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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.

 

8th Sunday of Year C – 2022

25 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: compassion, conversation, Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7, help, hope, respect, talking, words

Words, words, words – they can be found everywhere.
Words spoken, printed, read, proclaimed, shouted, sung.
Your words, my words, those of the learned and those of the ignorant.
Those asserted by the bold and those whispered by the fearful.

The 1st reading of this Sunday is somehow an invitation to appraise our talk.
The wise author of the text says (Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7):

“The defects of a (man) person appear in (his) talking…
The test or a (man) person is in his/her conversation.
A (man’s) person’s words betray what he/she feels.”

Most of us do quite a lot of talking.
It would be interesting to look closely at our conversations with others and see what they reveal.

What shows itself in what we say?
Patience, hope, compassion, desire to understand, readiness to help…
Or, the opposite… indifference, selfishness, boasting, lack of respect…

I believe that the best way to appraise a conversation is to see its worth in the light of the one who is THE Word – Jesus himself.

Would he say what was just said?
Would he speak in the way the person has spoken?
Would he speak in such a situation or rather… keep silent?
Would he encourage, comfort, correct, reprove, invite, show the way?

This is the test for everyone who wants to be a follower of his…

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/8e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: unsplash.com

7th Sunday of Year C – 2022

18 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Samuel 26:12-13, 1 Samuel 26:22-23, 1 Samuel 26:7-9, God sees, guilty, honesty, power, truth

Reading the texts of the Bible can stir up our imagination, or our memory… or both!
The 1st reading of this 7th Sunday brought to my mind, as an echo, a saying that people sometimes use.
People whose interpretation of truth and honesty is rather… stretching to the point of falsehood and dishonesty…

You can hear them say:
“Not seen,
Not caught,
Not guilty.”

What we see in the text of the 1st book of Samuel is exactly the opposite (1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23).
Saul is searching for David because he has planned to kill him.
When, at nighttime, Saul is sleeping, David could easily take the life of his persecutor.

He has the occasion,
He has the power,
He has the means.

The text says:
“No one saw,
No one knew about it,
No one woke up.”

But David spares the life of the one he recognizes as “the Lord’s anointed.”
 
David was aware that, in fact, someone saw and someone knew: God himself!
David was living his life in faithfulness to this God.
A God whose gaze is perhaps demanding and challenging but also supportive and sustaining.

Would this be… YOUR God?
 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/7e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: pinterest.com

6th Sunday of Year C – 2022

11 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: happiness, hatred from others, hunger, Jeremiah 17:5-8, pleasures, possessions, poverty, prestige, sadness

Poverty, hunger, sadness, hatred from others – who would dare say that these will bring happiness?
Someone has dared to say so – Jesus did when speaking to the crowds eager to listen to him (Luke 6:17,20-26).

I wonder how they reacted, all those listening to him on that day…
As they walked back home, they must have been puzzled, wondering about such an unusual message.

I ask myself: ‘Nowadays, how many people are listening to these words, listening and being ready to accept the message given – such a challenging message!’…

Possessions and prestige, this is what people are looking for, not poverty and hunger.
Enjoying life and all the pleasures it can offer, this is what appeals to people, not suffering and sadness.

Of course, there is the promise – the promise of the kingdom of God, of future satisfaction and joy, a reward waiting in heaven.
But precisely, this is all to come… in the future.
This perspective has not much interest for people living in what has been qualified as a time of instant gratification!
Enjoying life now, not in what seems to many as a doubtful future.

We, each one of us, are faced with a choice, a challenge: accepting Jesus’ message and following him, or…
Or, following our own path, searching, and searching, never really finding what we are longing for…

In the 1st reading, the prophet Jeremiah says (Jeremiah 17:5-8):

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord”.

Trust and hope: relying on someone who cannot disappoint our search – this is the option offered to us.
Instead of a constant search leading to… a dead end.

