, scientific and even artistic possibilities of medical imaging, the essential role of the radiologist as a part of the healthcare team in countless medical scenarios, and the high educational and professional standards required of all staff working in medical imaging.
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Breast imaging has been chosen as the main theme of the day, to highlight the important role that radiology plays in the detection, diagnosis and management of diseases of the breast. To fulfil this purpose the organisers are this year cooperating with the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI) and the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI).

The day is a joint initiative of the ESR, the RSNA and the ACR, with the full cooperation and involvement of the International Society of Radiology (ISR), as well as umbrella organisations on all continents, including the Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology (AOSR), the Colegio Interamericano de Radiología (CIR), the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR), and the Radiological Society of South Africa (RSSA – which also represents neighbouring countries). The European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS) also supports the International Day of Radiology.

Source: Text: European Society of Radiology;  Image: Facebook

32nd Sunday of the Year, C

4 novembre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 2 Maccabees 7:9-14, alive, death, eternal life, God's promise, matter of life and death, promise, resurrection, Sadducees

the-catholic-catalogue”I promise you, I will…” A promise – we may be the one speaking the words. Or, someone else may be assuring us that he will do something for us, she will carry out something on our behalf. If the person speaking is trustworthy, we can hope that we will get what is promised. If he or she is reliable, we may expect that we will obtain whatever we have been told would be done or given.

What if the promise is given by… God? Yes, God makes promises, amazing promises, wonderful promises – so wonderful that we may think that… it is too good to be true. On the other hand, a promise made by God not being fulfilled is… unthinkable!

The 1st reading of this Sunday (32nd, Year C: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14) shows us people who have been “relying on God’s promise,” and this to the point of waging their life on it! The book of Maccabees tells the story of seven brothers (we meet four of them in this text ) who are faithful to God to the point of death because they are absolutely convinced that they will live again.

Yes, in this text of the Old Testament we see appearing this extraordinary belief in an afterlife. The second brother says it clearly: “The King of this world will raise us up… to live again for ever.” The words of his brother, the fourth one to speak, proclaim the same faith: “Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men’s hands, yet relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by him.”

 We could say that this Sunday presents us with… a matter of life and death – a serious matter if ever there was one! And the promise of God is reaffirmed by Jesus himself when challenged by the Sadducees (gospel reading Lk.20:27-38): “God is the God of the living; for the him all men are in fact alive.”

 Are we, alive? Really so? And are we convinced that we can be alive beyond death, if only we rely on God’s promise? It is, indeed, a matter of life and death!

Source: Image: The Catholic Catalogue

 

 

                     

31st Sunday of the Year, C

27 octobre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: coming down, kingdom of heaven, Lk.19:1-10, publican, salvation, Son of Man, Zacchaeus

zacchaeusHe was well-known, yes, he had a reputation, but not one to be envied. He was despised by his people for being a publican. As such, he was collecting the taxes from his fellow-Jews to the benefit of the hated power of occupation – the Romans. He was clever and knew how to profit from his post. He was a wealthy man and enjoyed his situation. Such was Zacchaeus (Lk.19:1-10).

But his dignity suffered from… a limitation – he was a short man. Amazingly, this contributed to… his salvation. For he was curious to see the Man of Nazareth, that preacher named Jesus who walked through the towns and villages speaking about some ‘kingdom’ or other. People said he called it ‘the kingdom of heaven’. Zacchaeus had to see for himself. But there was a problem: often large crowds surrounded that man and Zacchaeus was short, he would hardly manage to get a glimpse from the Teacher from afar. That is not what he wanted. His cleverness served him well once again.

He climbed a sycamore tree and had a vantage point to watch the scene of Jesus walking down the road in the direction where he was, up above, there in the tree. Have you ever had the sensation of being literally lost in a crowd and suddenly hearing your own name mentioned? Of course, everybody around you will turn to see who is that person being called out. This is what happened that day to Zacchaeus. He probably thought he was well hidden from sight and that nobody would notice his presence. But someone did – the very person he was eager to know!

