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L’alphabet du Carême – Lettre L

1 mars 2024
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: À bien y penser... blogue
Mots-clés: choix, décisions, Jean 12:35, Jean 3:19, Jean 3:2, Jean 8:12, la nuit, lumière, Nicodème, obscurité, options, ténèbres, valeurs

L pour Lumière
 
Nos villes se parent de lumière pour tous les goûts – les éclairages modernes ne laissent rien dans l’ombre.
Il faut le talent des artistes et des réalisateurs de cinéma pour créer le clair-obscur.
Certains aspects de la réalité gagnent à demeurer dans la pénombre.
De nos jours, plusieurs se plaignent de l’illumination intense devenue une pollution qui nous empêche de voir… les étoiles!

La lumière nous est bien utile, il faut l’avouer – sans elle, nous trébuchons parfois sur un chemin peu connu.
Notre vocabulaire suggère que notre esprit a aussi besoin de clarté.
Ne dit-on pas: « Vos propos on mit en lumière ce que je voulais dire »?
Ou encore: « Cette situation s’éclaircira avec le temps… »

Mais il est un autre domaine où nous avons grand besoin de lumière – c’est celui de notre être profond…
Lumière qui permet à notre esprit de déceler le bon choix à faire, la bonne décision à prendre…
Lumière qui dirige notre agir selon les valeurs authentiques…
Lumière qui clarifie les options et justifie les engagements…

À Nicodème venu le rencontrer « de nuit », Jésus disait (Jean 3:2):
« La lumière étant venue dans le monde,
 les hommes ont préféré les ténèbres à la lumière » (Jean 3:19).

Malheureusement, il en est parfois ainsi de nous…
Pourtant, Jésus a dit clairement :

« Je suis la lumière du monde;
celui qui me suit ne marchera pas dans les ténèbres,
mais il aura la lumière de la vie » (Jean 8:12).

« La lumière de la vie » –­ c’est bien ce dont nous avons besoin!
La lumière au quotidien, au fil des événements.
À l’heure des choix qui coûtent…
Au moment des décisions aux conséquences sérieuses…

Jésus nous invite:
« Marchez, pendant que vous avez la lumière,
 afin que les ténèbres ne vous surprennent point:
celui qui marche dans les ténèbres ne sait où il va » (Jean 12:35).

Ne pas être surpris/es par les ténèbres…
Savoir où nous allons, c’est quand même essentiel, non?…
 

ource: Image: DailyVerses.net

 

 

The Alphabet of Lent – Letter L

1 mars 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: choices, darkness, décisions, Jean 3:19, John 12:35, John 3:2, John 8:12, light, Nicodemus, nighttime, options, values

L for Light
 
Our cities drape themselves in light for all tastes – the modern lighting leaves nothing in shadow.
The talents of artists and cinema producers is required to create the light-dark effect.
Certain aspects of reality benefit from remaining in half darkness.
Nowadays, many people complain that the intense illumination has become pollution and prevents us from seeing… the stars!

We must admit that light is very useful to us – without it, we sometimes stumble on a path little known to us.
Our vocabulary suggests that our minds also need clarity.
Do we not say: “Your words have brought light to what I meant.”
Or again, “With time, this situation will clarify itself…”

To Nicodemus, who came to meet him “at nighttime”, Jesus said (John 3:2):
“Light has come into the world,
but people loved darkness instead of light” (John 3:19).

Unfortunately, the same can sometimes be said of us…

Yet, Jesus has said clearly:
“I am the light of the world. 
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

“The light of life” – it is really what we are in need of!
The light from day to day, as daily events unfold.
At the time of costly choices…
At the moment of decisions with serious consequences…

Jesus invites us
“Walk while you have the light, 
before darkness overtakes you. 
Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going” (John 12:35).

Not to be overcome by darkness…
Knowing where we are going, this is essential, no?!
 

Source: Image: https://praywritegrow.com/tag/john-8/

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B – 2023-2024

15 décembre 2023
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, choices, Christian living, compass, décisions, evil, good, GPS, guideline, options

Going on an excursion in unknown territory, people used to take with them a compass.
This small instrument was meant to guide them on the way – it would show them how to guide their steps to reach their destination.
Nowadays a new kind of instrument is available with the same purpose.
It is called a GPS for Global Positioning Systems.

I believe that, sometimes in life, some of us would want such a guiding device to show us the way…
When having to take a decision, or before making plans for the future, we may feel uncertain about what to do.
We may be wondering what is the best option to choose from the different possibilities presented to us.

