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.

 

Feast of Mary, Mother of God, Year B – 2021

1 janvier 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: benefits, blessing, happiness, health, Numbers 6:22-27, opportunities, success

During this festive season of Christmas and the New Year, we exchange good wishes, all kinds of them.
Phone calls, Christmas cards, emails, messages on Messenger or Twitter –
all the platforms are good If they serve our purpose:
that of sending to others our wishes for their health, happiness, success, and other good things in plenty.

But do we exchange blessings?
Some of you may be surprised at this question… Blessings?
But… what are they really?

Some would define them as gifts, opportunities, benefits, good luck perhaps…
Others would describe them as an intervention that will bring a sense of well-being, of contentment.
All this is true but…

If we pay attention to the 1st reading of today’s feast (Numbers 6:22-27),
we should admit that something is missing in the definitions above and that is… God’s touch!

Yes, a blessing is not only some pious wish, or words expressing the desire of good fortune for someone else.
A blessing is a call on God himself to intervene in favor of someone,
in other words: to give as only God can give!
 
A blessing is a gift from God himself.
The text says that God will be ‘gracious’ to the person blessed in his name,
and the ‘grace’ that God gives is… himself!

This is what he has done in Jesus, the new-born we see in Mary’s arms.

What else could we desire, or ask for, that would satisfy us truly?
This blessing enfolds all others!
And, the amazing thing is that God wants so much to give it to us that… he wants us to ask for it!

God BLESS YOU!

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-marie-mere-de-dieu-annee-b-2020/

Source: Image: ibelieve.com   deseret.com

Feast of the Holy Family, Year B – 2020

26 décembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Abraham, call, confinement, cure, gift, God's gifts, He 11:7-19, He 11:8-12, Mary and Joseph, pandemic, wondering

 We live an unusual situation and this period of pandemic is definitely upsetting.
Our daily lives have been turned upside down –
our ways of doing and being can no longer be what they were only nine months ago.
And we are… wondering – wondering where we are going, where this will lead us to…

The 2nd reading of today’s feast tells us of Abram (He.11:8,11-12,17-19)
who also experienced his life being transformed by an unexpected call.
We are told:

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, 
obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going…”

At that time, Abraham was in the dark, so to speak, it was only later that he would see
that the place he was going to would become a gift.

Fast forward to our 21st century:
Could it be that this period of pandemic would also become… a gift later?
 
And in today’s gospel we meet Mary and Joseph bringing their new-born child to the Temple (Lc.2:22-40).
It is said that:

“The child’s father and mother stood there wondering…”
 
The English word ‘wonder’ has, in fact, a double meaning:
To wonder can mean asking oneself questions about something or someone;
To wonder can also mean to marvel at something, some situation or person.

Our present situation of social distancing and confinement may lead us to ask many questions:
When will we be freed from this situation?
Will there be a cure one day?
Will our lives return to what they were before this pandemic?

 

What if our wonder about what is happening now
turned out to be wonder at what God will have done for us later?

God’s ways can be really wonder-full!

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-sainte-famille-annee-b-2020/

 

Source: Images: Votaws.com   Pinterest

Feast of Christmas, Year B – 2020

24 décembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 'God-with-us', child, Christmas, Isaiah 9:1-6, son

Did you notice how, when surprised or caught unawares, some people will explain:
“My God!”
The words come not as a prayer but as a spontaneous exclamation.

And yet, it could be a prayer… and it could be more than a prayer –
it could be the sign that the words of Isaiah in the 1st reading of the Christmas night mass (Isaiah 9:1-6)
have been really understood.

Because this is the true meaning of CHRISTMAS:
“To us a child is born,
to us a son is given.”

If only, this time – this Christmas – we could discover, understand, and appropriate this reality.
Appropriate, yes, make it our own – God is OUR God, God is God-with-us – this is his name.

How is it that we have come to imagine a distant God, remote from our human experience?
How did we miss what he has been trying to make us understand for so long?
Why do we find it so hard to accept that his idea of what God should be is the right one?!

Why do we constantly go back to the gods of the past, the gods known before Jesus was born a small child –
Born from a human mother, a woman of our race – that he could in truth claim us as his own.

He has claimed us as his own so that we may claim him as ours – indeed OUR God.
A child born to us, a son given to us.
 
This is Christmas – “MY God!” how amazingly wonderful!

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-noel-annee-b-2020/

 

Source: Image: Knowing Jesus

4th Sunday of Advent, Year B – 2020

18 décembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 'God-with-us', Advent, angel, believe, Emmanuel, Eucharistic celebration - Mass, Holy Family, Luke 1:26-38, message, Nativity scene, wish

We get used to things that we do often; used also to the words we repeat day after day.
The words we speak during our liturgical celebrations are no exception and…
sad to say, all too often we repeat them with our minds busy with all kinds of other thoughts.