His surprise was greater still when he heard Jesus tell him: “Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.” “The house of a sinner”, complained those who heard this. We all know the rest of the story and its message: “Today salvation has come to this house… for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost”.

And if we, too, were invited to climb down… not from a tree but from that place where we have been hiding? Our pride… Our fear of God… Our conviction that we can manage on own… Our thinking that we are too sinful to be forgiven… We might be as surprised as Zacchaeus was… and as surely saved as he was!

Source: Image: christianitymalaysia.com   

30th Sunday of the Year, C

20 octobre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Lk.18:9-14, Pharisee, prayer, Ps.34:18, publican, the Law

Praying is known to be an activity essentially directed to… God. It seems obvious that when someone comes to God in prayer, praises, thanks, blessings, will be addressed to him.
It could be said that prayer is simply acknowledging who God is and… who we are.

Amazingly, the gospel text of this Sunday (30th, Year C – Lk.18:9-14) presents us with someone who had not understood this most basic lesson about prayer.pharisee-pub
He is surely as convinced of the fact that he is praying as he is of being… the most deserving of God’s worshippers.

Jesus’ story is well known to us under the familiar title of: The parable of the Pharisee and the publican.
We know it well in its most colourful details, we even enjoy the caricatured description of the two personages.
The first one, a Pharisee, well respected in the Jewish community, comes before God to list – as if God had failed to notice – his many worthy actions that should win him God’s blessings. He does not fail to mention also how he carefully avoids any transgression of the Law.

Worse is to come. At this point in his prayer, the Pharisee starts looking down at the other man behind whom he despises for his last of respect for the Law. That publican has been judged and found wanting in the mind of the observant Pharisee.

The traditional roles of each of the two men are painted accurately. So far, Jesus’ listeners must follow him without difficulty while perhaps wondering where he is going with that story. It soon becomes very clear when Jesus concludes and says about the publican: “This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not.”

The Pharisee full of himself and boastful of all his qualities has not recognised God’s love and mercy who have brought him where he is. He thought he already had all he needed to have.

We may sometimes fail to understand that whatever we are and whatever we have managed to become is pure gift from God. We may be oblivious to all that we still need to be given so as to please God.
The publican stood before God – bowed before him – ready to be given, happy to receive God’s forgiveness and all the other gifts that God is eager to give to people like him.

For the Psalm assures us (Ps.34:18): “The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, he helps those whose spirit is crushed.” Happy are we if we remember this whenever we approach God in prayer…

Source: Image: www.pravoslavie.ru

29th Sunday of the Year, C

13 octobre 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Lk.18:1-8, persévérance, persistent widow, prayer, unjust judge

imagesippb2cg0Have you ever tried to obtain something from someone who showed no interest in your request? Worse still the person was not interested in YOU! This can be a most frustrating situation as many of us have made the experience. In such a situation, some people will simply walk away convinced that there is nothing to be done. Others, of a more stubborn inclination, will keep on asking, determined to get what they want. They will keep on begging and literally ‘pestering’ the one from whom they expect to get something.

The gospel text of this Sunday (29th, Year C – Lk.18:1-8) gives us the example of such a person – a widow who wants a wicked judge to grant her what she has a right to get from an opponent. The scene is described vividly and the message is clear. In fact, before we even hear, or read, the story itself, we are told its purpose. Jesus wants us to understand “the need to pray continually and never lose heart.”

Praying is already an activity which many of us do not find easy… and we are told that we should pray continually and never lose heart. Persistence is what obtained for the widow what she wanted. Of course, we are NOT to imagine God as a wicked judge – he is a most loving Father – but he likes to see us show the same perseverance, the same insistence, the same, yes, stubbornness in asking. Not for his own sake but for ours!pray-always

The words of Jesus concluding the story are words of promise. “Now will not God see justice done to his chosen who cry to him day and night even when he delays to help them? I promise you he will see justice done to them.” What often bothers us, obviously, is… the delay! But this is precisely where perseverance comes in!

Source: Images: claygentry.com   www.etsy.com