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32nd Sunday of Year B – 2024

8 novembre 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Kings 17:10-16, certainty, death, doubt, fear, God's faithfulness, poor widow, prophet, trust

Today’s 1st reading presents us a scene that is very human and… very inspiring too (1 Kings 17:10-16).
Elijah, the prophet – a man of God, in the mind of pious Jews – arrives at a poor widow’s home.
We see him asking immediately for a drink and, before the woman goes, he adds also a request for food.

The woman’s reply is very touching:
“As surely as the Lord your God lives, I don’t have any bread –
only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.
I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son,
that we may eat it – and die.”

Absolute poverty, total penury – the text describes the woman’s complete destitution.
She is ready to die a terrible death which will take her son as well.

The prophet’s reply comes as a promise, wonderful but enigmatic…
the how and when of his words remain unknown…

“Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said.
But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me,
and then make something for yourself and your son.
For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry
until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

The widow hears these words of comfort as the request for food from Elijah remains unchanged.
What is asked of this poor woman is to rest assured that God will provide.
God will take care of her and her son when she has no longer anything to help herself.

To be certain, to be completely sure of something, when there is really no sign that it will happen.
To be convinced, to have no doubt whatever, to entertain no fear, that a promise will be realized.
This is to venture into the unknown, into darkness, into… some would whisper ‘foolishness’…

Some people – like this widow – are ready to credit God’s faithfulness to his word to this extent!
There are people ready to walk surrounded by mist, blinded by puzzlement, yet they make one step after another…
They CANNOT… NOT rely on God, whatever the situation, no matter the troubling circumstances…

Such a trust is an amazing experience – it can test our human resources to the utmost.
But it gives God the occasion of revealing himself as the God he is: ever present, unfailingly reliable!…

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/32e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/

 

Source: Image: https://goodnewsshared.wordpress.com/tag/1-kings-177-16/

World Drowning Prevention Day – 25 July

25 juillet 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: awareness, boat, death, lakes, life-saving solutions, lifejacket, pools, rivers, wells

World Drowning Prevention Day, declared through the April 2021 UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/75/273 “Global drowning prevention”, is held annually on 25 July. This global advocacy event serves as an opportunity to highlight the tragic and profound impact of drowning on families and communities and offer life-saving solutions to prevent it. An estimated 236,000 people drown every year, and drowning is among the ten leading causes of death for children aged 5-14 years. More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in rivers, lakes, wells, domestic water storage vessels and swimming pools in low- and middle-income countries, with children and adolescents in rural areas disproportionately affected.

Drowning is sudden, abrupt, and shocking, with people often not realizing it’s happening until it’s too late.

What leads to drowning often happens in just a few seconds:
A small child slipping unnoticed into a pond or pool on a sunny afternoon;
Feeling invincible after a few drinks and jumping into the ocean for a swim;
Accepting that one extra passenger on the boat, despite knowing it might capsize;
Deciding it’s too much of a hassle to put on that lifejacket.

So much can happen in a single moment. But with the right awareness and actions, what happens in those seconds can also be changed – for the better.

Source: Text & Image: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-drowning-prevention-day/2024

Good Friday, the Passion of the Lord, Year B – 2024

28 mars 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: abandoned, accused, crucified, crucifix, death, forgiven, forgotten, imagination, Isaiah 53:4-5, pictures, suffering

There are things we enjoy looking at – we spend time looking at this and that aspect of a certain object.
We want to observe every side of it – the position, the color, the texture.

There are other things that we cannot bear to set our eyes on – we quickly move away when suddenly seeing a painting, or a statue.
But it can also be a scene that is causing us to move away, unable to witness what is taking place before us.

The scenes of the suffering and death of Jesus are precisely such a reality that some people find difficult to contemplate.
It is said that the first Christians would not hang on the walls of their homes what we now call a crucifix.
Their imagination was sufficient to inspire their devotion.
It was too painful for them to look at what their beloved Master had experienced,
they would not exhibit pictures of his sufferings and death.

But more still than the representations themselves, what is certainly difficult to sustain is what Jesus was submitted to in all its stark reality…

Jesus-God abandoned by his closest followers and friends…
Jesus-God forgotten by those healed and forgiven by him…
Jesus-God accused by the religious leaders of his time…
Jesus-God judged and condemned by human beings…
Jesus-God crucified like a criminal while being innocent…

But the most shocking is possibly this:
Jesus-God taking on himself our sinful condition…

In the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God…
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

What happened to him was FOR us, in our place,
so that WE may be healed, forgiven, granted peace.

