It may happen to you as it sometimes happens to me: we read a text and… suddenly we are ‘hooked’ on a sentence, our attention is completely taken up by a few words. The meaning of the whole text remains in the background, we focus on the few words that have struck us.
This is what happened to me when reading the text of the first reading of this 5th Sunday of Easter (year C, Acts 14:21-27). We are told that: “On their arrival, they (Paul and Barnabas) assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them” (v.27).
These words can be understood in two ways: what God had done with them, meaning that God is working with Paul and Barnabas. We usually think about this the other way around! We say that we work with God, WE cooperate WITH HIM in carrying out his plan. But here, it is as if God is the one whose collaboration is given to the two apostles.
A second interpretation of what God had done with them is that God works with whatever materiel he finds in us – what we are, what we do, what we work at – God uses this to carry out his plan. An interesting idea – God is ready and willing to make the best of what is available… in us, at the moment. It is with this that he will create his… masterpiece. Like a master sculptor who uses a given piece of wood, or stone, or marble, to work with.
The story is told of a man who was known to have a very bad temper. He was, by nature, very impatient and he could get very angry for matters that people around would qualify of no importance. One day, someone thought it could help the man if this was pointed out to him. The reply was not long in coming, and really witty too: “Just wait! God is not finished with me yet!”
And each one of us can also say: « God is not finished with me… yet!...
Source: Image: Dreamstime.com
whose birthday falls on the same date.
Many of us like to have some pictures in our missal or our Bible; this makes it easy for us to find a special text or a reference we often come back to. The pictures may have been there for months, even years and… we do not pay much attention to them any longer. We may not notice anymore what the picture represents, at least many of the details do not retain our attention. They are printed papers…
The IAA (International Association of Art) designated April 15 as World Art Day with the intention that it will be a day for all artists and art lovers in the world to celebrate, not only members of IAA. The idea is to create a day to emphasize the importance of art in the lives of everyone, of all ages and races. Every gallery, museum, art center, university and artist are free to organize their own activities.
Dr. Parkinson first described the disease in “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy”, he described a pattern of lessened muscular power, involuntary tremulous motion, even if these are supported. There is at tendency to bend the body forwards, and to involuntarily switch from a walking to a running pace, while the sense and intellect deteriorate.
