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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.

 

World Day for Safety and Health at Work – 28 April

The UN, ILO and other organizations, communities, individuals, and government bodies with an interest in workplace health and safety unite on or around April 28 to promote an international campaign known as World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The UN posts this event in its events calendar each year.

Community leaders and organizational representatives often promote the day by speaking out on issues such as workplace health and safety standards. Various media have promoted the day through news articles and broadcast programs. Different types of events and activities that center on workplace health and safety are held in many countries on or around April 28 each year.

Background
The International Labour Organization (ILO) started observing the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28, 2003. The ILO is devoted to advancing opportunities for people to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. It aims to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, boost social protection, and strengthen dialogue in work-related issues.

Source: Text & Image: timeanddate.com

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A

“We had hoped…”
“We had thought this would happen…”
“We expected we could do this…”
“We had anticipated the coming of…”
“We had prepared for that event…”

The very mood of two disciples on the way from Jerusalem to Emmaus (Lk.24:13-35) after the terrible event of the past Friday.
They must have said to themselves that they had been foolish to believe that things could be otherwise…

And suddenly… a stranger joins them on the road and he tells them, in so many words, that they are indeed foolish – « foolish men » (v.25) not to understand what the Scriptures had foretold.

What happened then is something quite unexpected: their hopeless hearts become ‘burning within’ them as they tell each other.
They can hardly believe it and yet… they cannot not believe – it is true, it is REAL, HE is real, he shares bread with them – He is risen.

It was unexpected, unforeseen, unimaginable, unbelievable…
Perhaps… the unexpected, the unforeseen, the unimaginable, the unbelievable is the very place where God likes to make himself present.
There – in all that we no longer hoped for – he can suddenly give so much more than we could ever have dared to expect!

 

One can also see: http://image-i-nations.com/on-the-way-is-it-possible/

Source’ Image: wwww.pinterest.com

World Malaria Day – 25 April

World Malaria Day gives people the chance to promote or learn about the efforts made to prevent and reduce Malaria around the world. It is observed on April 25 each year.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. About half of the worlds’ population is at risk of malaria, particularly those in lower-income countries. It infects more than 500 million people each year and kills more than one million people, according to WHO. However, Malaria is preventable and curable.

The World Health Assembly instituted World Malaria Day in May 2007. The purpose of the event is to give countries in affected regions the chance to learn from each other’s experiences and support one another’s efforts. World Malaria Day also enables new donors to join in a global partnership against malaria, and for research and academic institutions to reveal scientific advances to the public. The day also gives international partners, companies and foundations a chance to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com  Image: webplus.info

Earth Day – 22 April

WHAT IS EARTH DAY?

Ever wondered how Earth Day started? This observance arose from an interest in gathering national support for environmental issues.

In 1970, San Francisco activist John McConnell and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson separately asked Americans to join in a grassroots demonstration. McConnell chose the spring equinox (March 21, 1970) and Nelson chose April 22.

Millions of people participated, and today Earth Day continues to be widely celebrated with events on both dates.

The most common practice of celebration is to plant new trees for Earth Day.

Source: Text & Image: The Old Farmers Almanac

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A

As we read the gospel texts, different words can draw our attention.
At one time, we may be struck by a sentence, or a certain parable.
At another time, the description of a miracle, or the narrative of Jesus meeting with someone, may capture our imagination.

On this 2nd Sunday of Easter (Year A) the text from John’s gospel is quite long (Jn.20:19-31) and what struck me comes near the very end of the reading.
The words that retained my attention may not seem the essential part of the message.
They may not appear to be so important after all…
Still, I linger on them… I ponder them… and I remain with what they say.

“There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw,
But they are not recorded in this book.
These are recorded so that you may believe.”

In fact, that is the very reason why Jesus did all that he did: to draw us into a close relationship with him.
A relationship of FAITH – a faith that is trust, reliance on him, acceptance of his message, of his person and of all that he has to give us.
The next sentence of the text completes the message:
 
“And that believing you may have life.”
 
Life now, life later… for ever – this is the meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus, the promise of our own…

Source: Image: The Gospel of Coalition Blog

World Hemophilia Day – 17 April

World Hemophilia Day is a special opportunity for everyone in our community to come together and support those with hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. On April 17, 2017, the tradition of “Lighting it up red” will continue and people in cities around the world will light up major landmarks in red to show support for the global bleeding disorders community.

