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.

 

12th Sunday of Year B – 2024

21 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: asleep, being questioned by God, faith, fear, not caring, questioning God, storms

Our relationship with God can take on different aspects.
Today’s gospel text shows a rather astonishing element… that of questioning!

The scene is that of the apostles caught in a storm and their boat is nearly swamped by the waves (Mark 4:35-41).
Amazingly, Jesus is quietly sleeping through this situation.
His apostles come to wake him up with obvious insistence, asking him:

“Master, don’t you care if we drown?”

A question which has the tone of a challenge, and something of a reproach as well.
Jesus intervenes with power and authority over the forces of nature.
All is peaceful again – both wind and sea are now calm.

But then, Jesus is the one now questioning the apostles, saying:
“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Quite an amazing question in the circumstances!
Jesus had been sleeping, unaware, unconcerned, it seems, by what the apostles were faced with.
The whole episode could have turned tragic.
And he questions… their FAITH!

His friends have nothing to say in reply, but they now question… themselves about Jesus – about God.
“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Questioning God… Being questioned by God… Questioning ourselves about God…
This may be the slow process of getting to know God… through stormy days as well as more peaceful ones.
Daring to believe that even if he seems asleep God cannot fail to keep us safe…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/12e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

Source: Image: Scripture Images

World Giraffe Day – 21 June

21 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: coat patterns, facts. neck, giraffes, habitat, mammals, species, the wild

World Giraffe Day is an annual event initiated by GCF to celebrate the tallest animal on the longest day or night (depending on which hemisphere you live!) of the year – 21 June – every year!

World Giraffe Day helps raise support, create awareness and shed light on the challenges giraffe face in the wild. By supporting World Giraffe Day , you directly help save giraffe in Africa. With only approximately 117,000 giraffe remaining in the wild, the time is right to act NOW!
Five Facts about Giraffes

Fact #1:

There are four distinct species of giraffe: Northern giraffe, Southern giraffe, Reticulated giraffe and Masai giraffe.

Fact #2:

Just like human fingerprints, no two giraffe have the same coat pattern.

Fact #3:

The giraffe is the tallest mammal in the world. Even newborn giraffe are taller than most humans.

Fact #4:

Giraffe have lost almost 90% of their habitat in the last 300 years.

Fact #5:

For every four elephant, only one giraffe remains in the wild in Africa—a drop of approximately 30% in the last three and a half decades.

Source: Text & Image: https://give.giraffeconservation.org/appeal/wgd24/

World Motorcycle Day – 21 June

21 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: bikers, car, fun, industry, lifestyle, motorcycle, road

World Motorcycle Day is celebrated every year on June 21 as a day to promote freedom of the road. Since June 21 is the year’s longest day, the holiday is always observed on that day. This day is dedicated to motorcycle enthusiasts and anyone else involved in the industry.

World Motorcycle Day is on June 21st, celebrating passionate bikers and the motorcycle culture from design, riding, choppers, sports bikes, adventure, racing to classic bikes. The first steam-powered motorcycle was created in 1860 by Pierre Michaux in Paris. Two decades later, the first internal combustion petroleum fueled motorcycle was made by Daimler Reitwagen in Germany.

The whole biker lifestyle began with servicemen returning from World War II who bonded over the love of motorcycles. In the early 1900s, over 300 American motorcycle companies were launched. Compact, easy to store, and fun to drive, there is no wonder why motorcycles grew as popular as cars!

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.internationaldays.co/event/world-motorcycle-day

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought – 17 June 2024

17 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: agriculture, challenges, future, irrigation, land, legacy, stewardship, technologies, weather patterns

The theme of the 2024 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, 17 June, is “United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future”, highlighting the future role of land stewardship in ensuring the stability and prosperity of billions of people around the world.

Desertification, land degradation, and drought are among the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, with up to 40 per cent of all land area worldwide already considered degraded.

Desertification and drought are being made worse by increasingly erratic and extreme weather patterns due to climate change, which puts tens of millions of people each year at risk of displacement.

To cope with an uncertain future, decision makers will need to adopt resilient water management techniques and technologies as part of a more sustainable approach to land stewardship.

