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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.

 

12th Sunday of Year B – 2021

18 juin 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: drink, faith, food, God's care, Mk.4:35-41, sickness, sin, storm, Temptation

Some people enjoy making lists – lists of all kinds of things.
Names of places they have visited, names of stars of cinema or sports heroes,
names of best deals for items to buy, names of prospective clients for their business, etc.

I wonder if anyone has ever made a list of… temptations he, or she, has to grapple with!…
This could be an interesting – and possibly quite surprising – ­exercise!

I will not reveal here my own list of things I have to struggle with,
but I will tell you what I find perhaps the worst temptation.
It came back to me as I read the words of the apostles in the gospel of this Sunday (Mk.4:35-41).

The scene is well known to us: the apostles are caught up in a storm on the lake at nighttime.
The wind is terribly strong, the waves threatening, and the men can no longer cope with the situation.
As for Jesus, he is quietly sleeping through it all!

The gospel text says:
 “The disciples woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
 
The temptation I spoke of is NOT that of fear, of weakness, or helplessness –
NO, these are only expressions of our being human.
The temptation – insidious, vicious, really – is to think that God does not care!
 
How many of us have not given in to this temptation at one time or another?
To think that God is too far, too great, too occupied with other people’s problems,
to be concerned with our own troubles!
To think that the nitty gritty of our daily lives is too insignificant for God to be bothered with it.
Would he lower himself to care for that?…
 
This is precisely what he has done in becoming one of us!
Food and drink, sickness and sin, and whatever comes with these situations –
this is precisely what he has been caring about… and continues to do so.

And we, “who have no faith”, are still tempted to ask him the question?!

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/12e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2021/

 

Source: Image: Bijoux to Cara 

11th Sunday of Year B – 2021

11 juin 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 2 Cor.5:6-10, certainty, confidence, courage, faith, hope, trust

As we read different texts from Scripture, we are sometimes amazed at how bold some statements are.
Obviously, the writers are people of faith and they express their belief with strength and conviction.

To me, the first line of today’s 2nd reading (2 Cor.5:6-10) is a perfect example of this.
In his second letter to the first Christians of Corinth, the apostle Paul tells them:

“We are always confident…”
 
As I look at my own life, I ask myself whether I could say this in all truth…
Confidence, trust, relying on someone with the certainty that the person will not let me down nor fail me:
this can be quite risky, if not naïve, unrealistic, and immature.

It could be all of these things if the someone were not… God himself.
But it is to him that we confide our life and our very being.

Paul stresses “always confident…” 

In small things as well as in important matters.
In ordinary situations and in unusual circumstances.
On good and bad days, in joy and in sorrow, in success and in failure –
ALWAYS, at all times.

To be absolutely certain that God is and will be there.
He will give me strength, courage, hope, for whatever situation I find myself in.
He will provide all that I am in need of, whatever that may be, today, tomorrow and… all the ‘tomorrows’ to come!
 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/11e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2021/

 

Source: Image: Woman’s Day

World Oceans Day – 8 June 2021

8 juin 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: animals, awareness, goals, plastic pollution, problems, solution, UN

« Love ocean, he will not betray you. »

On June 8, the entire world comes together for the largest water body surrounding us, which is the ocean. It is an important part of our earth as it provides us with water, the most integral element that we need in our daily lives.

However, over the years, the oceans have to bear the brunt of man-made destruction. From industrial waste to throwing unwanted litter, its degradation is destabilizing the earth’s dynamics with its natural resources that will lead to an eventual and unfortunate end.

Therefore, it becomes all the more important to save the oceans around the world.

World Ocean Day History

This was first suggested in 1992 during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The aim behind this was to not only celebrate the vast water body and its benefits in our lives but also to raise awareness about what can be done to make it a part of sustainable development. On December 5, 2008, a resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly to designate this day.

World Ocean Day Significance

UNESCO states that this day is observed to remind everyone that oceans are the lungs of our planet. Awareness is raised about how to conserve it and rescue it from the eventual degradation that is caused by our careless activities. Therefore, World Ocean Day is celebrated for this reason all across the world.

World Ocean Day Theme

This year, the theme of World Ocean Day is ‘The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods’. Owing to the pandemic, all the celebrations today will happen virtually.

