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31st Sunday of Year A – 2023

There are things we are told that we believe we know, yet…
We sometimes think that because we have heard something said many times, we understand them, but…

This could apply to… the word of God.
Writing to the early Christians of Thessalonica, the apostle Paul tells them (1 Th.2:7-9,13):

“When you received the word of God, which you heard from us,
you accepted it not as the word of men, 
but as what it really is, the word of God.”

Could Paul say the same from us?
It is good to ask ourselves:
When picking up the Bible to read a text, are we aware, really aware, of “what it really is” as Paul says?
When we hear a passage from Scripture being read to us, are we convinced that it is indeed “the word of God”?

In fact, the word of God is often written with a capital letter: Word of God,
with the meaning that it is Jesus himself, the Son of God, speaking to us.
It is not simply a printed text, not only words from a book, but God addressing us personally.

Of course, the texts have been written by human beings –
but human beings who placed themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, God’s own Spirit.

This changes the whole perspective – we are not considering texts, themes, or theories.
We are not reflecting about ideas, thoughts, or concepts…
We are meant to meet Someone addressing us directly!

And this Someone is God himself!
How different an experience this can be!…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/31e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2023/

 

Source: Image: One Walk ǀ with Jesus

 

 

 

27th Sunday of Year C – 2022

Most of us are in contact with many people every day.
We approach some of them spontaneously, considering them as friends.
Others, we keep our distance from them, we are not sure how we will be received.
There are some, we know that we will always be welcomed when knocking at their door.
Others, we would not go to them at any time, we feel we must choose the right moment.

What about God?
Do we approach him, spontaneously, without any hesitation?
Are we convinced that any moment is a good moment to ‘get in touch’ with him?
Or are we in doubt that we will be welcomed?
Are we afraid to go to him just as we are?

In today’s 2nd reading, we meet the apostle Paul writing to his friend Timothy (2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14).
Some of his words can help us to ‘adjust’ our way of looking on to God – enabling us to come to him in a way that is ‘just’.

  • Just seeing him really as our Father.
  • Just accepting that we are his beloved children.
  • Just trusting him, truly.

Paul writes:
“God did not give us a spirit of fear
but power, and love, and self-control.”
 
It is sad to see how many people fear God, how may do not dare to come to him with the simplicity of a child.
They may think that they are sinners and are not worthy to approach him.
They forget that Jesus came precisely for sinners – he said it openly (

).

God never asked us to be worthy, he asks us to be confident in his mercy – that’s all!

Some of us have yet to REALize this basic and wonderful reality!
May it become REAL indeed!

The last line of the reading tells us how this is possible…
“…with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”
 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/27e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: Oak Grove Church of Christ

 

Feast of Pentecost, Year C – 2022

In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that when Paul visited a community of Christians in Ephesus, he asked them:
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
They replied: “We were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:1-3).

So, as we see in the 2nd reading of today, Paul reminds the Christians of Rome of what is at the heart of our faith (Romans 8:8-17):
 
“The Spirit of God has made his home in you…
Everyone moved by the Spirit is a child of God.
The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again;
it is the spirit of children, and it makes us cry out ‘Abba, Father!’ ”
 
An amazing reality!
We are people ‘inhabited’ by God himself.
We are his own children, sharing in his nature.
We can truly call him in a familiar way: “Father!”.

Trust, confidence, absence of fear – this should be the ‘atmosphere’ of our Christian life.
Spontaneity, security, serenity – this is the normal ‘ambience’ of a life lived of faith.

This does not mean that no problem or difficulty will be part of our ‘landscape’.
But it means that Someone is with us with God’s power to enable us to overcome whatever comes our way.

Jesus himself has said so to the apostles:

“I am sending down to you what the Father has promised…
You will be clothed with the power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

Someone is with us… Someone to rely upon…
The Feast of Pentecost is meant to remind us of this.

 

Note: Another reflection, on a different theme, is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-pentecote-annee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: Facebook

Holy Thursday, Year C – 2022

Parents sometimes ask their children: “Do you understand?”
A teacher will ask the same question to a class of students.
A contractor may use the same words addressing workers at a building site.

« Do you understand? »

When, at the  Last Supper, Jesus asked this question from his apostles (John 13:1-15),
his voice must have carried a special accent and intensity.
He had just been washing their feet – he, their Master.
In spite of Peter’s objection, he had done this work usually done by a servant.

“Do you understand what I have done to you?”