  • 72% of all freshwater withdrawals are used by agriculture, 16% by industries, and 12% by municipalities. (UN-Water, 2023) 
  • Rising water stress is affecting food security and biodiversity. There are rapid changes in surface water in one fifth of river basins. (UN-Water, 2021
  • Water-harvesting and water conservation techniques could boost rainfed kilocalorie production by up to 24% and, if combined with irrigation expansion, by more than 40%. (FAO, 2020)

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.unwater.org/news/world-day-combat-desertification-and-drought-17-june

World Day of the African Child – 16 June 2024

16 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: economic challenges, education, inequality, injustice, police brutality, quality learning, sexual explitation, Sowerto South Africa

The Day of the African Child is commemorated every year on 16 June since 1991. On this day we remember black high school students who participated in the Soweto Uprising in South Africa in June 1976, when they began a series of demonstrations and protests against education injustice and inequality during the apartheid regime.  It is estimated that about 20,000 students took part in the protests. They were met with police brutality and many were shot and killed.  Thus 16 June every year is held in honour of the African child.

According to the African Union, the theme for the Day of the African Child in 2024 is “Education for all Children in Africa: the Time is Now” aligning with the African Union’s Year of Education, which focuses on building resilient education systems to ensure increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa.

Many children in Africa have come a long way as some have gone through abuse and exploitation just because of the need to survive and because families were economically challenged.  Thus, many children did not attend school and had to work to help boost household incomes.  People took advantage of the families’ vulnerable situations and ended up employing both children and their parents.  Also, children were involved in the worst forms of child labour with meagre pay. They were also trafficked and sexually exploited.  Some years back ANPPCAN coined a slogan, “Adults to Work and Children to School.”  This was a campaign to withdraw children from child labour and enroll them back in schools. 

 

Source: Text: /in      Image: africanchildrenfund.org

 

11th Sunday of Year B – 2024

14 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: explanations, friend, Holy Spirit, homily, Jesus' presence, John 14:26, Mark 4:26-34, neighbor, parables

The readings of our celebrations are many and they are rich in what they offer us.
The third reading – the gospel – brings us to Jesus himself, what he said and what he did.
Today’s last verse of the gospel has a message for us.
It tells us that Jesus spoke to his listeners in parables meant to make his words understood by them (Mark 4:26-34).

But this verse adds:
“When he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything to them”.

We may be tempted to envy them!
They lived daily in the presence of the Master.
He was there, always ready to explain his message to them and answer their questions.
When they failed to understand something that he had taught, they could ask him to speak about this again.

Yet… he is also with us…
Oh, not visible, of course, and his voice cannot be heard as yours and mine can be.
But his presence is no less real.
And we also have been given his promise –
the promise that his Spirit will remind us of what he said and make us understand his message (John 14:26).

Perhaps, what is needed is for us to take the time –
the time to sit quietly and listen again…

Listen to his words in the Bible…
Go for a walk in nature and listen to what he will silently inspire us…
Sit in our favorite corner of the garden where we can be by ourselves and remember what he told us already…

The remark of a neighbor…
A conversation with a friend…
The text of a book…
A priest’s homily…

All of these can be the way the Spirit will reach us today, and tomorrow, and…
And, suddenly, Christ’s message will take on a new meaning… an inspiration… for now, and later!

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/11e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/https://image-i-nations.com/11e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

 

Source: Images: Scripture Images One Walk / With Jesus

World Blood Donor Day – 14 June 2024

14 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: blood donors, blood transfusion, impact, life-saving, patients, safe blood, universal access

Every year countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.

A blood service that gives patients access to safe blood and blood products in sufficient quantity is a key component of an effective health system. The global theme of World Blood Donor Day changes each year in recognition of the selfless individuals who donate their blood for people unknown to them.

On World Blood Donor Day, celebrated on 14 June 2024, WHO, its partners and communities across the world will unite behind the theme: 20 years of celebrating giving: thank you blood donors!

The 20th anniversary of World Blood Donor Day is an excellent and timely opportunity to thank blood donors across the world for their life-saving donations over the years and honour the profound impact on both patients and donors. It is also a timely moment to address continued challenges, and accelerate progress towards a future where safe blood transfusion is universally accessible.

The objectives of the campaign:

  • thank and recognize the millions of voluntary blood donors who have contributed to the health and well-being of millions of people around the world.
  • showcase the achievements and challenges of national blood programmes and share best practices and lessons learned.
  • highlight the continuous need for regular, unpaid blood donation to achieve universal access to safe blood transfusion.
  • promote a culture of regular blood donation among young people and the general public and increase the diversity and sustainability of the blood donor pool.
Source: Text & Image: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-blood-donor-day/2024

10th Sunday of Year B – 2024

7 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: accusing, authentic, Christ-like, duplicity, Genesis 3:9-15, hiding, Mark 3:20-35, pretending, scapegoating

Excusing oneself by accusing someone else – this is as old as the world, it seems!
Today’s Scripture texts are inviting us to reflect on this.

