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.

 

1st Sunday of Lent, Year B

16 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: beasts and angels, conversion, desert, expérience, faith, Jesus, kingdom of God, Lent, outcome, Satan, Temptation, The Son of Man

The text of Mark relating the temptation of Jesus is much shorter than that of Matthew and Luke.
Notice that ‘temptation’ is printed in the singular because Mark does not give details about this experience of Jesus.

I find this short text (1st Sunday of Lent – Mk.1:12-15) of only 4 verses quite amazing.
4 verses and… 10 themes are mentioned:

  • Baptism of Jesus
  • the Spirit
  • the desert
  • Satan
  • wild beasts
  • angels
  • proclamation of the gospel
  • Kingdom of God
  • conversion
  • faith

It is as if the author wanted to give a detailed initiation to the Christian faith in this first chapter of the gospel text!

Personally, the image I choose is that of Jesus among the wild beasts and the angels.
A man – the one who was to call himself “the Son of Man” – between beasts and angels.
Respected by the first and served by the last!

It is, for me, a very good picture of the possible outcome of temptation –
the experience of a person who proves to be a true human being, a genuine child of God.
One who has overcome his/her demons under different guises,
and is in communion with all of creation!

Some practice may be needed to reach this but… this is what Lent is for, no?

Source: Image: A Plethora of Ponderings

 

International Childhood Cancer Day – 15 February

15 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: cancer, Care, childhealth, Children, cure, infectious diseases, medicines, mortality, survive

Today is International Childhood Cancer Day which highlights the need for concerted global actions to address the growing challenge posed by this non-communicable disease. Globally, childhood and adolescent cancer is threatening to overtake infectious diseases, as one of the highest causes of disease-related mortality in children.

It is a day when we come together to continue the work to “Advance Cures and Transform Care” and to make childhood cancer a national and global child health priority.

Much work remains to be done. According to IARC (2015), the reported worldwide incidence of childhood cancer is increasing, from 165,000 new cases annually to 215,000 cases for children 14 years and younger and 85,000 new cases for 15-19 year-olds. Many more remain uncounted and unreported due to a lack of childhood cancer registries in a large number of countries.

While the number of children with cancer is much less compared to global incidence of adult cancers, the number of lives saved is significantly higher; survival rates in high-income countries reach an average of 84% and are steadily improving even in less-resourced areas of the world where there is local and international support.

The ICCD campaign’s ultimate goal and unified message is “Advance Cures and Transform Care”. This message spotlights the inequities and glaring disparity of access to care in most low- and middle-income countries where 80% of children with cancer live. Children and adolescents in Africa, Asia and Latin America and in parts of Eastern and Southern Europe do not yet have access to appropriate treatment including essential medicines and specialized care. Currently, where one lives often determines one’s ability to survive childhood cancer.

Source: Text & Image: ICCD International Childhood Cancer Day

 

 

Ash Wednesday – Year B

14 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: close the door, clutter, focusing, Lent, meeting God, mess, Mt.6:6, need of help, open the door, pray

Did you notice how often, in a single day, we close a door?
We go out of different places and, every time, we must close a door.
We leave some premises and, again, the same gesture is done: closing the door behind us.

In fact, this is the very action we are reminded of on this Ash Wednesday.
We are called to close the door – the door of our room, a personal, private area.
We are told:
“Go to your private room and, when you have shut the door,
pray to your Father who is in that secret place” (Mt.6:6).

This time, shutting the door is for a specific purpose: to PRAY!

Ash Wednesday opens up – literally – into Lent, this special liturgical season when we are invited to ‘go inside’ having left out what is not essential.
A lot of ‘things’ may be included in ‘what is not essential’.
This may vary for different people but for each one it may include a lot of superfluous items!
It is up to every one to make his or her list…

There are objects, situations, people that COULD be left out of our lives, others that SHOULD be taken out of our lives.
Not for the sole purpose of taking out but with the aim of FOCUSING!
FOCUSING and MEETING the one who is ever waiting for us: our Father.

Our houses are sometimes disappearing under the ‘clutter’ that we have slowly accumulated.
Under this untidy mess, some important objects and some helpful items may be hidden…

And the same ‘untidy mess’ may be also part of our “private room” – this special place, inward, where we are to meet God…
Some precious elements of life may be hidden, believed to have disappeared…
So, Lent may be the ideal time for… clearing the mess, freeing ourselves from the clutter!
And, rediscovering the most important, the essential!

