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Holy Spirit

6th Sunday of Easter, Year C – 2019

24 mai 2019
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: apartment, attitudes, Holy Spirit, home, house, Jn.14:23-29, logistics, relationship, residence

     
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

11 janvier 2018
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Cor.6:19, 1 Sam.3:3-10, answer, Holy Spirit, pray, Rom.8:26-27

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/

12th Sunday of the Year, A

22 juin 2017
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: compassion, conviction, discretion, enthusiasm, faith, God Father, Holy Spirit, Mt.10:26-33, religion, respect, silence, speak about God

« To speak or not to speak: that is the question”, some would say…
This is what we are confronted with in the last lines of this Sunday’s gospel (Mt.10:26-33, 12th Sunday of the Year, Year A) as we hear Jesus tell us:

“If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of people,
I will declare myself for that person
in the presence of my Father in heaven.
But the one who disowns me in the presence of people,
I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.”
 
Words that are direct, challenging and perhaps a little disturbing…
Disturbing in this day and age when many will tell you that religion is a private matter.
Some people claim that one should keep to oneself what he or she believes.
We are not to bother others with matters of faith, they say.
Matters of faith which may not interest them, in any case, and which may even antagonize them.

It is true that much harm can be done by speaking in a way that shows no respect for the beliefs of others.
Trying to coerce people to take on our own ways of relating to God – for this is what religion is about – is certainly not what he expects from us.
Yet, there are times when we should speak, situations which call for our intervention.

But we should speak with tact as much as enthusiasm.
Our words should be voiced with as much discretion as conviction.
To be a witness, surely, to speak for God and about God, most certainly but…
it should be done with consideration, compassion, as much as conviction.

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to speak or not to speak…
He is the one who will enable us to blend, in the proper way, wise speech and respectful silence…

Source: Image: Dissolve
 

6th Sunday of Easter, Year A

18 mai 2017
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: apostles, Gn.1:2, Holy Spirit, Jn. 14:15-21, Presence of God, Spirit of truth, the Advocate, The Father, Wis.1:6

During the years he spent with his apostles, Jesus had spoken very often of THE Father, HIS Father.
I imagine that they had, somehow, got an idea of who he was… God, the God of their ancestors, and Jesus was his special messenger.

But the HOLY SPIRIT…?…
I ask myself what the apostles understood when Jesus mentioned him.

Of course, there is a mention of the spirit hovering over the waters in the creation narrative (Gn.1:2).
The book of Wisdom also speaks of God’s Spirit (Wis.1:6).

But in today’s gospel (6th Sunday of Easter, Year A – Jn. 14:15-21), Jesus describes THE Spirit – the one the Father will send in his name – as a living being that will interact with 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 is with you, he is in you.”

The apostles discovered the deep meaning of this reality – the reality of this special Presence of God – throughout their lives.

The same is to take place in our own lives… from day to day.

Source: Image: www.pinterest.com

Pentecost, C

11 mai 2016
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: "under the influence", 1 Cor.12:12-13, 1 Cor.12:3-7, Acts 1:1-11, Holy Spirit

jeanbesset.unblog.fr“He is under the influence…” This expression has come to be used for someone “driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”
But is can be heard as well when speaking of a child acting “under the influence” of siblings or peers. Again a person seen as being weak in character will be said to be “under the influence” of anyone showing him or her some friendship.

Sadly, those examples have somehow a negative connotation but the expression itself need not be understood negatively. There are some good and positive influences. There are people who display some inspiring attitudes and generous behaviour and it is good to be under the influence of such men and women. We can sometimes see a brilliant student and people exclaim: “He is exactly like his Prof!” Or, those meeting a young artist painter or sculptor notice how he or she reproduces the skill of the famous master who trained him or her.

And today, on the Feast of Pentecost, it may be appropriate to think that we should be “under the influence” of the Holy Spirit, no less!

Of the apostles who, on the day of the first Pentecost, received this Spirit, the 1st reading (Acts 1:1-11) tells us: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit”. And, in the 2nd reading (1 Cor.12:3-7,12-13), Paul reminds the first Christians of Corinth that the “Spirit was given to us all.” And this is valid for us as well.

To be under the influence of the Spirit means to allow him to inspire us, to mold us, to move us.  To lead us so that we may follow God’s way, take on God’s thoughts, adopt Christ’s values and imitate his attitudes – simply that, all of that!

Source: Image: jeanbesset.unblog.fr

6th Sunday of Easter, C

28 avril 2016
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Advocate, Holy Spirit, Jn.14:23-29, Teacher

We are all familiar with the Ads section of the newspaper, the special area of ‘Job description’. Many people looking for employment will consult this regularly.

Job ads in newspaper page with marker and some jobs marked

poetrybydeborahann.wordpress.com

Today gospel (6th Sunday of Easter C, Jn.14:23-29) gives us, somehow, a job description of… the Holy Spirit! This expression may seem irreverent when speaking of God’s Spirit, so let us say that this text tells us what is the special role of the Holy Spirit, what is his function in our lives.

But our human words are all deficient when speaking about God – the Holy Spirit does NOT play a role, nor does he have functions!

We could say more appropriately that this Gospel text shows us what the Holy Spirit wants to be for us, what kind of relationship he wants to have with us. And it is Jesus himself who tells us in very clear words:

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.”

First, the Holy Spirit comes to us from the Father and he comes in the name of Jesus, to continue doing what Jesus has started doing in us and for us.
If any of us had to appear in court for a serious matter, we would want very much to have a good lawyer who would plead in our favour – someone who is ‘for us’. Well, the Holy Spirit is precisely this: our ‘Advocate’, someone who is literally ‘for us’ – someone who can defend us, even against ourselves!

He is also our Teacher, ready to teach us “everything” says Jesus – everything we need to know, everything we want to know about God, about ourselves, about life, about what God wants for us and from us. And, as we may be inclined to forget some things, he will remind us of ‘all’ that Jesus has said.

The gospel is so simple a message, so strong a promise, so wonderful a presence, why on earth do we not believe it?!

Source: Images: poetrybydeborahann.wordpress.com   depositphotos.com

2nd Sunday of the Year, C

15 janvier 2016
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Cana, Care, compassion, Concern, Galilea, Holy Spirit, Jesus' first miracle, John 2:1-11, Mary Mother of Jesus, miracles, Sign, water to wine

The Wedding Feast at Canathefirstmiracle_wide_t

It seems that we know the text of this gospel scene so well (Jn.2:1-11), we could repeat it with all its details. And that is precisely the danger: perhaps we know it too well!

If someone were to ask me to summarize this text in a few sentences, I would say this. For me this scene is about a woman’s attention and sensitivity to the needs of those around her. And the sensitivity and compassion of God-made-man to those around him.

1st miracle, cana, www.chaosnode.netI can imagine Mary noticing what was happening – a serious shortage of wine for the feast – and making a ‘sign’ to her son, Jesus. Then, THE ‘sign’ followed – that of Jesus, his miracle, changing the water into wine. This part is the one that remains imprinted in our memories, but the previous section is as important: the noticing and the feeling concerned, concerned enough to do something about the situation of need.

We may not be able to work miracles in the strict sense of the word. But do you know the miracles of the 3 Cs? CONCERN, COMPASSION, CARE. These miracles, I am convinced that the Spirit in us is willing to enable us to do them – if only we ask him and are willing, ourselves, to act on his impulse.

Source: Images: kitwechurch.com; www.chaosnode.net