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The Alphabet of Lent – Letter I

27 février 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: disciples, energy, exhausted, invitation, Matthew 11:28-30, meaning to our life, rest, the Master

I for Invitation

Invitations – we receive all kinds of them.
In times past, we used to receive them in the mail, or someone brought them to us.
Nowadays, the emails and social media bring them to us with an amazing frequency!

Invitation to join a group.
Invitation to take part in a celebration.
Invitation to collect funds for a certain cause.
Invitation to help some people in need.
Invitation for some teamwork here, or there.
Invitation to walk for, or against, a given situation.
Invitation to a meeting of former students of this college, or that association.

Invitations, again and again… each with its own face:
family reunion, gathering of friends, political meeting, religious celebration…

If I asked you if you ever received an invitation from… Jesus, what would your reaction be?
He has indeed addressed one which is clearly presented in the gospel of Matthew:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light  » (Matthew 11:28-30).

An invitation that is absolutely unique.
And it comes from someone who knows us well –
someone who knows how much we sometimes need rest…

Someone who understands how we are sometimes exhausted –
with no energy, no courage, not even with the desire to go on living…

He invites us to be his disciples because he knows that this is what will give meaning to our life.
To follow him, the Master, will give a direction to our daily experiences… a vision to our commitments…

A Master who is “gentle and lowly in heart” – a description that is rare and so encouraging!
We should not miss such an invitation…

 

Source: Image: pexels.com (amine)

 

International Day of Light – 16 May

16 mai 2023
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: appreciation, art, communications, culture, energy, médecine, science, UNESCO

The International Day of Light is a global initiative that provides a platform for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications and energy. The broad theme of light will allow many different sectors of society worldwide to participate in activities that demonstrates how science, technology, art and culture can help achieve the goals of UNESCO – education, equality and peace.

Following a highly successful International Year of Light, which highlighted the importance of light-based sciences and technologies and saw more than 13,168 activities implemented in 147 countries, the Executive Board of UNESCO, at its 200th session, has established the International Day of Light on 16 May of every year (200 EX/Decision 27). The 39th General Conference has approved this decision in document 39 C/40.

The International Day of Light will be an annual celebration providing a platform for continued appreciation of the central role that light science and technologies play in the lives of citizens from all over the world. It will provide also an enduring follow-up of the achievements of the International Year of Light by raising the profile of science and technology globally and highlighting its applications for stimulating education, improving quality of life worldwide, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
An International Day of Light will contribute to build new bridges between scientific disciplines, education and the art, responding to the critical need for interdisciplinary science, and improved dialogue between citizens, scientists, decision makers, industry leaders and non-governmental organisations.

 

Source: Text: https://en.unesco.org/events/international-day-light    Image: www.demotext.com

World Science Day for Peace and Development – 10 November

10 novembre 2022
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: development, energy, médecine, peace, planet, science, society

Celebrated every 10 November, World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the significant role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.

By linking science more closely with society, World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science. It also underscores the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable.

‘The applications of basic sciences are vital for advances in medicine, industry, agriculture, water resources, energy planning, environment, communications and culture’, affirmed the United Nations General Assembly on 2 December 2021, when it endorsed the proposal for an International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development. World Science Day is contributing to the Year in 2022 by celebrating this theme.

‘We need more basic science to achieve The 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals’, the United Nations General Assembly noted in December 2021. It is true that the share of domestic research expenditure devoted to basic sciences varies widely from one country to another. According to data from the UNESCO Science Report 2021 for 86 countries, some devote less than 10% of their research expenditure to basic sciences and others more than 30%.

Having a capacity in basic sciences is in the interests of both developed and developing countries, given the potential for applications to foster sustainable development and raise standards of living. For example, a growing number of people around the world suffer from diabetes. Thanks to laboratory studies of the ways in which genes can be manipulated to make specific protein molecules, scientists are able to engineer genetically a common bacterium, Escherichia coli, to produce synthetic human insulin.

 

Source: Text: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-science-day    Image: news 18.com

 

14th Sunday of the Year, A

6 juillet 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: agenda, burdens, coping, demands, energy, gentle, invitation, meaning of life, Mt.11:25-30, rest, stress, tasks, time, time to breathe, tired, yoke

The conversations overheard at a bus shelter or in the waiting-room of a clinic can be quite revealing.
A woman may tell another: “You look tired…”
To which the other replies: “Tired is not the word I am exhausted! It seems I get up in the morning as tired as when I went to bed the night before…”

The man waiting for his medical appointment may whisper to a neighbour: “I want the doctor to give me tablets to sleep. I can’t cope any more.
The stress at work is more than I can bear, I am at the end of my tether, I am afraid I’m heading for a breakdown…”

Modern life can indeed be very stressful with its many tasks and its multiple demands made on our time and energy.
It seems that our agendas are always full of things to be done, people to meet, engagements to keep, commitments to honour –
and the list of them all is tiring even to look at!

And then… today’s gospel message (14th Sunday, Year A – Mt.11:25-30) finds its way to our attention and the words slowly sink in:

“Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened,
and I will give you rest.
Shoulder my yoke and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.”

It sounds nearly too good to be true!
REST! Relief from the burdens we carry from day to day.
Some time to breathe, to stop running here and there.
A moment to look around and notice the green of the new leaves and the sun shining through them.

Reading the words of this text of the gospel, taking in each word slowly and letting it reach our worried minds and anxious hearts…
Of the many people who can speak like the two mentioned above, I ask myself: ‘How many would take Jesus at his word? 

How many would come to him and tell him what they spontaneously admit to a friend or neighbour?…’
“Lord, I can’t cope any longer, it’s too much for me.
I am so t i r e d , my burdens are too many and too heavy their weight…”
How many would heed his call: “Come to me… you will find rest.”
 
It has been said that God does not necessarily take away from us those burdens we find heavy and painful but he will carry them with us.
Shouldering his yoke means: to take on his ways, walking and working at his rhythm.
And yes, accepting to learn from him the meaning of life and its many tasks – those we take on willingly and those imposed on us…
And – amazingly – finding with him an unexpected and so welcome REST!

Source: Image: Pinterest