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L’alphabet du Carême – Lettre U

14 mars 2024
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: À bien y penser... blogue
Mots-clés: croyances, denominations, Jean 11:41-42, Jean 17:21, Luc 11:1-4, Matthieu 11:25-26, pâque juive, prier comme Jésus, prière de Jésus, unité

U pour Unité 

Nous prions, bien sûr, et nous avons tous/toutes nos formules préférées pour nous adresser à Dieu.
Nous lui faisons des requêtes multiples et nous le remercions aussi.
Il se peut que nous nous posions la question: Jésus, lui, quand il priait son Père, comment le faisait-il?

Un jour, ses apôtres l’ayant vu prier, lui demandèrent de leur enseigner à prier.
Nous savons qu’il leur a alors enseigné la prière du Notre Père (Luc 11:1-4).
Mais nous pensons encore: lui-même, comment priait-il?

Outre sa prière à l’agonie, au Jardin des Oliviers, et sa supplication sur la croix, nous savons bien peu de sa prière personnelle…

Un jour, s’émerveillant de la foi des gens simples, il s’est exclamé :
« Je te loue, ô Père, Seigneur du ciel et de la terre,
parce que tu as caché ces choses aux sages et aux intelligents,
et que tu les as révélées aux petits enfants » (Matthieu 11:25-26). 

À une autre occasion, avant de ramener Lazare à la vie, il s’est adressé à son Père en disant:
« Père, je te remercie de ce que tu m’as écouté. 
Pour ma part, je savais que tu m’écoutes toujours,
mais j’ai parlé à cause de la foule qui m’entoure,
afin qu’ils croient que c’est toi qui m’as envoyé » (Jean 11:41-42).

Ces deux textes sont révélateurs.
Il y en a pourtant un autre que je retiens – c’est la prière que Jésus a prononcée la veille de sa mort, un moment vraiment solennel.

C’était pendant le repas de la pâque juive et, à la fin du repas, Jésus a dit:

« Que tous soient un, comme toi, Père,
comme tu es en moi, et comme je suis en toi,
qu’eux aussi soient un en nous,
pour que le monde croie que tu m’as envoyé » (Jean 17:21). 

Ce texte nous fait connaître clairement le désir de Jésus pour nous, les croyants.
Mais plus de 2,000 ans après qu’il ait prié ainsi, il semble que son désir soit encore… en attente de réalisation…
Les groupes de ceux qui se disent disciples du Christ se sont multipliés d’une manière étonnante…

Les assemblées de chrétiens se sont diversifiées au gré de leurs croyances différentes…
Pire encore, leur façon de se traiter les uns les autres a parfois quelque chose de déplorable…
Il y a, certes, des efforts louables vers un rapprochement vrai mais… il reste une longue distance à parcourir.

Voyageant un jour dans un pays qui m’était étranger, je me suis retrouvée à un carrefour de quatre rues.
Sur l’emplacement de trois d’entre elles, une église était érigée pour des Chrétiens de dénominations différentes.
Évidemment, tous réclamaient la présence du Christ chez eux…

Il nous faut apprendre à prier comme Jésus, avec lui, SA prière…

 

Source: Image: Blog du pasteur Albert – WordPress.com   Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

The Alphabet of Lent – Letter U

14 mars 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: denominations, groups of Christians, John 11:41-42, John 17:21, Luke 11:1-4, Matthew 11:25-26, prayer of Jesus, Unity

U for Unity

We pray, of course, we all have our favourite formulas to address God.
We present multiple requests to him, and we also thank him.
It is possible that we ask ourselves the question: When he was praying to his father, how did Jesus do this?

One day, his apostles having seen him pray, asked him to teach them to pray.
We know that he then taught them the prayer of the Our Father (Luke 11:1-4).
But we still think: he, himself, how did he pray?

Apart from his prayer during his agony in the Garden of Olives, and his petition on the cross, we know little of his personal prayer.

One day, marveling at the faith of simple people, he exclaimed:
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,
and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25-26).

On another occasion, before bringing Lazarus back to life, he addressed his Father, saying:
“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 
I knew that you always hear me,
but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, 
that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11:41-42).

These two texts are meaningful.
Yet, there is another one which I think of – it is the prayer Jesus pronounced on the eve of his death, a solemn moment indeed.
It was during the Jewish Passover meal and, at the end of the meal, Jesus said:

“That all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in me, and I am in you. 
May they also be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).

This text makes clearly known to us the desire of Jesus for us, believers.
But more than 2,000 years after he prayed in this way, his desire is still… waiting to be realized…
The groups of those who call themselves disciples of Christ have been multiplied in an amazing manner…

The groups of Christians have become diversified according to their different beliefs…
Worse still, their way of treating each other is sometimes deplorable…
Of course, there are praiseworthy efforts to come really closer to one another but… there is still a long way to go.

Travelling, one day, in a foreign country, I found myself at a crossroads of four streets.
On the site of three of them, there was a church built for the Christians of different denominations.
Of course, all of them claimed that Christ was with them…

We need to learn how to pray as Jesus did, and pray with him, HIS prayer…

 

Source: Image: Scripture Images

3rd Sunday of Year A – 2023

20 janvier 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Corinthians: 1:10-13, 1 Corinthians: 1:17, ancient, Christian message, denominations, John 17:22, old-fashioned, Unity

People are sometimes inclined to abandon what they consider old-fashioned.
They want to get rid of clothes, furniture, or belongings, that they see as no longer in fashion.
Some go further and try to move away from ways of thinking and values which they call ‘ancient’.

It is strange but, sometimes, ‘old’ things and ways can take on a very contemporary appearance!
This reflection came to me as I read the 2nd reading of this Sunday (1 Corinthians: 1:10-13,17).
Paul is writing to the first Christians of Corinth and uses strong language to bring them to their senses!

It has been reported to him that, among different groups of Christians, there are divisions.
They oppose one another by taking sides for the different messengers who brought God’s message to them: Apollos, Cephas, Paul.

Paul asks them:
“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

We may think the Corinthians receiving this letter of Paul are people of ancient times, yet…
It could be that we resemble them in more ways than one…

Some years ago, I visited a town where, at an intersection of four streets, I saw three different churches!
Each place received Christians of different denominations.
People attending services in each place claimed they were Christians.
They possibly looked down upon men and women entering a different place of worship.
Each group surely considered themselves the true believers, the authentic followers of Christ.

We may ask ourselves what Christ himself thinks!…

Paul tells the Corinthians:
“I appeal to you… that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

This may seem an impossible ideal, a remote possibility.
There are many ways of understanding the Christian message.
Teachers and preachers will present different angles, stress different aspects, bring nuances to this or that part of Christ’s message.

But one thing remains certain: Christ is NOT divided.
And he, himself, calls us to unity in our commitment to him.
On the eve of his death, he prayed to his Father precisely for this:

“May they be one, Father, even as we are one…” (John 17:22)

Could we fail to pray – and live – as Jesus prayed for?…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2023/

 

Source: Image: Scripture Images