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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.

 

Good Friday, C

25 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: death, giving one's life, Jesus'story, Life

 meme-bible-john-greater-love-1342022-galleryOn this Good Friday, a short reflection only as I believe human words should take away from the impact of God’s word.www.cathedralmountainlodge.com

A few months ago, during summertime, the news broadcast told the sad story of two young people who had gone canoeing on a river.
Suddenly, an undercurrent started to rock their canoe – they both knew they were in trouble.
The boy threw to the girl the only life jacket in the canoe telling her to put it on.
She did and it saved her life. The boy was carried far away and his body was found only a few days later.

The young woman, remembering her boyfriend, kept repeating: “He gave his life that I may live…”

Today, looking at Jesus on the cross, every one of us can say the same words… in all truth…

Source: Images: www.cathedralmountainlodge.com    jesus-story.net

Holy Thursday, C

24 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: dream, Jn.13:1, Jn.13:21, Jn.6:55-56, Jn.6:59, Last Supper, Mt.26:26-27, Passover meal

Have you ever dreamt of something you wanted very much?
Something you would give anything to see happen…
Something that would fill you with deep joy, with utter contentment.
If it did happen, it was, literally a DREAM COME TRUE!

Well, we could say that what happened on the first Holy Thursday, during what is known as The Last Supper¸ is ‘a dream come true’.
Jesus had anticipated this moment for a long time… It was HIS dream…

At one moment, during the Passover meal, he left aside the usual Jewish ritual for that festive occasion.
He took some bread and said: “Take and eat, this is my body…”
Then, he took the cup of wine and said: “Drink all of you… for this is my blood…” (Mt.26:26-27)jesus_feeds_5000_4-web-size11

This was the realisation of what he had said following the multiplication of the loaves.
At that time, he had spoken these words:
“My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (Jn.6:55).
At that moment, many people had stopped following him – they simply could not accept what they called such “intolerable language” (Jn.6:59).
His twelve friends had not understood either what he meant but they had remained with him… until tonight.

Hearing him speak now, they may have recalled that, when he had first spoken about this, he had added the words: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person” (Jn.6:56).

saltandlighttv.orgSome of them may have remembered… or perhaps they had not, overcome as they were by the solemn and sad atmosphere they could feel at that moment in the Upper Room.
They had noticed how Jesus seemed downcast and anxious… he was “troubled in spirit…” (Jn.13:21).
The Passover celebration was to be the most joyful occasion in the Jewish calendar – but for them, tonight, it was not so.

Later, much later, one of them wrote about that night and said: “He had always loved those who were his own in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was…” (Jn.13:1).
They had – finally – understood what that night was all about……….

Source: Images: elderwilkins.wordpress.com   saltandlighttv.org

World TB Day – 24 March

23 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: bacterial disease, developing countries, epidemic, Koch, South-East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, TB public awareness, WHO

wtbd_news_sectionThe theme of this year’s World TB Day is: « Unite to End TB »

World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries.

It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch’s announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch’s discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB.

Source: Text & Image: Website Stop TB Partnership

Background
Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs. It is transmitted from person to person via droplets from the throat and lungs of people with the disease. WHO estimates that the largest number of new TB cases in 2005 occurred in south-east Asia, which accounted for 34 percent of incident cases globally. However, the estimated incidence rate in sub-Saharan Africa is nearly twice that of south-east Asia.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – 21 March

20 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: bigotry, challenges, commitment, dignity, Durban Declaration, enslavement, fairness, human rights, intolerance, racial discrimination, racism, UN, xenophobia

2016 Theme: Challenges and Achievements of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – 15 years after

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is an opportunity to renew our commitment to building a world of justice and equality where xenophobia and bigotry do not exist. We must learn the lessons of history and acknowledge the profound damage caused by racial discrimination. »       Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

We need to fight racism everywhere, every day. But on 21 March – proclaimed by the General Assembly as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – all eyes are on the issue. This year, the International Day is devoted to challenges and achievements of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – 15 years after the landmark document was adopted at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in South Africa.