One of the objectives of the “Lighting it up red” campaign is to create visibility for people living with a bleeding disorder so that they know that the WFH and their peers are there for them. The event is also done for those who may not be aware of our community—for those who do not have a diagnosed inherited bleeding disorder.

To that group of individuals, “Lighting it up red” is an invitation to find out more about World Hemophilia Day and inherited bleeding disorders. It’s also an opportunity for them to learn about the fact that many people have an inherited bleeding disorders and are not diagnosed, or live with one and don’t have access to care.

The WFH was established by  in 1963 and has its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. It has member organizations in 113 countries and official recognition from the World Health Organization.

Source: Text: WFH, Wikipedia  Image: WFH

International day against child slavery – 16 April

It is not child work, it is child slavery.

In this new century, we can still witness one of the most shameful situations of our time: there are 400 million enslaved children between 4 and 14 years old around the world, 165 million are under 5. Wars, prostitution, labour exploitation, starvation, ill-treatment… are the normal day for millions of children.

Children’s exploitation continues increasing (it is multiplied in the impoverished South and it reappears in the enriched North) as a consequence of international trade, the technological monopoly, the passivity and cynicism of international organisms worldwide, economic policies imposed by international financial institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc.) and their complicity with governments who favour multinational companies.

The 16th of April of 1995, a Pakistani boy called Iqbal Mashi, Catholic militant of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front of Pakistan was murdered at the age of 12 by the mafia of carpets after receiving many threats for having closed companies in which all the workers were young slaves. His example spread internationally; he was awarded a prize in Stockholm and Boston and dedicated the money to open a school; he stated his intention to become a lawyer to continue fighting against child slavery.

In memory of Iqbal, a symbol of 400 million child slaves, we demand the 16th of April be set as the International Day against Child Slavery.

Source: Text & Image: Solidaridad.net    2nd image: TIME

Easter, Year A

« The disciples had failed to understand… that he must rise from the dead. » (Jn.20:1-9)

They had been with him for three years.
They had heard him teach day in, day out.
They had seen him cure so many people, even bringing dead people back to life.
And yet… “They had failed to understand…”

Amazingly, what triggered their faith was… some linen!
Yes, linen folded lying where he had been laid in the tomb.

I find these two short mentions encouraging.
Encouraging because, somehow, they describe what is often our personal experience.
In spite of all that the Lord has already done for us, often we fail to understand…
We cannot make sense of some happenings in our lives, some events in the world.
We simply do not see why things ‘MUST’ take place as they do.
To us, it really does not make sense!

Then, suddenly, we come upon a small thing, insignificant, very ordinary – like folded linen – and surprisingly, some meaning appears that had remained hidden till then.
The tiny piece of the big jigsaw puzzle of life fits into the many awkward ‘holes’ all around!

Life – Death – Resurrection – yes, it is true: He must rise from the dead. »

Source: Images: padredelisle.blogspot;  TurnbackToGod.com

Good Friday, Year A

Looking at the cross, not just a wooden piece or a silver cross, but beholding Jesus crucified, so many thoughts and feelings can come to us.
Taking part in the celebration of Good Friday, we respond with prayers, songs, and gestures, trying to express something of what we experience.

Pondering over the words used by the prophet Isaiah and those of the gospel text, is somehow… overwhelming:
“Disfigured, despised, rejected, pierced through, crushed, burdened, struck.  »
« A man of sorrows,” is the way Isaiah summarizes his description (Is.52:13 – 53:12).
 
“Betrayed, arrested, denied, abandoned, arrested, put on trial, scourged, crowned with thorns and… crucified,”  is the multi-faceted picture the four accounts of the gospel present us with.

He was innocent, the victim of those in power, religious leaders as much as – if not more than – political rulers craving for the prestige and privileges that were theirs and fearing to lose them.

I pause and think of the news bulletin bombarding us with… similar pictures in some way…
The war victims subjected to nerve gas, the starving children, the helpless mothers mourning so many deaths, the men innocent by-standers tortured and beheaded…
The pictures follow one another, shocking, appalling, exposing our helplessness, if not… our indifference.

They, too, are innocent people suffering from an unjust political system whose power is that of selfish tyrants craving for domination.

 The question arises: What is the difference?

HE DID IT FOR US…

Source: Image: virtual-independence.blogspot.com