During the Eucharistic celebration (the Mass) more than once, the priest tells us:
“The Lord be with you.”
We respond immediately – or at least, most of us do –
“And also with you.”
 
These 5 words addressed to us by the celebrant sound somehow like a wish,
a prayerful one but still a wish.
I know a few priests who rather say: “The Lord IS with you.”
 
These are the very words with which the angel Gabriel greeted Mary.
We hear them again in today’s gospel text (Luke 1:26-38).
I wonder if Mary was surprised?… Amazed?… Delighted?…
Wondering what would follow this greeting?…
Did she truly believe the message these words expressed?
 
The first time I heard the words repeated during Mass, I was suddenly made aware of what was said… to ME!
And, for some time after, I kept repeating silently to myself: The Lord is with me…
 
Perhaps this is the purpose of the period of Advent: to realize that God is with us –
yes, already with us!
We need not wait for the Nativity scene to make us believe it.

The reproduction of the Holy Family in a stable, or a cave, or any kind of shelter, will not make this more real.
It will only be a reminder of who God is now and for ever: EMMANUEL – GOD-WITH-US.

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-b-2020/

 

Source: Image: YouTube

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B – 2020

11 décembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Advent, awareness, benefit, invitation, Jn.1:19-28, Jn.1:6-8, John the Baptist, Presence of God, Prophets

“You did not see this!” or “Did you not hear that?”
“You have not done this?” or “You have not been there!”

Whether in the form of a question, or an exclamation, many people do not like to be addressed in this way.
Somehow, they perceive such words as an accusation, an indication that they have missed something.
And… perhaps they have indeed missed something…
They may have missed out on something they would have greatly benefitted from!

In today’s gospel (Jn.1:6-8,19-28), we meet John the Baptist with the people sent to question him on his true identity.
Having denied that he is any of the prophets or God’s special messenger, he tells them:

“There stands One among you whom you do not know.”

Enigmatic? Perhaps.
Prophetic? Certainly
It is an invitation to become aware of a presence – the presence of one as yet unrecognized.

This is the very invitation addressed to us in this period of Advent.
No matter how long we have been Christians, there is a permanent need to become more aware of this presence.
A permanent need to discover anew who is this God who constantly comes to us… at times, in some unlikely disguises!
A need, an invitation to know him more deeply from day to day… among us…
 
Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-b-2020/

Source: Images: BibleAsk    Free Bible Images

2nd Sunday of Advent, Year B – 2020

4 décembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Advent, change, choices, commitments, décisions, faith, improvement, Is 40:1-5, Is 40:9-11, Mk.1:1-8

 We know well about spring cleaning, or autumn cleaning – a time when we clear and clean many things around our houses.

The city council also knows much about road repair – it must be done again and again at the end of a season.

In both cases there is a need for change and improvement.
These two pictures came to my mind as I read the 1st reading and the gospel of this Sunday (Is.40:1-5,9-11; Mk.1:1-8).

We might not get involved in house cleaning or road repair but it may be that… some areas of our lives need change and improvement of some kind for us to welcome the Lord…Our values may need to be upgraded…

  • Our choices may benefit from being more other-centered…
  • Our decisions may gain from being more inspired by lasting concerns…
  • Our attitude to other people may be improved with respect and acceptance…
  • Our commitments may need an increase of generosity…
  • Our faith may want to be deepened…

During this period of Advent, this could be OUR straightening of paths and lowering of mountains.
It may look, at first, as a formidable task but we are not expected to do it on our own.
The Holy Spirit within us is always willing to enable us to do what is asked of us.

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/?p=16658&preview=true

 

Source: Images: Space-O Technologies   Be HBG!

1st Sunday of Advent, Year B – 2020

27 novembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Advent, awake, death, encouragement, Mark 13:33-37, situation, strength, understanding, wait for the Lord

All kinds of things and situations can keep us awake.
For some people, caffeine will do this.
Other substances with some stimulant will do the same.

But anxiety, fear and worry, will have the same effect: prevent us from sleeping.
On the other hand, a phone call announcing some unexpected good news or the anticipation of a pleasant event will probably keep sleep away.

The gospel text of this 1st Sunday of Advent (Year B: Mark 13:33-37) is short
and yet we are told four times to keep awake, to stay awake!

Stay awake not to watch a good movie on the screen, or play a video game.
Not to work on the computer, or read a novel.
But then, to do what?

Stay awake to wait for the Lord.
For many people, these words evoke the end of the world, or perhaps the moment of death.
This understanding is correct but, to my mind, incomplete.

Personally, I am convinced that the Lord can come at any moment, in every situation –
Not necessarily at the end of time, or the end of our lives.

