image-i-nations trésor

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A – 2023

In this day and age, surveys are commonplace.
People want to know what others think about different subjects.
They want to be aware of how their fellowmen and women feel about many topics.
So, journalists, reporters, and others involved in the media, submit questionnaires –
questionnaires asking about the opinions and reactions to the headlines that make up the news.

What if someone came to you and asked: “What is FAITH for YOU?”

Some people may refuse categorically to answer what they see as a personal question.
Others may say that they do not believe, so they consider this question irrelevant.
There are some who will reply that they believe, that’s all – they do not feel the need to articulate what believing means.
A few may admit that… they do not know the words to explain what faith is really about.

The gospel texts of the Easter season can be a challenge to our faith.
At times, the narratives differ from one another as they present events and people in ways that vary.

This presents us with the option of becoming aware of what our faith is about.
Is it about a series of facts that we consider reliable?
Is it about a list of principles that we hold as true?
Is it about some teachings received long ago and accepted without question?
Is it about a set of values and attitudes that we see worthy of adoption as a way of life?

Or… is it the acceptance of someone we trust and rely upon, sure that he will never deceive us?
Someone we are convinced is truthful, reliable, and concerned about us personally?
Someone who, we dare believe, can never fail us, whatever the situation we find ourselves in?

Someone we are ready to commit ourselves to… for better or for worse?

To this someone, we are ready to say the words of the father of the epileptic boy:
“I do have faith, help the little faith I have.”  (Mark 9:24)

 

Note: In the following video, Arnold Rodriguez personifies Thomas, the apostle, who tells us what happened to him: https://youtu.be/kp1eb-oBH6w

Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/2e-dimanche-de-paques-annee…/ 

Source: Image: Crosscards.com

 

4th Sunday of Year B

The word IMPRESSION is used in different ways and has different connotations.
Someone walking in the wet sand will leave a mark, a footprint, an impression.
Leaves pressed between two surfaces will also remain imprinted, or create an impression.

Political figures and business executives are very keen on making a good impression!
Actors and athletes are equally eager to please crowds of fans and create a favorable impression!

These reflections came to me as I read this Sunday’s gospel text (4th Sunday of Year B – Mk.1:21-28) where we are told:
“His (Jesus) teaching made a deep impression on them…”
 
A ‘deep impression’ – something that goes beyond the surface to reach the depths of a person.
Is that the way Jesus’ message touches us every time it is proclaimed?

Listening to Jesus preaching, the people in the synagogue of Caparnaum were hearing these words for the first time.
The message was new, the sound of it was original – not a repetition of past teaching.
It did not have a familiar ring to it, it was an unheard of speech, something creative.

They said it openly: “Here is a teaching that is new…”
And they added: “And with authority behind it.”
No wonder it made a deep impression on them – it answered their longing to hear God’s message in a way that we would qualify nowadays as ‘authentic’.

Our situation is very different from theirs: we know well the texts of the gospel, perhaps too well?
For years we have been reading them, listening to homilies, following retreats preached on this and that section of the gospel accounts.
Hearing the first words of a given text, we may say to ourselves: ‘Oh, I know this story,’ and our mind is soon carried away to other more pressing concerns!
Will the text leave a deep impression on us?
Can it really do so in the circumstances?… 

One day, I heard someone say that God is ‘the really REAL’ – an unusual theological statement, but how true!
It may be that for Jesus message to make ‘a deep impression’ on us – and a lasting one – Jesus would need to become ‘really REAL’…

Words spoken and written having become THE Word – a person encountered in the flesh of my daily life and experience…

Source: Images: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee    whereisyvette.com    lds.org

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-lannee-b/

 

17th Sunday of Year A

The gospel message is quite… radical!
This statement may appear somehow shocking to some people but it is very true.
The term ‘radical’ comes from a foreign word meaning ‘roots’ and the gospel message does exactly that:
It goes to the root of reality, and it wants to reach us at the very root of our being,

The few verses of Matthew’s gospel assigned for today’s celebration (17th Sunday of Year A – Mt.13:44-46) exemplify this.
The text is short, to the point, and its message is more than a little demanding!

The examples given are very clear and challenging:
A man discovers a treasure in a field, he sells everything he owns to buy the field.
Another finds a pearl of great price and he, too, gives up all he possesses to get this precious jewel.

The two narratives are so clear but the attitude they express is, yes, radical:
Selling everything, giving up all one has – a risky venture:
What if the treasure is a fake?
What if the pearl is not genuine?
But the man trusts the preciousness of his find and has no hesitation in parting with whatever was a ‘treasure’ to him up to then.

He does not hesitate, he does not postpone, he does not delay.
More still the gospel text says: “He goes off happy…” to sell and to buy.

No need of lengthy explanation as to what this means for a Christian.
Our daily choices, the many options offered to us, the decisions called for day in day out, ask for the same radical commitment.
This is the authentic living of Christ’s message.

Source: Images: pampanos.wordpress.com   JesusWalk

 

 

 

 

5th Sunday of Easter, Year A

There are some who say: “It is a pity we do not know enough the message of Jesus…”
I sometimes think to myself: “It is a pity we know too much the words of Jesus…”

This may sound surprising but I believe there is some truth in the second statement.
What I mean is that, so often, when the text of a given gospel is being read to us, from the start we may think:
“Oh, I know that story of Jesus…” and we switch to… other thoughts!

The text is so familiar that we think we know it… enough to pass on to something else which may be of more concern to us at the moment.

This reflection came to me as I read the text of this Sunday (5th Sunday of Easter, Year A – Jn.14:7-14).
Jesus says clearly: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
                                   No one can come to the Father except through me.”

After the first words, you could have completed the sentence yourself – you probably know the text very well.
But have the words not surprised you?
Have they not raised some questions in your mind?

Did you notice that Jesus did NOT say: “I know a way to reach God, I will show you the way to the Father.”
NO, he said: “I am THE Way.”

He did NOT say either: “I know the truth; I know all truth, I can teach you whatever is true.
NO, he said: “I am THE Truth.”

Again, he did not say: “I can give you life, life to the full, a life that will go on for ever.”
NO, he said: “I am THE Life.”
 
If you know from experience the feeling of being lost… of not knowing what is real and true in life… of not living really but only… well, existing, as some will admit – then, these words of Jesus will have a special meaning for you.

So, it seems obvious, does it not?
Following him we will have found THE Way, we will have discovered THE Truth, we will indeed be living THE Life he meant for us.

It is all a matter of following him… some do so at a distance, sometimes wandering far away for a while.
Others keep him in sight but follow their own paths…
And there are those who follow him closely, placing their steps in his own…
I would say: this is the meaning of being a disciple of his, would you not?

Source: Image: Dreamstime.com