It is obvious that as often as we close doors, as often too we open them.
So, yes, opening the door to God, and to those in need of our help, is very much part of Lent –
the other side of the coin, one could say.

Source: Images: YouTube;  rhayssadanielle.blogspot.com

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day – 14 February

14 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: awareness, cardiac care, heart anomaly, initiative, research, support, surgery, symbol

Day, as a heart is one of the most recognizable symbols of the holiday.

The term “congenital heart defect” (CHD) refers to a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels that is present at birth. About 9 of every 1000 children born alive have CHD. Some defects are so small that they do not require treatment. Sometimes CHD improves without treatment. However, in most cases CHD requires medications and/or surgery. Most patients with CHD need lifelong cardiac care.

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day was launched by Children’s Heart Society, a non-profit, charitable organization based in Canada that focuses on providing support to families of children with congenital and acquired heart disease. Other organizations, such as HeartKids (Australia) and Dr. Mani Children Heart Foundation (India) supported the initiative, and the observance has gone international.

CHD awareness day aims to educate people about congenital heart anomaly, raise public awareness through various advocacy programs and campaigns, and encourage donations to provide support and research into CHD.

Source: Text: anydayguide.com     Image: daysofyear.com

 

World Radio Day – 13 February

13 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: cutures, disasters, education, information, informations, journalists, save lives, Youth

February 13 is World Radio Day, which celebrates the radio as a way of educating people, providing information, and promoting freedom of expression across cultures.

Despite being over 100 years old, the radio is one of the most popular ways to exchange information, provide social interchange, and educate people all over the world. It has been used to help people, including youth, to engage in discussions on topics that affect them. It can save lives during natural or human-made disasters, and it gives journalists a platform to report facts and tell their stories. The first World Radio Day was officially celebrated in 2012.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com Image: ebu.ch

 

International Day against the Use of Child soldiers – 12 February

12 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: armed conflicts, Children, international treaty, poverty, sexual slavery, soldiers, spies, survival, violence, wars

Thousands of children are serving as soldiers in armed conflicts around the world. These boys and girls, some as young as 8 years old, serve in government forces and armed opposition groups. They may fight on the front lines, participate in suicide missions, and act as spies, messengers, or lookouts. Girls may be forced into sexual slavery. Many are abducted or recruited by force, while others join out of desperation, believing that armed groups offer their best chance for survival. We are working to prevent the use of child soldiers and to hold accountable the people who send children to fight.

Source: Text: www.hrw.org

About child soldiers
In many countries around the world – from Democratic Republic of Congo to Myanmar to Syria – children are being recruited by adults to fight their wars for them. Some child soldiers are used for fighting – they’re forced to take part in wars and conflicts, forced to kill, and commit other acts of violence. Some join ‘voluntarily’, driven by poverty, sense of duty, or circumstance. Children are also used as cooks, porters, messengers, informants or spies.

The law is meant to protect children from this abuse. There is even an international treaty devoted to ending the use of child soldiers. But not all countries in the world have signed on to it – and even those that have don’t always follow its rules. In February 2018, it will have been 18 years since this treaty was adopted. We are going to be marking this 18th anniversary with a big event in New York. In the lead-up to this event, we are asking for students all around the world to show that they stand with us in saying ‘children should be children, not soldiers’.

Source: Text Child-soldiers.org  Image: 123RF Stock Photos
 

World Day of the Sick – 11 February

10 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Bernadette Soubirous, caregivers, health, illness, Lourdes, Parkinson's disease

About World Day of the Sick
Pope John Paul II initiated the day in 1992 to encourage people to pray for those who suffer from illness and for their caregivers. The Pope himself had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s a year before, in 1991, and it is considered that his own illness was impetus for his designation of the day.

World Day of the Sick was first observed on February 11, 1993. February 11 is also the Catholic Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which a name is given to the Virgin Mary in honor of the apparitions that were said to have been seen in and around Lourdes, France, by a young girl called Bernadette Soubirous. The Church canonized Bernadette as a saint several years later.

Did You Know?
Pope Benedict XVI declared his decision to resign from his post as the Pope on this day in 2013. He cited his failing health as the reason behind his decision.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com   Image: abc.net.au

 

6th Sunday of Year B

8 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Asking, fear, Leprosy, Lev.13:1-2, Lev.13:45-46, matter-of-fact, Mk.1:14-20, need, request

It happens that we find ourselves in a situation of need.
It may be for a service, we may wish to ask for a lift, or we may want to borrow an item of some kind.
More urgently we may require some information, or we may need advice.