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/6e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: historyandthenews.wordpress

World Day of the Sick – 11 February 2022

11 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: compassion, disease, Eph 2:4, infirmity, Is 49:15, Lc.9:2, Lk 6:36, Mercy, Mt.4:23, sick

Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of the Sick 2022

Dear brothers and sisters,

Thirty years ago, Saint John Paul II instituted the World Day of the Sick to encourage the people of God, Catholic health institutions and civil society to be increasingly attentive to the sick and to those who care for them. (…)

The theme chosen for this Thirtieth World Day of the Sick, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36), makes us first turn our gaze towards God, who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4); he always watches over his children with a father’s love, even when they turn away from him. Mercy is God’s name par excellence; mercy, understood not as an occasional sentimental feeling but as an ever-present and active force, expresses God’s very nature.  It combines strength and tenderness. For this reason, we can say with wonder and gratitude that God’s mercy embraces both fatherhood and motherhood (cf. Is 49:15). God cares for us with the strength of a father and the tenderness of a mother; he unceasingly desires to give us new life in the Holy Spirit.

The supreme witness of the Father’s merciful love for the sick is his only-begotten Son. How often do the Gospels relate Jesus’ encounters with people suffering from various diseases! He “went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people” (Mt 4:23). We do well to ask ourselves why Jesus showed such great concern for the sick, so much so that he made it paramount in the mission of the apostles, who were sent by the Master to proclaim the Gospel and to heal the sick (cf. Lk 9:2).

 

Source: Image:Dreamstime.com

5th Sunday of Year C – 2022

4 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Apostle Peter, compassion, fear of God, image of God, Isaiah 6:1-8, Luke 15:11-32, Luke 5:1-11, prophet Isaiah, return, sins


The mention of the word GOD can bring different images to our minds, images and feelings.
Sad to say, often the first feeling that arises within us is… fear.
It has been so through the history of humanity – people have been afraid of the God they worshipped.

The 1st reading of this Sunday (Isaiah 6:1-8) shows the prophet Isaiah reacting in fear to the vision he is given:

 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips…
and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

In the gospel (Luke 5:1-11), we see Peter, the apostle, who “fell at Jesus’ knees and said:
“Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

How long, indeed how long, does it take us to move from this picture of a fear-inspiring God,
to the picture of God that Jesus himself gave us – that of a God of tenderness and compassion.

In the parable of the Prodigal son – which is in fact that of the Prodigal God – (Luke 15:11-32) 
Jesus shows us, he literally shows us, what kind of a God his Father, and OUR Father, is:

  • a God who is NOT put off by our sins, no matter how shameful, but always ready to forgive us,
  • a God who is anxiously waiting for our return,
  • a God who bends to lift us up,
  • a God with no thought of punishment (as we so easily picture him) but only of showering on us his blessings of all kinds.

This is how God revealed himself in Jesus – nobody else would have dared to… ‘invent’ such a god…
Jesus became his incarnation, his very presence among us.

If this is not our image of God, then…
we need to abandon all other images of him and accept this ‘vision’ of him that is the true one.
 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/5e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Images: istockphoto.com    bible.com    Worship House Media

Chinese New Year – 1 February 2022

1 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: célébration, Chinese New Year, culture, cycles of the moon, Spring Festival, tiger, tradition

Paper style chinese new year background Free Vector

The holiday that’s celebrated by almost two billion people across the world, also known as Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, is upon us!

The holiday has a longstanding connection to the moon. Mainly observed in multiple countries in east Asia, the holiday is filled with rich culture and tradition that centers around the hope for good fortune and prosperity.

The Lunar New Year date is different each year, and is dependent upon one thing: the cycles of the moon. The lunisolar calendar tracks the phases of the sun and moon, in contrast to the commonly used Gregorian calendar which does not.

Although the date varies annually, it will always fall between Jan. 20 and Feb. 21 on the Gregorian calendar. Another constant is that each year has a corresponding animal from the Chinese zodiac, based on ancient Chinese mythology; 2022 will mark the Year of the Tiger.
The Lunar New Year falls on a different date each year, but the celebration typically lasts 16 consecutive days. This year, it starts on Lunar New Year’s Eve, beginning on Jan. 31, and ending on Feb. 15, 2022. Only the first seven days, Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, are considered a public holiday.
The Lantern Festival, also known as the Shangyuan Festival, is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar. A beautiful display of lanterns are lit and released into the night sky, signifying the final day of traditional Chinese New Year celebrations.