This also applies to Christian living.

The 2nd reading of this 3rd Sunday of Advent has something to say about this.
The apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, gave them some advice which was a true guideline for them to live as Christians.
He wrote to them in these terms (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24):

“Hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil”.

Simple, clear, precise language – the meaning cannot be misunderstood.
It can be used in all kinds of situations and concerning different people.
Choosing what is good: what will be of benefit, what will achieve the best outcome.
Avoiding – always and in every way – what will damage, hurt, cause injustice and pain.

It is quite demanding, of course!
Nobody can pretend that Christian living is easy…
But the result of such an attitude can be amazing – for ourselves and those around us!

It is worth trying it and… finding out!

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-b-2023-2024/

 

 Source: Images: pexels.com (Tobias Aeppli) unsplash.com    (Henry Perks)    Bible Gems for Friendship

 

 

 

1st Sunday of Lent, Year A – 2023

24 février 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: challenges, freedom, If, Matthew 4:1-11, options, purpose, Satan, temptations, the Devil

A very small word (in the English language), it can determine much of life… IF…

 IF… suggests some conditions,
          opens up possibilities,
          outlines options,
          implies choices,
          calls on a person’s freedom…

It is the very word that we find repeated three times in today’s gospel text (Matthew 4:1-11).
Satan, sometimes referred to as ‘the Devil’, uses this expression in addressing Jesus.
He frames in this way the temptations with which he challenges Jesus.

Twice, Satan says:
       “If you are the Son of God…”

Having failed to obtain what he wants, Satan changes the format of his attack and says:
      “If you will bow down and worship me.”

The strategy of the Devil is threefold, it is all at once:

  • a challenge to Jesus very identity,
  • a test of his total commitment to the only God,
  • a promise of reward for giving in to the temptation.

Our daily life presents us with many ‘IF situations’…
They have the same purpose:
challenging our identity and testing our commitment to God,
with a promise, of course, to satisfy our longing, and our craving, for some desired ‘good’.

Often times, we are faced with these words or similar ones:
         ‘If you think about it, you will agree that…
         ‘If you see what others do, you will accept also…
         ‘If you remember what happened, you cannot refuse…
         ‘If you love me, you will do this…

Each one of us can make his/her own list of IF statements of confrontation, or provocation.
Every one entails a decision that will make clear who we are, and to whom we have committed ourselves.

This period of Lent is precisely a moment of becoming aware of
who we are,
and who God is for us.

The very challenge that Jesus faced.
He cannot fail to help us respond to it as he did.

      

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/1er-dimanche-du-careme-annee-a-2023/

 

Source: Image: Aleteia

6th Sunday of Year A – 2023

10 février 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Ben Sira, choice, death, décisions, Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20, freedom, Life, options

You may have overheard a conversation when, suddenly, one of the speakers said:
“It’s a matter of life and death.”
You knew immediately that they were speaking about some serious matter.
In life, there are situations which are that important and we are aware of it.

The 1st reading of today’s celebration leads us to think of such situations (Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20).
The writer, Ben Sira, says clearly:

“Man has life and death before him;
whichever a man likes better will be given him.”

Some people may think that this arises as a sudden happening and that a choice has to be made instantly.
Most often, it is not so.
The choice is in fact a multiple one, spread over months and years.
Options are offered to us leading to decisions, one after the other.
And… these decisions fashion the person we become.

The options vary in kind and their impact is also different in intensity.
They open up different opportunities…

      • compassion or aggression
      • honesty or deceit
      • faithfulness or betrayal
      • authenticity or corruption
      • courage or cowardice
      • generosity or selfishness
      • forgiveness or revenge

and the list can go on, every time offering a challenge –
the challenge to become a better person, more truly human, more essentially Christ-like, or… the opposite.

LIFE… or DEATH options, this is what they are.
Of course, they lead to a more meaningful and happier life or… the opposite.

The choice remains ours: what we like better will be given to us –
this is the astonishing gift of freedom!
 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/6e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2023/

 

Source: Image: Monday Morning Minutes

 

 

 

6è dimanche de Pâques, année C – 2019

24 mai 2019
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Trésor ancien et nouveau
Mots-clés: Ac.15:1-2, Ac.15:22-29, choix, conseiller, décisions, Esprit Saint, inspiration, magistère, options

Les gens disent souvent des choses surprenantes, parfois même déroutantes.
On peut questionner leurs propos, ou les ignorer, ou même s’en moquer.
Mais quand c’est l’un ou l’autre texte de la Bible qui nous est adressé,
alors d’ordinaire on prête attention et, idéalement, on y réfléchit.