The apostles may have thought they did, yet soon after, it was obvious that they had understood very little.
They would need their whole life, they would need, in fact, the help of the Holy Spirit to understand –
understand what God had done to them… through Jesus.

What if the question were addressed to us?…
We are, indeed, confronted to the same questioning day after day:
Do we understand what God does to us… for us?…

Do we understand the kind of God he is?
Do we understand what he has made us to be… and what he wants us to become?

Perhaps we, too, need the help of the Holy Spirit and…
the understanding may come to us all through our life.
                                                             

Note: And another reflection, on a different theme, is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/jeudi-saint-annee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: churchofjesuschrist.org   

 

 

 

15th Sunday of Year B – 2021

Many of us have collected, over the years, some pictures – photos of ourselves and our loved ones.
From time to time, we take out an album, or an envelope, where these souvenirs are safely kept.
We enjoy going through these mementoes and see what we looked like at different periods of our lives.

Do you have a picture of yourself as… a Christian, yes, as a follower of Christ?
I suppose that you wonder what this could be…

The different Bible texts that we are given to reflect upon each Sunday can serve this purpose:
to give us a picture of what a Christian looks like.
It happens that what is given to us to ponder over is absolutely… amazing!

Amazing because of what it says about God, yes, but amazing also because of what it tells us about ourselves!
The image of what a Christian is, what we are and what we have been made for.
It is the case with the 2nd reading of this Sunday where we find Paul’s words to the Ephesians (Eph.1:3-12). 

“The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us…
He chose us…
He determined that we should become his adopted sons (and daughters)…
He has let us know the mystery of his plan…
We were claimed as God’s own…
We have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit…”
 
I look at the words, I read again each sentence, and I find it absolutely astonishing!
This is what we are meant to be… if only we accept it!

Some will exclaim: “It is too good to be true!”
I personally believe that, since God is involved, it is too good NOT to be true!”

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/15e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2021/

 

Source: Image: Twitter

Pentecost, Year B – 2021

Three readings offering 27 verses of texts, 6 verses of a Psalm, and added to all this, a poem-prayer, the Sequence, as a second Response!
Overwhelming riches – and overwhelming is the word!

How can one choose a theme?
How can we focus on a single verse, or topic, for reflection?
Of course, the Spirit is at the heart – no, he is THE heart – of today’s message.

What saint Paul writes to the Galatians in the 2nd reading (Gal.5:16-25) is what has retained my attention.

Since the Spirit gives us life,
let us walk under the guidance of the Spirit.”

Paul tells the first Christians that there are in us what he calls ‘tendencies’ – inclinations or dispositions –
that lead us into a way of being that is not what we are meant to be.
The apostle gives them 15 different names, no less! and he says clearly:
 
“There is a clash that prevents you from doing whatever you want.”
 
We know it from experience, very often we do not manage to master those tendencies,
we do not succeed in overcoming those inclinations.
So, we need to allow the Spirit to guide us on the way God wants us to follow.
He is the one who will enable us to be… reconciled with our best self!

So, Let us walk under the guidance of the Spirit,” indeed!
We might be astonished at the outcome of walking with this Companion!

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/pentecote-annee-b-2021/

  

Source: Image: unsplash.com

Feast of the Holy Trinity, Year C – 2019  

Some people ask themselves questions about God.
In fact, many people would want to know more about him –
know more, more clearly, more deeply.
But could it be that they miss some important revelation about him?

Revelation: showing clearly, removing what is covering something, making known.
Yes, God has been revealed to us but… he remains GOD –
we will never have achieved knowing him fully…

In the 2nd reading of today’s feast – that of the Holy Trinity –
writing to the first Christians of Rome (Rom.5:1-5), saint Paul tells them:

“Through Jesus we have entered this state of grace…
The love of God (the Father) has been poured into our hearts
by the holy Spirit which has been given to us.”
 
It is as if Paul, in a nutshell, is giving us – as well as the Roman Christians of long ago –
the meaning of today’s feast.

We are “In a state of grace”, in other words: we are blessed, we are privileged, ‘graced’ by God.
Thanks to Jesus who made it known to us, we can be assured that God is our Father
a Father who loves us more than we will ever understand.
This certainty is given to us by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God himself.

Some theological texts will speak of ‘the mystery of the Holy Trinity’.
Sad to say, some people conclude: a mystery is something we cannot understand
so we cannot understand the Holy Trinity!

