Recherche

image-i-nations trésor

meaning

Feast of the Holy Trinity, Year C – 2019  

14 juin 2019
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: God Father, grâce, Holy Spirit, meaning, mystery, reality, Révélation, Rom.5:1-5, understanding

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

 

 

Holy Thursday, Year C – 2019

18 avril 2019
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Jn.13:12, Mark 7:17, meaning, Mk.4:10, Passover, perception, question, understand

So many ideas come to mind when we observe and reflect on what happened on the first Thursday
we now call Holy Thursday.
We need to see, yes, but we need also to… listen,
listen to what is said by this man who is aware that his life is soon coming to an end.

He has much to say to his apostles, the friends who have walked with him for the past 3 years.
But very early on during their celebration of the Passover meal, he asked them a question.
A very simple question, one that we ask one another very often.
But the answer to HIS question is very… demanding:

“Do you understand?…” (Jn.13:12)

During the years spent with him, many times his apostles had not understood what he was saying
or what he was doing.
They waited to question him at night time, away from the crowds. (Mk.4:10; 7:17)

One day, he had openly asked them:
“Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed?” (Mark 8:17)
 
That was some time ago, what about tonight?… 
He had just done something unusual for the ‘Teacher’ that he is: He had washed their feet –
the work of a servant.
No wonder, he needs to ask:

“Do you understand what I have done for you?”
 
He goes on to explain the meaning of his unusual gesture.
They are to learn from it – learn the hard lesson of service.

I ask myself: ‘What if Christ asked me today that very same question…’ 
What he has done for me… in my life… over the years…
Have I understood?
Somehow, I feel I need still to understand much of what he did… what he does for me every day…

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/jeudi-saint-annee-c-2019/
And a blog is also offered at: https://image-i-nations.com/noublie-pas-2/

 

Source: Images: Free Bible Images   Pinterest

Christmas, Year C

24 décembre 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: darkness, gift, Is.9:2, Jn.1:5, Jn.8:12, light, meaning, Nativity, star

Some years ago, I saw a Christmas card of a very unusual design. It depicted the star of Bethlehem, shining bright. And the shadow this star cast on the ground had the shape of… a cross.  

L’attribut alt de cette image est vide, son nom de fichier est star-of-bethlehem-1.jpg.

Quite a prophetic expression and a unique evocation of the meaning of the Nativity. More than once, I searched the web in vain to find back this illustration. But the message has remained with me…

From the darkness of the Christmas night in Bethlehem to the darkness of Golgotha, a LIGHT has shone – the very one which has led the prophet Isaiah to say:

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.” (Is.9:2)

And of the coming of Jesus in our world, the apostle John said with conviction:

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn.1:5)

The light of him who could say:

“I am the Light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (Jn.8:12)

“The light of life” this is the gift of Christmas offered to us by God himself.

A unique gift, the one we can’t do without!

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

 

Source: Image: youtube

 

 

Holy Thursday, Year B

28 mars 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: attitude, Have you understood, imitate, Jesus washing the feet, Last Supper, lesson, lifetime, meaning, Mt.20:25-28, put into practice, service

 A few days ago, on Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem acclaimed by a crowd, our reflection showed us that his close friends simply did not understand why he was doing this.
They could not figure out what led Jesus to accept this demonstration by the people when he had refused before.
(* See below Palm Sunday).

Today, as we remember the Last Supper he had with his twelve friends (Jn.13:1-15), we see him asking them:
“Do you understand what I have done to you?”

Overcoming Peter’s initial reluctance, Jesus has just been washing the feet of all of them.
A very unusual task which would normally have been performed by a slave or a servant.
Jesus expects that his apostles will be puzzled by his gesture and he wants them to understand the meaning of what he is doing.
An attitude of service,
an attitude, a service, that they themselves are to imitate in the future.

In the past, Jesus had tried a number of times to show them this way of being his disciples (Mt.20:25-28) (Lk.22:27).
But it was a hard lesson, one they needed to be reminded of.
And, it became obvious that putting it into practice was… the task of a lifetime.

It seems the same is true for us as well…
Understanding is one thing, living according to what we understand is another…

Would Jesus need to ask us tonight: “Do you understand?”