The 1st reading reminds us of the well-known story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:9-15).
Questioned by God about their misdeed, the man accuses his wife while she, in turn, accuses the serpent.

And in today’s gospel, we meet the Scribes challenging Jesus (Mark 3:20-25).
Unable to accept Jesus as having the power of God, they accuse him of being possessed by Satan.
They claim that he is casting out devils by Beelzebul, the prince of devils.

The daily news broadcast is full of examples of such attitudes: blaming others and failing to accept one’s responsibility.
Or, refusing to accept the good accomplished by someone fearing that it overshadows one’s reputation.

We can lament such duplicity, dishonesty, lack of transparency.
It seems that there is plenty of deceitfulness and double-dealing in our world,

But… we should turn our look inwards and ask ourselves whether we are immune to such behavior.

In the text of the scene related in the 1st reading we see that:
“The man and his wife… hid from the Lord in the trees of the garden”.

“The Lord called to the man: ‘Where are you?’
‘I heard the sound of you in the garden’;
he replied “I was afraid’…”

Hiding out of fear may be a natural reaction for many of us…
We may still be on the way to a more mature acknowledgement of what we do…

Hiding, pretending, scapegoating – all too human, some may say…
Less than truly human – it should be said…

Less than authentically Christ-like…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/10e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

 

Source: Images: https://www.biblword.net/what-about-the-fall-of-man-in-the-garden-of-eden/ https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/image/jesus-authority-questioned-bab5358?lang=eng

World Food Safety Day – 7 June

6 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: agriculture, bacteria, chemical substances, diseases, distribution, food safety, human health, parasites, production, storage, viruses

Why improving food safety is important

Access to sufficient amounts of safe food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic in nature and often invisible to the plain eye, caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food or water.

Food safety has a critical role in assuring that food stays safe at every stage of the food chain – from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, all the way to preparation and consumption.

With an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, disproportionally affecting vulnerable and marginalized people, especially women and children, populations affected by conflict, and migrants. An estimated 420 000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food and children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125 000 deaths every year.

World Food Safety Day on 7 June aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with Member States and other relevant organizations. This international day is an opportunity to strengthen efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe, mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally.

Did you know?

  • Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases.
  • Recent estimates indicate that the impact of unsafe food costs low- and middle-income economies around US$ 95 billion in lost productivity each year.
  • Good hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors help to reduce the emergence and spread of foodborne diseases.
Source: Text & Image: https://www.un.org/en/observances/food-safety-day (Photo: FAO/G.Agostinucciruit and vegetables farmers’ market in Budapest, Hungary)

World Environment Day – 5 juin 2024

5 juin 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: carbon storage, désertification, drought, eco-systems, environment, extreme weather, food security, land degradation

World Environment Day is the biggest international day for the environment. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and held annually since 1973, it has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach. It is celebrated by millions of people across the world.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host World Environment Day 2024 with a focus on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience. Land restoration is a key pillar of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, which is critical to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNEP chief’s statement on World Environment Day 2024

Land restoration can reverse the creeping tide of land degradation, drought and desertification. Every dollar invested in restoration can bring up to US$30 in ecosystem services. Restoration boosts livelihoods, lowers poverty and builds resilience to extreme weather. Restoration increases carbon storage and slows climate change. Restoring just 15 per cent of land and halting further conversion could avoid up to 60 per cent of expected species extinctions.

But we must also end the drivers of land degradation, drought and desertification, such as climate change. Last year, temperatures records were shattered. Much of the world felt the impacts, not just in heat but in storms, floods and drought. Restoring land without tackling climate change would be like giving with one hand and taking away with the other, so G20 nations must show leadership across the whole climate agenda – as the Kingdom has done and continues to do on land restoration.

There is real hope. Countries have promised to restore one billion hectares, an area larger than China. If they deliver, this will be huge. Through World Environment Day and through hosting the UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s conference of the parties this December, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can build momentum and action towards these restoration goals, slow climate change, protect nature and boost the livelihoods and food security of billions of people around the world.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/statements/world-environment-day-2024-accelerating-land-restoration-drought