A more accurate definition of a mystery is that it is something we have never finished understanding…
And what if… this ‘mysterious’ REALITY were the meaning of our daily life?
Yes, even in its seemingly most insignificant details!…

Note: Another reflection is available on a similar theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-sainte-trinite-annee-c-2019/

 

Source: Image: etsy.com

 

 

Feast of Pentecost, Year C – 2019

Week after week, Sunday after Sunday, we are given Scripture readings to ponder over.
Written in a language which is not the one of our daily conversations, it may happen that we do not grasp the full meaning of the texts.
It may also be that the truth they express is so wonderful that we wonder if we can rely on what we read or hear.
We may ask ourselves: “Are these words really meant for us as well as for the people of the past?”

The gospel of this feast of Pentecost (Jn.14:15-16,23-26) is one such texts that tell us something astonishing.
On the eve of his death, Jesus told his friends, the apostles:
 
« I shall ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate,
to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth…
He will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”
 
I read these words, I repeat them to myself, and… I ask myself: 
‘Is it really true for me?
Am I convinced of this?
Do I rely on this amazing reality?’

The Father cannot fail to answer Jesus’ prayer – it is absolutely unthinkable.
On the other hand, we have been baptised and we have received the Holy Spirit.
He is with us, not for a time but “for ever”, Jesus assures us.

So, it means that we have… a private teacher, a very special tutor to help us understand and remember –
understand Jesus’ message and remember it as we live from day today.

What is missing then?
Perhaps only… the faith that it is so…
And the prayer, from the heart, asking to understand and to remember.

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-pentecote-annee-c-2019/

 

Source: Image: www.stignatius.jp

 

6th Sunday of Easter, Year C – 2019

     
A mansion, a cottage, or even a log cabin – all of them can protect us from extreme cold or suffocating heat.
The structure may be of metal, cement, or wood, any type of habitation will provide us with some kind of shelter.
We can think of an apartment, a house, a residence – we need such a place to live in.

But… most of us hope for more… we want some decent place to live, yes, but we also want to live happily.
And for this, what we really need is… a HOME.
We are aware that rare timber, or original stones, cannot make a home.
What makes of a house a ‘home’ is the atmosphere, the ambiance, the ‘feeling-good’ sensation.

We know it from experience: what truly creates a home is the relationship of the people living there.
The easy-going, smooth, respectful, sensitive attitudes of the members of the group are the building blocks of a home.

What if it is… God who makes a home?!
A surprising thought, even astonishing… but this is what today’s gospel tells us (Jn.14:23-29).
The text says:

“We shall come and make our home with him”. (v.23)
 
Saying this, Jesus speaks of the person who keeps his word.
He assures us that his Father and himself will come to stay with such a person.
They will make their ‘home’ with such a person.

I find it absolutely amazing, it is so extraordinary that it is beyond our imagining.
Many will inquire about… the possibility of this: how can this be?
I admit readily that I know nothing of the… ‘logistics’ of it, but I am absolutely convinced that it is so.
The Holy Spirit can make it so!

Only one thing could prevent it… our refusal, our closing the ‘door’ of ourselves.
This would be a tragedy… but God would keep waiting… he always does!

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/6e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-c-2019/

 

Source: Images: johndauherty.com   all-free-download.com   beau.adamguerino.com

2nd Sunday of Year B

Whenever I come across the text of the 1st reading of this Sunday(2nd Sunday of Year B – 1 Sam.3:3-10,19), I am tempted to envy the young Samuel.
He was very fortunate in being told how to speak to God, what to tell him, in other words: How to pray!

I believe that most of us often ask ourselves what is the best way to go about this most important activity.
Our constant reference, Google, in less than a second gave me 9 billions, yes this is what I got: 9 billion possible articles when I simply keyed in: HOW TO…
The first one was entitled: How to do anything !

I am NOT inclined to ask Google the question HOW TO PRAY.
I expect that I would find many texts on the topic – how, and when, and with what words, and for whom, I should address God.

I can say that I have found my own answer… and I am ready to share it with you.
I take it from the apostle Paul in his letter to the early Christians of Rome, as he tells them:

“When we cannot choose words in order to pray properly,
the Spirit himself expresses our plea
in a way that could never be put into words,
and God who knows everything in our heart
knows perfectly well what he means.”   (Rom.8:26-27)

And this same Paul assures us in the 2nd reading today:
“The Holy Spirit is in you since you received him from God.”   (1 Cor.6:19)

So, I need only repeat Samuel’s words:
“Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”,
and the rest will follow… of itself… nay, of Himself

Source: Images: unsplash.com  psychologytoday.com

Note: Another text for reflection is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/2e-dimanche-de-lannee-b/