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Good Friday, the Passion of the Lord, Year B – 2024

28 mars 2024
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: abandoned, accused, crucified, crucifix, death, forgiven, forgotten, imagination, Isaiah 53:4-5, pictures, suffering

There are things we enjoy looking at – we spend time looking at this and that aspect of a certain object.
We want to observe every side of it – the position, the color, the texture.

There are other things that we cannot bear to set our eyes on – we quickly move away when suddenly seeing a painting, or a statue.
But it can also be a scene that is causing us to move away, unable to witness what is taking place before us.

The scenes of the suffering and death of Jesus are precisely such a reality that some people find difficult to contemplate.
It is said that the first Christians would not hang on the walls of their homes what we now call a crucifix.
Their imagination was sufficient to inspire their devotion.
It was too painful for them to look at what their beloved Master had experienced,
they would not exhibit pictures of his sufferings and death.

But more still than the representations themselves, what is certainly difficult to sustain is what Jesus was submitted to in all its stark reality…

Jesus-God abandoned by his closest followers and friends…
Jesus-God forgotten by those healed and forgiven by him…
Jesus-God accused by the religious leaders of his time…
Jesus-God judged and condemned by human beings…
Jesus-God crucified like a criminal while being innocent…

But the most shocking is possibly this:
Jesus-God taking on himself our sinful condition…

In the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God…
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

What happened to him was FOR us, in our place,
so that WE may be healed, forgiven, granted peace.

Only in silent meditation can this be… perceived… acknowledged… assumed…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/vendredi-saint-la-passion-du-seigneur-annee-b-2024/

 

Source: Image: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

16th Sunday of Year A – 2023

21 juillet 2023
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: blessing, forgiving, images of God, John 3:16-17, lenience, pictures, Wisdom 12:13-19

Many of us have a collection of pictures and images.
Some people hold on to photos of past holidays with family and friends.
Others may have old cuttings from magazines about cinema stars, or athletes.
Others still may have religious pictures of different saints.

But there are other kinds of images, perhaps more precious.
They cannot be held in your hands, or stuck in a book, but they are no less real…
They are mental pictures, the images that our minds bring to us.
These representations are sometimes vividly present to us, or sometimes less so.

Among these images are the ones we have formed about… God.
Each one of us have his/her own pictures of who God is.
Over the years, these images may have changed –
some have been abandoned, others have been clarified, others are… still being sketched in us…

Today’s 1st reading from the Book of Wisdom (Wisdom 12:13-19) gives us a very beautiful picture of God.
It describes God as we should recognize him.
In the words of Solomon, we can perceive how God wants to be known to us.

“There is no god, other than you, who cares for everything…
Your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all…
You are mild in judgement,
You govern us with great lenience…
You have given your children the good hope that after sin you will grant repentance.”

It is as if God’s greatness and power were… for our benefit!
He delights, not in showing strength, but in showering gifts on us.
His justice is expressed in blessing and forgiving.

 

This text of the Old Testament was in anticipation of what Jesus would tell us about God:

“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost…
God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world
but so that through him the world might be saved.”    (John 3:16-17)
 
This is the true picture of God – the God of Jesus, our God…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/16e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2023/

 

Source: Image (text added): pexels (Ian Turnell)

World Photography Day – 19 August

18 août 2016
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: film, moment in time, photography, pictures, technology

The soft click of the camera, a flash of light and a moment in time captured forever. Maybe digitally, maybe on film, the medium is never as important as the memory or moment caught. A group of people, a sunset, or even a fish jumping out of the water, a photograph is a way to feel the emotion and context of that exact moment. Celebrate that, on this picturesque Photography Day!

History of Photography Day
The photograph originally was made by Nicéphore Niépce, using silver chloride coating a piece of paper. However, the photo would  eventually turn fully dark as he knew no way to remove the silver chloride from the paper to preserve the photo. Photographs got better and better over the years, first with the ‘still camera’, and the ability to take a picture that way. Think the old west in America, and that camera’s differences to the ones of World War 2, then compare them to modern cameras. The major jumps in technology affected photography as much as any other facet of life around the world. With Kodak, Canon and so many other brands out there, it was of no surprise when the market of photography got such a jump, even more so with the military and surveillance capabilities offered as cameras got better, lighter and more easily used. Yet for all the innovation and creativity, science and even the large amount of art that occurs in the photography realm, not much can beat the simple pleasure of snapping photos and developing your frames to enjoy the integrity of the photos.

How to celebrate Photography Day
Why not go out and snap a few pictures yourself? Find an older camera, and enjoy the feel, and look, of 35mm film. Walk around and snap some pictures to preserve the time in photographic form. Make a collage, which is a mixture of pictures, sometimes cut into different shapes than the usual rectangles of photos. Go snap some wildlife, either in the wild or at a zoo. Maybe some family photos wouldn’t be out of the question; and you could even use them in the yearly holiday cards in place of the stock sitting stills. Or go see a museum about photography, if you have one nearby to visit. Many museums have cameras in them, and some even explain the use of photography in major events worldwide. How do you think they get the pictures of these events anyways? With a camera of course! So go out there, snap some photos and maybe record a piece of history on this year’s Photography Day!

Source: Text: Days of the Year     Image: pexels.com (FOX)