Only in silent meditation can this be… perceived… acknowledged… assumed…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/vendredi-saint-la-passion-du-seigneur-annee-b-2024/

 

Source: Image: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

6th Sunday of Year A – 2023

10 février 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Ben Sira, choice, death, décisions, Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20, freedom, Life, options

You may have overheard a conversation when, suddenly, one of the speakers said:
“It’s a matter of life and death.”
You knew immediately that they were speaking about some serious matter.
In life, there are situations which are that important and we are aware of it.

The 1st reading of today’s celebration leads us to think of such situations (Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20).
The writer, Ben Sira, says clearly:

“Man has life and death before him;
whichever a man likes better will be given him.”

Some people may think that this arises as a sudden happening and that a choice has to be made instantly.
Most often, it is not so.
The choice is in fact a multiple one, spread over months and years.
Options are offered to us leading to decisions, one after the other.
And… these decisions fashion the person we become.

The options vary in kind and their impact is also different in intensity.
They open up different opportunities…

      • compassion or aggression
      • honesty or deceit
      • faithfulness or betrayal
      • authenticity or corruption
      • courage or cowardice
      • generosity or selfishness
      • forgiveness or revenge

and the list can go on, every time offering a challenge –
the challenge to become a better person, more truly human, more essentially Christ-like, or… the opposite.

LIFE… or DEATH options, this is what they are.
Of course, they lead to a more meaningful and happier life or… the opposite.

The choice remains ours: what we like better will be given to us –
this is the astonishing gift of freedom!
 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/6e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2023/

 

Source: Image: Monday Morning Minutes

 

 

 

29th Sunday of Year C – 2022

14 octobre 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: death, faith, Life, Luke 18:1-8, persévérance, prayer, relationship, trusting

The texts of the gospel come to us in different ways.
They reach us under different expressions and translations.
And they can provoke in us different reactions…

The last verse of today’s gospel text (Luke 18:1-8) does precisely this:
it awakens in us thoughts and questions.

Jesus has been teaching about prayer and about the need to persevere in prayer. 
Obviously, this requires faith.
The text goes on to quote Jesus’ last words on the matter:

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

An astonishing statement!
Is it not amazing that Jesus himself would ask this?
It is a question that is not addressed to anyone but is possibly a reflection on Jesus’ part.

I should perhaps correct this statement…
The question of Jesus not addressed to anyone IS ADDRESSED to EVERYONE, everyone of us.
It is from each one that he expects FAITH.
It is with each one that he hopes to enter a special relationship…

A relationship

  • not based only on the acceptation of some truths,
  • not concerned solely on the following of some principles,
  • not attentive purely to follow traditions, no matter how sacred.

A relationship where one is

  • relying on him in all situations,
  • trusting his love and care, no matter what,
  • never doubting his presence,
  • sure that he is concerned about all that touches us,
  • daring to confide to him our life… and death!

It may be was Jesus’ surprising question, his seemingly strange reflection is all about…

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/29e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: followingmessiah.org

World No Tobacco Day – 31 May

31 mai 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: death, diseases, environment, health, smoking, tobacco

This yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.

The Member States of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes. In 1987, the World Health Assembly passed Resolution WHA40.38, calling for 7 April 1988 to be a « a world no-smoking day. » In 1988, Resolution WHA42.19 was passed, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on 31 May.

The harmful impact of the tobacco industry on the environment is vast and growing adding unnecessary pressure to our planet’s already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems.

Tobacco kills over 8 million people every year and destroys our environment, further harming human health, through the cultivation, production, distribution, consumption, and post-consumer waste.

 

Source: Text: WHO   Image: Hindustan Times

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

22nd Sunday of Year A – 2020

29 août 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: adjustment, death, God's way, Mt.16:21-27, obstacles, suffering

Last Sunday, the gospel text showed us Peter being praised by Jesus –
praised for recognizing him as he is, the Christ.
But in today’s text, far from being congratulated, Peter is reprimanded in no uncertain terms! (Mt.16:21-27)
 
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me;
you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
 
Peter wants the best for Jesus, his friend and Master, and he thinks that… he (Peter) knows best!
According to him, it is certainly not suffering and death at the hands of the leaders of the Jews.