Aujourd’hui, c’est une courte phrase de la 1ère lecture (Ac.15:1-2,22-29) qui m’interpelle.
Les Apôtres et les Anciens d’Antioche, en Syrie, écrivent aux chrétiens d’autres communautés et disent :

« L’Esprit-Saint et nous-mêmes avons décidé… »
 
« L’Esprit-Saint et nous-mêmes…
Une affirmation assez audacieuse! Peut-être…
Mais une affirmation qui révèle une prise de conscience de la présence de quelqu’un –
quelqu’un qui inspire et qui guide – l’Esprit Saint lui-même.

Vous pensez sans doute : Ce sont des paroles qui conviennent au Pape et aux évêques.
Vous vous dites que cette façon de parler est propre au ‘magistère’, autrement dit : à l’Église enseignante.
Vous ne faites pas erreur.
Mais faut-il exclure ‘les autres’ – tout un chacun, vous et moi?

Personnellement, je suis convaincue que chacun/e non seulement peut, mais devrait, s’approprier ces paroles.
Évidemment pas pour s’arroger le pouvoir de dire aux autres quoi faire, ou ne pas faire, mais…

  • avant de prendre des décisions,
  • avant de faire des choix,
  • avant de privilégier telle ou telle option,

j’ose croire qu’il est bon de consulter celui que le Père et Jésus nous ont envoyé comme Conseiller –
lui, l’Esprit-Saint.
Par la suite, ayant perçu son inspiration et l’ayant suivie, alors en toute vérité, on peut alors se dire à soi-même :
« L’Esprit-Saint et nous-mêmes avons décidé… »
 
Note : Une autre réflexion est disponible sur un thème différent en anglais à : https://image-i-nations.com/6th-sunday-of-easter-year-c-2019/
 
 

Source : Image : Rembrandt de.wahooart.com
 

4th Sunday of Lent, Year B

9 mars 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: accept, activities, bargain, choices, décisions, desire, discovery, God's gifts, God's merc, God's Spirit, inaction, Lent, offer, options, plans

When told that something is free, or at a big discount, some people will rush to benefit from the offer.
Others may be more suspicious wondering whether this is a genuine bargain or not.

Could it be that we react in a similar way when what is on offer is… from God?!
We, human beings, have sometimes this strange attitude of wanting to prove ourselves to God…
True, it has often been said to us that we must earn what we want.
We should make efforts, sacrifices, and gain merits!

It is definitely not Paul’s conviction which he shares with the first Christians of Ephesus.
He writes to them (2nd reading – Eph.2:4-10):

“God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy…
It is through grace that you have been saved.”
 
And a few lines further in the text, Paul repeats it:
“It is by grace that you have been saved,
not by anything that you have done, but by a gift from God.”
 
Does this mean then that we have nothing to do, simply wait for God to pour his gifts in our lives?
If his blessings are a gift, then we need not strive to be better and do better…

We most certainly have something to do – something yes, simple, yet which we sometimes find difficult.
Our part is to DESIRE and to ACCEPT –
to DESIRE God’s intervention and to ACCEPT his action in our lives, in our very selves.
We are sometimes like the stubborn child, stubborn in our refusal to be guided by God’s Spirit –

  • guided in our options and choices,
  • guided in our plans and decisions,
  • guided in our activities and… our purposeful inaction…

We pretend that we can ‘handle it’, we can manage on our own.

The truth of the matter is that… we don’t do so well!
And all the while God offers his overabundant and generous gifts…
No wonder we struggle and end up dispirited.
God’s Spirit is awaiting our… desire and acceptance to work wonders in us, for us, through us!

Lent is a good time for such a discovery!

Note: Another reflection is available in French on a different theme at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-careme-annee-b/

and a second short one at: https://image-i-nations.com/misericorde-2/

and a video on the gospel personnage of Nicodemus at: https://image-i-nations.com/homme-sage-desirait-savoir-davantage/

Source: Images: cleinman.com  Amazon.com   (handle it)

17th Sunday of Year A

27 juillet 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: buying, choices, décisions, delay, field, giving up, gospel, happy, Mt.13:44-46, options, pearl, possessions, postpone, radical, roots, selling, treasure, venture

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