Source: Images: LDS.org   vemsercristao.com

 * See      https://image-i-nations.com/palm-sunday-year-b/

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

 

 

 

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B

22 février 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: (Is.55:8, Abraham, events, Gn.22:1-2.9-13.15-18, God's ways, let go - let God, meaning, need to learn, outcome, rely on God, Trust me

In our conversation, some words have a special meaning, they can have an impact of their own.
Usually, such words do not leave a person indifferent.
When someone says: “Trust me!” the expression catches our attention and calls for a decision: to trust, or not, the person before us…

These words came to me as I read the 1st reading of this Sunday (2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B – Gn.22:1-2.9-13.15-18).
This is, in fact, the title I would give to this dramatised account of what is known as: ‘The sacrifice of Abraham’.
The story is indeed quite dramatic and, if we did not know the outcome for having heard or read it so often, we would judge it to be rich in suspense!

“Trust me!” Yes, this is what God did not say, but what he really asked of Abraham:
a deep, unconditional, total trust in him.
God’s request must have appeared to have no meaning, at least no meaning that Abraham could understand.
Had God not promised him an heir?
And now he was to give him up in a very cruel way.

Much later, through the prophet Isaiah, God was to tell us clearly:
“My ways are not your ways” (Is.55:8).
Something we are in constant need to learn anew.

Learning to trust God, to rely on him, to surrender to him,
no matter how deprived of meaning a situation seems to be.
Wanting to understand, trying by all means to make sense of events, is a very human attitude, and legitimate also.
But we must learn to… LET GO and LET GOD as a poster reminds us!…

And the outcome can be… absolutely amazing!

Images: artcommission.me

Note: A reflection on the 2nd reading of this Sunday is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/2e-dimanche-careme-annee-b/

1st Sunday of Advent, Year B

30 novembre 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: awake, awareness, Jesus, meaning, message, Mk. 13:33-37, option, relationships, season, wake up call

Many of us will have heard the words of a friend calling on his friend : “Wake up! I am talking to you!”
Or, someone addressing a colleague with insistence: “Wake up! I am speaking to you about something important.”
In both cases, what we hear is a ‘wake up call’, literally so.

In some way, we could say that such a ‘wake up call’ is one of the main themes of the Advent period starting today.
A message is addressed to us inviting us to come out of our slumber – mental and spiritual – and to pay attention to what is happening around us and within us too.

In today’s gospel (Mk. 13:33-37), it is Jesus himself who tells us: “Stay awake”!
And addressing his twelve friends, he adds:

“What I say to you I say to all: ‘Stay awake’.”
 
There is a word that, in form and in meaning, is quite similar to the word awake;
It is the word: ‘aware’.
It is good to look at them together and find there the deep meaning of this season of Advent.
In is a time when we should be especially aware – aware of what is taking place around us, aware of what is happening within us.

Aware of God’s message coming to me every day through events and people.
Aware of what I live from day to day, compared to what I would like to live.
Aware of what I do, which may be quite different from what I know I should be doing.
Aware of how I relate to others, and getting to realize that my relationships could be more mutually enriching.

Aware also of what could happen… if only we allow God to reach us and walk with us!
He who chooses the amazing option of becoming a human being like us!
Aware of how close, or how far, I am from him who wants me to live more intimately with him.

Advent: Awake and Aware: the attitude characteristic of this graced season.

Source: Image: lds.org

Note: Another reflection is available in French on a different theme at: https://image-i-nations.com/1er-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-b/

and a video presentation can be seen at: https://image-i-nations.com/1er-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-b-quil-revele/

15th Sunday of the Year, A

13 juillet 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: beatitude, glimpse, God's message, God's presence, happy, Life, looking, meaning, Mt.13:1-23, perceive, questioning, réflection, see, sight, situations, staring, words

The words we use can express different levels of meaning.
Some words go deeper than others, we know it.

To get a glimpse of something or to catch sight of someone, is different from truly looking at the thing or the person.
Looking at a scene, staring at somebody, this too is different.

Seeing itself is also different from perceiving which implies something more…
And we all know that we may be looking… without seeing!…

This reflection came to me as a few words of today’s gospel caught my attention (15th Sunday of Year A – Mt.13:1-23).

A single line suddenly caught my sight.
It is the one which gives Jesus words as he says:

“Happy are your eyes because they see.” (v.16)

 

I stopped reading, there and then I paused…
I paused and… I asked myself whether this ‘beatitude’ is mine!

My questioning led me to ask whether I truly see the sights, the scenes, the situations of my daily life, as God would want me to…

More still, do I perceive there God’s presence?
Do I discern God’s message?

Perhaps much of life is about SEEING… as God sees!…

Source: Images: Dissolve, Masterfile, goodtherapy,org, Masterfile