We then wonder to whom we will go to present our request.
A neighbour, a colleague, a friend, a relative?
Usually, before addressing ourselves to the person, we remind ourselves of his, or her, character.
We may also recall such occasions, in the past, when we asked for help and… what kind of response we received.

The fact is that we may be afraid that our request will not be granted.
The assistance we need may not be forthcoming.
We may be told that the person is too busy, is not able, has too many commitments already, etc.

Has it happened to you very often that when you asked someone for any kind of help, the person replied: “Of course, I will help you!”
In my own experience, this is not the usual reply…

But with God, things are different.
His ‘reply’ is somehow the ‘matter of fact’ type!
As if he could not refuse, as if it goes without saying that we will receive what we need!…

This is the message that today’s gospel text gives us (6th Sunday of Year B – Mk.1:14-20).
A man comes to Jesus suffering from a shameful disease: leprosy.
As the 1st reading told us (Lev.13:1-2,45-46), such people were to remain far from others, they were somehow outcasts in the Jewish society.
The fear of contracting and spreading the disease was paramount.

The leper tells Jesus: “If you want to, you can cure me.”
The reply of Jesus comes spontaneously and without delay: “Of course, I want to!”
And the man is cured there and then.

It may be good to remind ourselves that when the ‘if, perhaps, maybe’ are spoken…” they always come from our side…
God’s vocabulary does not seem to include these words…
With him it is: “Of course, I want to…
To help, to cure, to comfort, to free, to guide, to answer you whatever be your need.

Really? You can but try!

Source: Images: manaogbasilica.org   Prayer for Special Help

 

World Cancer Day – 4 February

4 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: awareness, détection, health care, prévention, treatment, types of cancer

World Cancer Day is a global observance that helps raise people’s awareness of cancer and how to prevent, detect, or treat it. This event is held on February 4 each year.

Background
Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world, according to WHO, which estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention. Low-income and medium-income countries are harder hit by cancer than the high-resource countries. It is essential to address the world’s growing cancer burden and to work on effective control measures.

World Cancer Day is part of the World Cancer Campaign, which responds to the Charter of Paris adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium on February 4, 2000. It called for a strong alliance between researchers, health-care professionals, patients, governments, industry partners, and the media to fight cancer.

The Charter of Paris designated February 4 each year as World Cancer Day. UICC is responsible for coordinating World Cancer Day globally. It receives support from various partners and organizations, including the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and other international bodies. UICC organized the first World Cancer Day in 2006.

Symbols
There are different symbols that are used to help promote the fight against different types of cancers. For example, the pink ribbon is a global symbol of breast cancer awareness, while the orange ribbon is associated with child cancer awareness. Another example is the daffodil, which the American Cancer Society sees as a symbol of hope that people share for a future where cancer is no longer a life-threatening disease.

Source : Text : timeanddate.com Illutration : Freepik

5th Sunday of Year B

1 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: comfort, consolation, God's help, hope, Jb.7:1-4, Jb.7:6-7, problems, Remember, suffering, theology, trials, troubles

It is practically every day that we are told:
“Don’t forget – don’t forget to go there, to buy this, to call so-and-so.”
Or, more positively expressed: REMEMBER – remember to do this, to collect that, to pay the bills, etc.

Yes, people around us repeatedly call our attention to the things they want us to remember.
They want to make sure that certain things will be taken care of without fail!

Strangely enough, we have somehow transferred this attitude… to God!
Yes, as if HE could forget!
Well, could he not?…
All through history, this human attitude of calling on God to REMEMBER has been part of our… spiritual DNA!

We see it in Job whom we meet in today’s 1st reading (5th Sunday of Year B – Jb.7:1-4,6-7).
He tells God in no uncertain terms:
“REMEMBER that my life is but a breath
and that my eyes will never again see joy.”

Of course, Job is having more than his share of troubles and pain.
His suffering is continual and he is hard-pressed to keep on hoping.
His fellow-human beings have proved unable to help him or comfort him.
So, he turns to God as he is desperately in need of strength and consolation.

Many of us can easily sympathize with him for we know what he is going through.
Our own problems and suffering may be of a different kind.
Of different shades and intensity, yes, but just as real and trying.
And we, too, desperately need God’s help.

But will he remember US?
Can he remember ME?…
We need a personalized divine intervention, nothing less!

One day, with much conviction, a professor of theology was saying:
“If you remember anything at all in theology, remember that God loves you.”

After all… WE may be the ones who need to REMEMBER!

Source: Images: Clipart Library   loudcanvas.com   Deacons Wife

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