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3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C – 2021

10 décembre 2021
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: dignity, expectation, God's coming, justice, Luke 3:10-18, questions, recognize, respect, waiting

Waiting – there is much of this in our lives, no doubt about it.
We wait for all kinds of things to happen and for different people to come.
We anticipate some events with joy and trepidation.
And we find it difficult to wait with patience for the arrival of certain people so eager are we to see them.

In the gospel of this Sunday (Luke 3:10-18), we see people coming to John the Baptist to be baptized.
And of them, the text says:

“The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts
if John might possibly be the Messiah”.
 
This description reveals some joyful anticipation, some eagerness for the coming of the one they call: ‘The Messiah’.

What about us… are we waiting for someone, truly waiting, eagerly expecting this Someone?
Are we wondering in our hearts… when he will be coming, under which form he will appear?…
Do we ask ourselves whether we will recognize him?…

Every year, in this period of Advent, we are invited anew to wait for the Lord.
We no longer wonder or ask ourselves questions –
it seems that we know well the One we are waiting for, and we can put a date on his arrival: Christmas day.

But… does this ‘historical’ coming not hide a more frequent coming of God in our lives?
Of God ‘dressed’ in a different clothing than the Child Jesus…
Of God, no longer lying in a manger, but knocking at our door for help…
Of God asking for food, work, justice, dignity – all that a human being has a right to…

God does not claim these for himself – we usually give him glory and praise and thanks, do we not? 
But he asks for, no, he demands respect, justice, help, for everyone of his children.
HE, TOO, IS… WAITING…

And our period of waiting should be an answer to HIS…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-c-2021/

And in a short video, also in French, Ghislaine Deslières offers us another reflection on this 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C, at: https://youtu.be/bEtz8IfMSOA

 

Source: Images: biblepic.com    VideoHive  

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A

27 avril 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: anticipation, Cleopas, Disciples of Emmaus, expectation, foolish, God's presence, hope, hopeless, Lk.24:13-35, unbelievable, unforeseen, unimaginable

“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

19th Sunday of the Year, C

4 août 2016
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Be rady, expectation, Jesus, Lk.12:35-40, waiting for someone

be ready« Are you ready? » A question that is familiar indeed.
The husband will ask his wife, or the wife her husband, as they wait for the partner to go somewhere.
A group of friends will call out the same words to one who has still to join the group leaving for an outing.
And the words will be heard by students asked by the teacher the same question about the coming exams.

Ready for a journey, an excursion, a meeting, a gathering, a feast, an adventure – so many occasions awaiting our presence, our readiness.
But this Sunday’s gospel message (19th, Year C – Lk.12:35-40) is about more that readiness for something.
Jesus speaks of being ready… for someone – someone’s coming, someone’s sudden arrival.
The unexpected return of the one who should find us waiting, expecting, attending to the tasks confided to us.

The long text of Luke can be summarised in the key sentence in the middle of those 14 verses: “You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

This theme of ‘expectation’ comes back three times and is expressed in a contrast: the attitude of the servant who does not expect his master’s return and what is expected from the person who “has been given a great deal on trust.”
So, perhaps our life is meant to be a coming together of two sets of expections… ours and … that of God!

Source: Image: www.pinterest.com