The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action is the most comprehensive framework for fighting racism and related forms of intolerance and discrimination. It represents the firm commitment of the international community to tackle these issues, and serves as a basis for advocacy efforts worldwide.

It contains a broad range of measures aimed at combating racism in all of its manifestations, and underscores the human rights of all groups suffering from racial discrimination, emphasizing their right to participate freely and equally in political, social, economic and cultural life.

2016

« Fifteen years after the Durban Conference very little progress has been made in tackling racism, afrophobia, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, » three human rights experts said.  There is a clear need for putting into practice what was agreed to in Durban. This year’s anniversary, following the 10-year anniversary observed in 2011, provides the opportunity to recommit to taking the actions outlined in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and for all countries, individually and collectively, to intensify efforts aimed at reducing instances of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

Photo: “People of African descent have for centuries been victims of racism, racial discrimination and enslavement and of the denial by history of many of their rights… they should be treated with fairness and respect for their dignity and should not suffer discrimination of any kind.” – Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, 2001. UN Photo/Logan Abassi, Haiti 2012
Source: Text & Photo: UN website

Palm Sunday, C

17 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Jn.12:13, Jn.13:2-11, Jn.18:33-38, Jn.19:15, Jn.5:41, Jn.6:15, Jn.8:37, Lk.19:38, peace, service, truth, Your kingdom come

Some years before, they had come to make him king. It was after the multiplication of the loaves. Imagine someone feeding a huge crowd with 5 loaves and two fish – this is the kind of king they wanted, the kind of king they needed. With him the social problems of their people would be solved in no time. So, in what we would call today a ‘populist movement’ they wanted to take him and crown him by force. But he had escaped to the mountain and spent the night there, praying (Jn.6:15).

Later, during some discussion with the Jews, he had told them: “Human approval means nothing to me” (Jn.5:41). But he knew that they did not believe his words and he told them clearly: “Nothing I say has penetrated into you” (Jn.8:37).

And then, unexpectedly, he sends two of his apostles to a village telling them to fetch a donkey, yes, a donkey. He sits on it and enters Jerusalem surrounded by a crowd crying out with joy: “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Lk. 19:38). Strange, this time he not only accepts this manifestation but he has, somehow, ‘stage managed’ it, people would say nowadays.

A king, on a donkey? Which earthly ruler would accept to be seen on such a mount?TriEntry3
A king without a territorial kingdom to claim as his own?
A king without soldiers to wage war in his name to spread his fame and his rule?
A king without servants – nay, a king who is THE servant?!

What does this mean?
What does it mean to his people?
What does it mean to HIM?
What does it mean to US?

In four days’ time, only 4 days, he will be seen doing the work of a slave, washing the feet of his apostles (Jn.13:2-11).
The following day, the crowd that had cried so loud: “Blessings on the King… ” (Jn.12:13) will now shout: “Crucify him!” (Jn.19:15).

When asked by Pilate if he is a king, he will not deny it but he will make it clear what kind of a king he is: the one who came to witness to the truth – not what the Roman prefect expected to hear – in fact, he did not even listen to the answer (Jn.18:33-38).
He is a king who brings peace to the world – the chants of the people have recognised this.

SERVICE – PEACE – TRUTH, perhaps this is the deep meaning of Palm Sunday…
The deep meaning of what we pray every day: “Your kingdom come…”

Source: Image: christianbiblereference.org

 

World Social Work Day – 15 March

16 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: dignity, recognition, rights, social work, social workers, society

ifsw_85303-6

World Social Work Day, held this year on 15 March, is an annual occasion when social workers around the globe highlight their work and receive the recognition their invaluable contribution to society – in countries all over the planet – deserves.

