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Jesus message

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A – 2019

13 décembre 2019
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: commitment, confusion, events, Is.35:5-6, Jesus message, Mt.11:6, values, ways

Periods of questioning… 
Situations when one wonders…
Events that cause bewilderment…
Happenings that leave us perplexed…

We all know this from experience, repeated experience, we could say.
John the Baptist has gone through this as well – his cousin, Jesus, somehow brings confusion to him.
So, he sends some of his disciples to inquire from Jesus himself if he is truly God’s special messenger…

Jesus’ answer will be meaningful to John as it is the realisation of a prophecy of Isaiah (Is.35:5-6).
But what can bring questions to OUR minds is the last sentence of Jesus’ reply:
 
“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Mt.11:6)
 
Translators are also puzzled by the words and come up with different texts:
“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
“Happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.”
 
Is this beatitude ours? Or…
Are we put off by Jesus words, his attitude, the message he speaks, the values he proposes?…
Are we offended by his ways, the options he suggests, the commitment he expects?

This period of Advent may be a good period to ask ourselves questions…

Note: Another reflections is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-a-2019/

 

Source: Image: Free Doodle Illustrations   graspinggod.com

Feast of Pentecost, Year C – 2019

7 juin 2019
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: apostles, faith, God Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus message, Jn.14:15-16, Jn.14:23-26, prayer, Teacher, tutor

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

 

4th Sunday of Year B

25 janvier 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: authentic, God the really REAL, gospel, impression, Jesus message, Mk.1:21-28, new, original, the Word

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/

 

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A

20 avril 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: believe, faith, Jesus message, Jesus' resurrection, Jn.20:19-31, message, our resurrection, reliance, signs worked by Jesus, trust

As we read the gospel texts, different words can draw our attention.
At one time, we may be struck by a sentence, or a certain parable.
At another time, the description of a miracle, or the narrative of Jesus meeting with someone, may capture our imagination.

On this 2nd Sunday of Easter (Year A) the text from John’s gospel is quite long (Jn.20:19-31) and what struck me comes near the very end of the reading.
The words that retained my attention may not seem the essential part of the message.
They may not appear to be so important after all…
Still, I linger on them… I ponder them… and I remain with what they say.

“There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw,
But they are not recorded in this book.
These are recorded so that you may believe.”

In fact, that is the very reason why Jesus did all that he did: to draw us into a close relationship with him.
A relationship of FAITH – a faith that is trust, reliance on him, acceptance of his message, of his person and of all that he has to give us.
The next sentence of the text completes the message:
 
“And that believing you may have life.”
 
Life now, life later… for ever – this is the meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus, the promise of our own…

Source: Image: The Gospel of Coalition Blog