Lunar New Year is annually linked to one of 12 zodiac animals – each possessing their own character traits. The animals consist of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

The animals are assigned based on a 12-year cycle, making 2022 the Year of the Tiger. The Tiger is known to be the king of all beasts, and is seated third in the Chinese zodiac order of animals.

 

Source: Text: people.com  Image: Freepik

4th Sunday of Year C – 2022

28 janvier 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: difficulties, God's ways, Jeremiah 1:17-19, Jeremiah 1:4-5, learning, obstacles, problems, prophet Jeremiah, students

God’s ways are not our ways – we have been told long ago and we know it, perhaps… from experience!
The prophet Jeremiah had certainly learned this from experience!
The 1st reading of today is a good example of this (Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19).

« Get yourself ready. Stand up!”

With these words, God sends Jeremiah on a mission:
“Pronounce my judgments on my people”.

The prophet may try to object that he is too young, that he does not know how to speak.
God does not listen to any of this and he adds some surprising words:
“Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.”

Is this not strange?
We would think that God will encourage his prophet but these words sound rather like a threat…

However, God goes on with words of reassurance.
Referring to his rebellious people, God tells Jeremiah:

“They will fight against you but will not overcome you,
for I am with you and will rescue you”.

This is an obvious display of God’s ways:
God does not remove obstacles but helps his people to overcome them.

This was his method in the time of Jeremiah and…
it is rather clear that he has not changed his method in our own time!
We would prefer that he makes things easier for us, and then… we could manage on our own!
But precisely, God does not expect us to manage on our own! 

Problems, difficulties, failures, losses – all these are part of our daily life.
God who is all-powerful could take them away from our path.
He surely could, but he does not… and we have to believe that he knows what is best for us.

This kind of learning finds us… students all through our lives…
We need to learn that God does not expect us to manage on our own, he wants us to manage with him!

To us also God’s words are addressed:
“I am with you and will rescue you”.
 
Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: chretiensaujourdhui.com

3rd Sunday of Year C – 2022

21 janvier 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: compassion, frustration, God's presence, hope, ills, inspiration, Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 1:1-4;, Luke 4:14-21

Listening to a speaker can be interesting, inspiring, or… frustrating.
The same can be said of listening to a preacher.
What makes the difference between inspiration and frustration?

You may think that some people are gifted speakers and others simply do not have this gift.
This is true, but there is something else that contributes to the result.
It is whether the person reaches the listeners personally –
reaches them by speaking of what touches them in their daily lives.

In today’s gospel, we see Jesus returning to “Nazareth where he had been brought up”. (Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21)
Going to the synagogue on the sabbath, he is given the scroll and reads a text of Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-2).
Then, giving back the scroll to the attendant, he sits down and starts preaching.

We are told:
“The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.”

The people listen with anticipation, with a feeling of expectation that what they will hear may be good for them.
Listening to Jesus, their hear him speak of the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed.
He promises good news, recovery of sight and liberation.
To all, he proclaims “the year of the Lord’s favor.”
 
Had you been there on that day in Nazareth, would you not have listened intently?
I know that I would not have wanted to miss a word!

Some may say: “Yes but… that was long ago, and those words were not addressed to us.”
True, Jesus is not visibly present to us, and we cannot hear him pronounce what he said on that day.
But this does not mean that “the Lord’s favor” is no longer available to us.

In fact, his favors are plenty and they reach us in our day-to-day living.
The discoveries of science, and the ‘miracles’ – literally so – worked in the field of medicine are among God’s ways of healing us and curing many of our diseases.

And among us, there are people with genuine compassion – meeting them helps us to free ourselves from guilt and negative feelings.
Other people have a true understanding of events and situations – they give us a clearer vision of what is happening around us.
Others still are spiritual guides – their wisdom enables us to find our way when we no longer see the direction our lives should take.
All of them are making God’s presence and help available to us in their own way.