Source: Text & Image: The British Association of Social Workers

5th Sunday of Lent, C

10 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: condemnation, Isaiah 43:16-21, John 8:1-11, Ph.3:8-14, Pharisees, Psalm 126, salvation, the past, woman caught in adultery

The past… OUR past…
We can live in the past, with nostalgia…
We can cling to the past traditions and customs…
We can try to bury the past in forgetfulness…
We can try not to face the past because of it being too shameful or painful…

The 1st and the 2nd readings of this 5th Sunday of Lent (year C) speak about the past.
Through his prophet, Isaiah (Is.43:16-21), God tells us: “No need to recall the past, no need to think about what was done before. See I am doing a new deed.”

youtube 5th LentAnd Paul, writing to the Philippians (Ph.3:8-14), says about himself: “I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is yet to come.”

Why should we not cling to the past, or try avoiding it, or take refuge in it? Simply because God wants something new for us. And not only does he want it, but he makes it for us.

The gospel shows him doing exactly that (Jn.8:1-11). There, we meet a woman dragged before Jesus because of a past deed – shameful, sinful, yes. The Pharisees have brought her to the Master and their eyes accuse her as much as their words.freebibleimages.org

Jesus, for his part, does not even look at her. Not to shame her, he looks down to the ground and… writes in the sand! Then, it is to her accusers that he speaks. Soon, they have disappeared because they know well that from being the accusers they have become, silently, the accused…

Addressing the woman, Jesus does not say that what she did was not wrong but he helps her to go beyond the bad action. He helps her to forget the past and to look to the future. “Woman, has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you; go away and don’t sin any more.”Jesus forgets and forgives her past. This is how God is. God looks at our past to forgive it, if only we are sorry for what we have done. And he directs our eyes and our hearts to the future, to what he is preparing for us.

Today’s Psalm (Ps.126:1-2,3-6) says it beautifully: “When the Lord delivered (us), it seemed like a dream.”

Source: Images: youtube;      freebibleimages.org   

International Women’s Day 2016 – 8 March

7 mars 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 8 March, awareness, Ban Ki-moon, Gender equality, Planet 50-50 by 2030, UN

IWD2016_Banner_StepItUpMarch8March_RLB_0689_675x450-2The 2016 theme for International Women’s Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. The United Nations observance on 8 March will reflect on how to accelerate the 2030 Agenda, building momentum for the effective implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals. It will equally focus on new commitments under UN Women’s Step It Up initiative, and other existing commitments on gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s human rights.

Events
The official UN commemoration will take place in the Trusteeship Council at the UN Secretariat in New York City from 10 a.m.-12.45 p.m. It will consist of a series of musical performances and two panel discussions. The first, from 10-11.15 a.m., will reflect on what a gender-equal planet means and how to achieve it by 2030 by joining the efforts of the United Nations, governments, civil society and the private sector. For the second panel, entitled “The Push for Parity”, panelists will probe the progress made in achieving gender equality in the UN system, examine the challenges remaining and unpack how to mainstream gender perspectives from 11.15 a.m.–12.45 p.m. 

Also on 8 March, Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in New York at 9 a.m. Similar events will take place in 34 countries around the world as part of joint awareness-raising efforts with the Global Compact.
Around the world, UN Women is organizing International Women’s Day events in more than 40 countries, including: a friendly hockey match between a men’s and women’s team in Tanzania on 5 March; a march and cycling rally in New Delhi, India on 6 March; a festival with live musical and dance performances in Palestine on 8 March; marches, a football match and painting expositions across Albania from 5-8 March; and a women’s “run to Step It Up” in São Paulo, Brazil on 20 March—to name just a few.

Speeches and messages
UN Secretary-General’s message for 2016
“We have shattered so many glass ceilings we created a carpet of shards. Now we are sweeping away the assumptions and bias of the past so women can advance across new frontiers,” says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message for International Women’s Day 2016.

UN Women Executive Director’s message for IWD 2016
“Each one of us is needed—in our countries, communities, organizations, governments and in the United Nations—to ensure decisive, visible and measurable actions are taken under the banner: Planet 50-50: Step It Up for Gender Equality,” says UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in her message.
For International Women’s Day messages from the UN system, visit Women Watch.

– See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day#sthash.6QgbZZ4w.dpuf    Source: Text & Image: UN Women