World Ocean Day Quotes

  1. “Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook.” —William Arthur Ward
  2. « No water, no life. No blue, no green. »- Sylvia Plath
  3. « There is going to be no life. We are going to save our oceans. On the occasion of World Oceans Day, Let us join hands to save them. Happy World Oceans Day. »
  4. « You will love the ocean. It makes you feel small. But not in a bad way. Small because you realize you’re part of something bigger. »- Lauren Myracle
  5. Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time. – H. P. Lovecraft
  6. .Being out there in the ocean, God’s creation, it’s like a gift he has given us to enjoy. – Bethany Hamilton
  7. To me the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that swim–the rocks–the motion of the waves–the ships, with men in them. What stranger miracles are there? – Walt Whitman

 

Source: Texte: www.timesnownews.com.    Image: latestly.com

World Environment Day – 5 June 2021

5 juin 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: ecosystems, environment, green world, planet, plastic, pollution, restoration, UNEP

« On World Environment Day, the message is simple: reject single-use plastic. Refuse what you can’t re-use. Together, we can chart a path to a cleaner, greener world. » — Secretary-General, António Guterres

Humans are both creatures and moulders of their environment, which gives them physical sustenance and affords them the opportunity for intellectual, moral, social and spiritual growth. In the long and tortuous evolution of the human race on this planet a stage has been reached when, through the rapid acceleration of science and technology, humans have acquired the power to transform their environment in countless ways and on an unprecedented scale.

The United Nations, aware that the protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue, which affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world, designated 5 June as World Environment Day. The celebration of this day provides us with an opportunity to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises and communities in preserving and enhancing the environment. Since it began in 1974, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated in more than 143 countries.

“Beat Plastic Pollution”
Each World Environment Day is organized around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental concern. The theme for 2018, “Beat Plastic Pollution,” is a call to action for all of us to come together to combat one of the great environmental challenges of our time. The theme invites us all to consider how we can make changes in our everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on our natural places, our wildlife – and our own health. While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become over-reliant on single-use or disposable plastic – with severe environmental consequences.

Annually, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organises various events but this year, the day is being hosted by Pakistan. The UN General Assembly had established World Environment Day on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment.

The theme for year`s World Environment Day is ‘Ecosystem Restoration.’ This year will also mark the formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.

Source: Text: UN   Image: uniquenewsonline.com

Feast of the Body and blood of Christ, Year B – 2021

4 juin 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Body and Blood of Christ, dream, gift, Jn.6:51, Mk.14:12-16, Mk.14:22-26, promise, real presence

“A dream come true!”
We often hear this expression from someone who had been hoping for something and this very thing happens, or is given to the person.
The words are spoken spontaneously with jubilation.

This phrase came to me as I read today’s gospel text (Mk.14:12-16,22-26)
following the Alleluia verse (Jn.6:51) which says:

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. 
Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 
 
Jesus had spoken these words some years before on the day after he had fed the crowd having multiplied the   loaves.
Of course, the people had come back the next day… for more!
But, the ‘more’ which they received what Jesus’ promise of another kind of bread –
the one he was now providing during this Last Supper.

We could say, in our usual way of speaking, that it was for Jesus ‘a dream come true’.
He wanted to share with us his love and his life, a life that would endure for ever.
He found the way to do precisely this in giving us the Eucharist
which is known as the sacrament of his real presence.

This is what we remember and what we celebrate today on this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.
We do so as well every time we take part in his offering of himself in the Eucharist.

A dream come true.
A promise realized.
A life enduring for ever.
A gift beyond what we could have imagined or hoped for!

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at:

 

Source: Images: Catholic Current   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Feast of the Holy Trinity, Year B – 2021

28 mai 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Christians, followers of Christ, God's children, God's Spirit, identity, Rom.8:14-17

There are things and situations which somehow leave us… uncertain.
We look at the different angles of a reality and we are perplexed…
We wonder whether we are right in our appraisal of a given situation.

Our identity could be one of them, who we really are.
Of course, we know who we are as human beings –
our personality, our qualities, our past experiences, our strengths and weaknesses,
our desires and hopes, our successes and failures, etc.

But what about our identity as… Christians?
Are we truly aware of what this means?
Are we conscious of what it entails, all the richness of this condition?
We recognize ourselves as followers of Christ, yes, members of the Church, yes.
And?…

Todays’ celebration, the feast of the Holy Trinity, tells us of the identity of… God.
But it also the reminds us of a wonderful aspect of our own identity as Christians.

Writing to the first Christians of Rome, the apostle Paul tells them (2nd reading: Rom.8:14-17):

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
 
Not only does our spirit tells us but God’s Spirit himself confirms this truth.
This text removes any doubt which we may have about who we are –
nothing less than God’s own children.

We have been “adopted” says Paul and he adds that we are:

“heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”
 
It is truly wonderful, it is absolutely astonishing!
Why do we not dare to believe in this God
and in the divinely transformed people that he has made us to be?!
 
Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-sainte-trinite-annee-b-2021/

 

Source: Image: pinterest.com

Pentecost, Year B – 2021

21 mai 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: clash, expérience, Gal.5:16-25, Holy Spirit, inclinations, tendencies

Three readings offering 27 verses of texts, 6 verses of a Psalm, and added to all this, a poem-prayer, the Sequence, as a second Response!
Overwhelming riches – and overwhelming is the word!