Jesus sees in Peter a tempter – the meaning of the word ‘Satan’,
someone who puts obstacles on the path of Jesus carrying out his mission.

Peter has yet to learn to see life’s situations in the light of “the concerns of God,”
he is focused on “merely human concerns.”
In other words, Peter has to get adjusted to God’s ways of thinking – a life-long adjustment!

Looking at our own ways of seeing situations and people, it would seem that we need to make the same adjustment –

We are constantly in danger of thinking that we know best!
We like to believe that we know what is good and appropriate for ourselves and for others!
We would not admit it – possibly not even to ourselves – but we tend to think that God’s way should follow ours!

Yes, a life-long adjustment is needed!…

 

Note: Another reflection on a similar theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/22e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Images: www.this-mormon-life.com.  reasonforjesus.com

 

14th Sunday of Year A – 2020

4 juillet 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: accident, Covid-19, death, encounter, gift, Gods's choice, Mt.11:28-30, pandemic, unexpected, visitor, Za.9:9-10

This period we are living – that of the Covid-19 pandemic – has taken us unawares, it is certain.
It has brought in its wake, all kinds of things totally unexpected.

But, when we think about it, our lives are filled with things which are precisely that: unexpected.

  • The promising encounter.
  • The unannounced visitor.
  • The surprise promotion.
  • The welcome help from a friend.
  • The mysterious gift left at the door.
  • The improbable happy event.
  • The unforeseen loss of work.
  • The tragic accident.
  • The sudden death…

And the list could go on of all that we had neither planned nor envisaged as possible.
Things, events, situations, people – all can belong to this category of the unexpected.

And two of the readings of this Sunday (Ze.9:9-10) (Mt.11:28-30)
make me think that the God they describe is also an… UNEXPECTED GOD!

A God who is humble, riding a donkey – not a horse as someone powerful.
A God who is gentle, humble in heart…
This is NOT the kind of God we would expect…

Yet, the story – the REALITY- started long ago…
The birth in a manger in poor surroundings,
the death on a cross condemned by jealous religious leaders and killed by the occupying power.

This has been – this remains – God’s choice… we have yet to understand…
to really meet and come to know… the ‘unexpected’ God.

Then, slowly, we may come to realize that he can also work – unexpectedly – wonderful things in our lives.
 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/14e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: Zoe Ministries

 

 

 

International Overdose Awareness Day – 31 August

31 août 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: brain injury, death, drug abuse, health, heroin, medical personnel, opioids, pain, prévention

International Overdose Awareness Day is a global campaign that works towards preventing overdose, reducing the stigma associated with it, and providing support to families and loved ones of overdose victims. The unofficial awareness day is observed every year on August 31.

The day was established in 2001 by Australians Sally J. Finn and Peter Streker as a way to commemorate those who have lost their lives to overdose, and to support the loved ones whose lives have been affected by drug abuse.

Since 2012, the responsibility of organizing International Overdose Awareness Day has been taken over by the Penington Institute, an Australian non-profit health organization. Despite its Australian roots, the day is now observed all over the world.

Recognizing Symptoms of Overdose
Medical professionals define overdose as the accidental or intentional use of a drug or a substance such as alcohol or a narcotic beyond the recommended dosage. An overdose can have serious consequences, with effects ranging from mild disorientation to seizures, brain injury, and death.

Part of International Overdose Awareness Day’s agenda is to spread information about how to detect signs of substance abuse and overdose, and what to do when encountering a person who may be having an adverse reaction to a drug. Disorientation, agitation, difficulty in breathing, and vomiting can be signs of overdose and should not be ignored.

A Global Problem
Overdose is an increasing global problem. A 2014 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that about 183,000 people succumb to overdose around the world every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an American public health organization, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States.

A vast majority of overdose deaths occur due to opioid abuse. Opioids are a class of drugs that reduce the intensity of pain by interacting with proteins called opioids found in the human brain, spinal cord, and other organs. Opiates include illegal substances like heroin, as well as legally prescribed medication such as oxycodone, codeine, and morphine.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com Image: Latino Public Radio