His coming is discreet, gentle… it come under the form of

  • a word of praise from a colleague
  • a new idea for a project
  • an additional supply of patience in a trying situation
  • some encouragement from a friend who sees I am at my wit’s end
  • an increase of strength when I just can’t go on
  • the sudden understanding of the puzzling reaction of a loved one…

His presence can become close and very real in whatever happens if only we are alert,
AWAKE to his being there with us.
If only…

The period of Advent starting today is a good time to do this from day to day.

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/1er-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-b-2020/

 

Source: Images: human life   AppleGate Recovery   Stockfreeimages   SoundCloud

34th Sunday of Year A – Feast of Christ the universal King – 2020

20 novembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Care, Concern, Ez.34:11-12, Ez.34:15-17, Good Shepherd, rescue, search, sheep, strengthen, work

In many areas of Quebec Province, countless orange cones raise their heads – they seem to be everywhere.
We are used to their presence, used also to seeing near them a familiar road sign which reads:

The 1st reading of today’s Feast of Christ the universal King brings to mind another sign that could read:

You are surprised? Yet, the text of the reading suggests this rather forcefully (Ez.34:11-12,15-17):

“This is what the Lord says: 

 I will search for my sheep and look after them.
I will look after my sheep.
I will rescue them… I will gather them.
I will bring them in their own land.
I will pasture them.
I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down.
I will search for the lost.
I will bring back the strays.
I will bind up the injured.
I will strengthen the weak.
I will shepherd the flock with justice.”

This is the picture of God who is indeed… very active, full of concern, caring in so many ways.
He goes literally out of his way to make sure that we are safe.
He takes all necessary means so that our needs are provided in every way.

Quite the opposite of how men have sometimes described God: quietly resting in his heavenly mansion waiting for the praises and sacrifices of human beings!
GOD AT WORK – no doubt about it!
And in the lives of each one of us in a very personal way. 

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/34e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-fete-du-christ-roi-2020/

 

Source: Images : jalmanthan.wordpress.com   Christian Cohort

33rd Sunday of Year A – 2020

13 novembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Th.5:1-6, Coronavirus, danger, health, injustice, modern, peace, pride, resentement, security, selfishness, virus

The text of the 2nd reading of this Sunday could be addressed to us, and it is!
The words of Paul to the Thessalonians seem to take on a new meaning in this period of pandemic (1 Th.5:1-6).

“While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly.”

Unfortunately, there are still among us many people who refuse to acknowledge the danger of the virus that is threatening our health and our lives.
They like to believe that all the talk about the situation is only that: talk.
They pretend they are safe; they remain unaware that they might be the next victims…

Paul’s letter was not referring precisely to our own situation, it is true.
But it has a message that is valid for everyone of us.
I am not thinking especially of the Coronavirus, but of so many other threatening agents – threatening our life as Christians…

  • the virus of selfishness where all decisions are in view of ‘me, myself, and I’…
  • the virus of pride looking down on so many people judged not as good as one pretends to be…
  • the virus of injustice where decisions are taken in view of what will achieve one’s goals…
  • the virus of resentment which feeds a desire for revenge…
  • the virus of indifference to important issues thinking only of what is gratifying for oneself…
  • the virus of chronic dissatisfaction with life while forgetting all the blessings received from God…

And you may add a few of your own findings…
They are life-threatening, they jeopardize the fullness of living that Jesus wants for us.

We need to wake up and not allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security.
Strange how ‘old’ parables can have a very ‘modern’ meaning!
 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/33e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image : Picuki.com

32nd Sunday of Year A – 2020

6 novembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: commitment, consequence, Mt.25:1-13, question, reminder, sleeping, Spirit of God, waiting for the Lord, waiting on the Lord

Listening to a speaker not very interesting, one may fall asleep.
Falling asleep watching a television program rather dull is also common.
It happens also that we fall asleep while waiting for someone who delays in coming.

Such situations are not serious and of not much consequence.
But… Jesus’ parable in today’s gospel – that of the Ten bridesmaids – (Mt.25:1-13) leads us to ask the question:
‘Are we falling asleep while waiting for… the Lord?’
This is more serious indeed.

It may be that we are distracted by more pressing concerns, more interesting activities, perhaps.
We have possibly somehow forgotten the presence of God and our commitment to follow him.
We may feel that he does not make his presence felt as we would like him to do…
His action in the world is not obvious and…
his intervention in our lives when we need him most does not always correspond to what we hope for.

So, Jesus’ words are a reminder – serious and urgent – that we are to keep watch,
to be alert and intent on welcoming him
at whatever time and in whatever situation he chooses to reach us.

Waiting for the Lord we should be waiting on the Lord:
being attentive to him and responsive to the inspiration of his Spirit.
 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/32e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Images: www.marysrosaries.com   Pinterest