How can one choose a theme?
How can we focus on a single verse, or topic, for reflection?
Of course, the Spirit is at the heart – no, he is THE heart – of today’s message.

What saint Paul writes to the Galatians in the 2nd reading (Gal.5:16-25) is what has retained my attention.

“Since the Spirit gives us life,
let us walk under the guidance of the Spirit.”

Paul tells the first Christians that there are in us what he calls ‘tendencies’ – inclinations or dispositions –
that lead us into a way of being that is not what we are meant to be.
The apostle gives them 15 different names, no less! and he says clearly:
 
“There is a clash that prevents you from doing whatever you want.”
 
We know it from experience, very often we do not manage to master those tendencies,
we do not succeed in overcoming those inclinations.
So, we need to allow the Spirit to guide us on the way God wants us to follow.
He is the one who will enable us to be… reconciled with our best self!

So, “Let us walk under the guidance of the Spirit,” indeed!
We might be astonished at the outcome of walking with this Companion!

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/pentecote-annee-b-2021/

  

Source: Image: unsplash.com

Ascension of the Lord, Year B – 2021

15 mai 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 2 Peter 3:8, Acts 1:1-11, Ascension, goals, God's plan, moments, seasons, time

Time, moments in time, seasons… they rule our life.
But we need to learn how to live according to their rhythm.

The 1st reading of this Feast of the Ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:1-11) shows him teaching his apostles for the last period during which he will be visibly present with them.
We are told that he is speaking to them about the kingdom of God – in other words, the way God wants to welcome people into relationship with him.

But the apostles ask Jesus:

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
 
Obviously, they are not on the same wavelength…
Jesus corrects them in no uncertain terms:

“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”
 
I wonder if we, ourselves, would not sometimes deserve the same correction…
What concerns us most, very often, is the time when our own plans are going to be fulfilled.

God’s plan may seem to us more remote, distant, not very real or concrete.
We focus on the goals we set for ourselves, the realizations we want to see achieved.
Our moments are those of the immediate, we look for instant gratification…

We find is so difficult to adjust ourselves to God’s timetable.

Peter, the apostle, was reminding the first Christians:

“Beloved, do not forget this one thing,
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day”.    (2 Peter 3:8).    

A lesson we are in constant need to learn…
And learning together with it patience and the meaning of TIME…
 
Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/ascension-du-seigneur-annee-b-2021/

 

Source: Images: iStock   Bible Verses Pictures – Scripture Images  

6th Sunday of Easter, Year B – 2021

7 mai 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Jn.4:7-10, aware, blessings, conscious, favors, first things God, initiative, Jn.1:16, prayers

Someone faced with many commitments and countless things to do may suddenly exclaim:

“First things first!”

It may be a good way to look at… our relationship with God!
This thought is suggested to us in the 2nd reading of this Sunday (1 Jn.4:7-10):

 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” 

And, in the gospel, Jesus reminds us: (Jn.15:9-17):
“You did not choose me, but I chose you.”
 
God has loved us first – he is the one who has gifted us in all manner of things.
He has given us blessings of all kinds.
He has poured his favors into our lives, day after day.

The apostle John tells us:

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (Jn.1:16)

Instead of thinking that we should first turn to God with prayers and offerings,
we should remember that he is the one who first turned to us drawing us to himself!

Remembering this, it is good on this day to say wholeheartedly:

“First things first!”

And… to live accordingly, that is:
to be truly conscious,
to be deeply aware,
to REAL – ize that, when it comes to love, God always takes the initiative!

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/6e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-b-2021/

 

Source: Images: 123RF   Corona SDA Church

5th Sunday of Easter, Year B – 2021

30 avril 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Jn.3:18-24, condemn, God knows, God understands, hearts, progress

We try to live as followers of Jesus.
We do our best to be faithful to what he asks from us.
We make special efforts to carry out what we believe is his will.
But . . .

But, when we look at the result of our efforts, we may lose heart.
We may feel discouraged at seeing the outcome of what we thought was our best…

If so, today’s message in the 2nd reading (1 Jn.3:18-24) is meant for us –
meant to give us comfort.

The apostle John writing to the first Christians assures them:

“If our hearts condemn us,
we know that God is greater than our hearts,
and he knows everything.”
 
What an encouraging thought!
What a truly wonderful reality: God knows, God understands!

God knows our inner feelings, he is aware of our good intentions.
He understands – so much better than we do – that we do not always succeed in doing what we would like to do.
We are not always able to be the person that we would like to become.
We are not yet the ‘ideal self’ that we want to be.

He knows that we are still on the way and… he walks on that way with us!
So, one more step today is what he accepts, ready to wait for what we see as our slow progress,
and not condemning us for it, simply walking with us.

Truly, « God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/5e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-b-2021/

 

Source: Image: Quotefancy