Not all our needs are met and not all our ills are cured…
We know that they will be… one day, and this is why we live in HOPE of that day!

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: Quora

2nd Sunday of Year C – 2022

14 janvier 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: answers, God's presence, intervention, John 2:1-11, Luke 2:41-49, New Year, questions, request

Questions are very much part of our daily conversation – questions of all kinds.
We ask them from friends and neighbors, family members and colleagues.

The scene of today’s gospel gives us an example of such questioning (John 2:1-11).
At Cana, Mary approaches her son to mention the situation that has arisen at the wedding feast they are both attending:
“They have no more wine.”
 
Jesus answers his mother with a question:
 “Woman, why do you involve me?”
 
Hearing the question, Mary may have remembered another question, one asked by her son long ago.
At that time, Jesus was only twelve years old but he had already voiced such searching words (Luke 2:41-49).

On both occasions, Mary remains silent before Jesus.
But this time she speaks, not to him, but to those who will take part in what her faith dares to ask for:
« Do whatever he tells you », she says.

On her request, it seems that Jesus has anticipated the time – he calls it his hour –
to show something of God’s presence and God’s intervention for people.

Because this is exactly what Jesus does:
he manifests, he makes clear, that God does come to our help in time of need.
And a wedding feast short of wine is as good a place as any for him to show that he cares for people!

But there are also the questions that God, in turn, may ask of us!
God’s questions may reach us in different situations…

  • A reading from a book may suddenly awaken something in us…
  • An email, or a letter, from a friend may challenge us in an unexpected way…
  • A phone call from a relative may remind us of something we had pushed away from our awareness…
  • The sight of a generous gesture from a stranger may be an invitation to the best in ourselves…
  • A comforting word overheard from a patient in the waiting room of a clinic may inspire us with something we did not expect…

All of these, and many more, can transform themselves into questions – questions from God.

At the beginning of a new year, it may be helpful to hear anew these questions that we may not have dared to listen to until now…
And to remember Mary’s words: « Do whatever he tells you. »

We may be quite surprised at the result!…

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/2e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

And in a video, also in French, Teresa Penafiel shares her own thoughts on this scene of the wedding at Cana: https://youtu.be/XRKyex5S_uw

 

 

Source: Image: LDS Scripture Teaching

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Year C – 2022

7 janvier 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 'God-with-us', baptism, Hebrews 4:21, identity, Jesus one-of-us, Luke 3:15-16, Luke 3:21-22, proximity, saint Irenaeus, Sign

Among us, people, signs are very much part of our interaction.
A wink, a scowl, a frown, a shaking of the head – all of these give a message.
But to be truly meaningful, such signs need to be interpreted.
If not, then the message can be either lost or misunderstood.

Today’s gospel text, on the Feast of Jesus’ Baptism (Luke 3:15-16,21-22), offers us many signs indeed.
People coming to John to be baptized is the sign of their repentance from their sins.
John speaks of the untying the sandal straps; this was a sign of unworthiness as it referred to the work of a slave.
The fire mentioned by John is a sign of purification.
The dove descending from above is interpreted as the sign of God’s Spirit.

But no matter how meaningful these signs may appear, they are weak and poor in comparison to THE SIGN not yet mentioned.
This exceptional SIGN is that of Jesus himself being baptized.

He goes down into the water, just like everyone else.
Even when John the Baptist objects, Jesus insists to be treated like all others (Matthew 3:3-15).
What does this say?
What does it mean?

During the Christmas season just ended, we have remembered the name given to Jesus: God-with-us.
Jesus is indeed God-with us, but today, we are given to understand that Jesus is also one-of us.
And the author of the letter to the Hebrews dares to say that Jesus was

“in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:21).

A close proximity, you may think.
More still: an amazing identity – this is the true meaning of the Incarnation.
Born like all of us, he will die as we will all do, to make us what he is:
true children of God!

Already in the 2nd century, Saint Irenaeus was teaching this extraordinary truth to the early Christians:
“The Son of God became the Son of man so that man might become a son of God”.

Ours is also an amazing identity!

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-du-bapteme-du-seigneur-annee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: Pinterest