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1st Sunday of Lent, Year B – 2024

17 février 2024
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: commitment, covenant, Genesis 9:8-15, help, needs, promise, protection, rainbow, relationships

Among us, human beings, relationships are of many kinds – family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc.
Somehow, we find it normal that there be special ties between ourselves and other people who are part of our lives.

The amazing thing is that… God feels the same!
From all times, God has wanted to establish a special relationship with human beings.
This is what the 1st reading of today’s celebration is about (Genesis 9:8-15).

This text reveals to us that God wants us to be united to him in a special way.
He has called human being to enter a covenant with him.

Throughout history, people have made covenants:
kings, emperors, monarchs, have concluded specific agreements with one another.
These alliances were promises of mutual help, exchange of goods, respect of borders, support against common enemies, etc.

God has done something similar with us, and for us.
He has made a promise of giving us his special help and ongoing protection.

“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
“I now establish my covenant with you. 
and with your descendants after you, 
and with every living creature on earth…
I establish my covenant with you”.

And, as if God was aware that we need signs, he gave us a clear sign of his commitment: the rainbow.
He, himself, said:

“This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you,
and every living creature with you,
 a covenant for all generations to come:
I have set my rainbow in the clouds,
and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth”. 

We know with certainty that God cannot fail to fulfil his promise.
We can rest assured that we SHALL receive – at all times and in all situations – his protection and assistance,
whatever our needs may be.

Can HE rest assured that we will also be faithful to the covenant we have accepted to have with him?
Next time we see a rainbow in the sky, we could ask ourselves again?…
And, of course, thank him for his faithfulness!

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/1er-dimanche-du-careme-annee-b-2024/

 

Source: Image: pexels.com (James Wheeler)

 

4th Sunday of Advent, Year C – 2021

17 décembre 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: conflict, human freedom, killing, Micah 5:1-4, mission, peace, promise, security, war

The daily news broadcast on television shows us long files of migrants and would-be refugees.
Asked why they left their country, the recurring answer is that there was no security, no peace, where they come from.
SECURITY and PEACE, the essentials for a decent life, a life without threat of being hurt, tortured, killed.

In today’s 1st reading (Micah 5:1-4) the prophet Micah promises, in God’s name, those very precious things.
The prophet says that, when he comes to us, God’s Messenger will bring these gifts from God himself.
The message is clear and there can be no doubt about its meaning.

“They (the people) will live securely…
And he will be our peace.”

This special Messenger of God has indeed come to us.
This is what we prepare to celebrate anew in this Advent Season.
We know that he has not failed to carry out God’s promise to bring security and peace to our world.

But then, why, indeed WHY is there so much conflict, war, maiming, killing, in our world today?
Security? It is absent in so many places…
Peace? People lament that it is missing in so many areas.
What has happened?

The answer lies in… the ‘mystery’ of human freedom!
And it is a mystery, really!

God who created us in his own image, made us free beings.
But in so doing, he took the risk that we might use our freedom in a way that would go against his plan –
his plan of a world where people would love one another and live in peace.
We could say here what the popular expression repeats in different circumstances: “The ball is in our court”!

If we want peace, we need to promote it, to work for it.
We need to create situations where good will and mutual understanding make for peaceful relationships between us.

At this time, many of us start decorating our homes for the festive season.
What about putting somewhere – in the Christmas tree, or hanging on a star, or stuck in a window –
a small object which will remind us of our ‘mission’ of promoting peace, being messengers of PEACE?
 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-c-2021/

 

And in a short video, also in French, Ghislaine Deslières offers us another reflection on this 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C, at: https://youtu.be/Rgi6z2MpJAM

 

 

 

Source: Images: The Reflectionary   etsy.com

1st Sunday of Advent, Year C – 2021

26 novembre 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: adjust, Advent, future, God's ways, honesty, integrity, Jr.33:14-16, justice, promise

There is no doubt about it: this 1st Sunday of Advent invites us to look to the future.
A promise is essentially doing this and it is a promise that we are given in the 1st reading (Jr.33:14-16).
The text of the prophet Jeremiah gives us God’s words in a clear language:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfil the gracious promise I made…
In those days, I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.”
 
We often speak of God’s grace, yes, our God is a gracious God.
He delights in showering on us his blessings of all kinds.
The promise he makes is that the Gracious One – the Righteous One – will do what is good for us.

Another translation of the text uses the words “honesty and integrity”
And the one who is coming to us in God’s name – God himself – is called:
“The Lord-our-integrity.”
 
We all want to receive good things from God, but how can we be sure that his blessings will be ours?
I would venture to say that the best way is to… ad-just ourselves to God’s ways –
that is to become just ourselves –

just in our ways of thinking
just in our ways of judging situations
just in our choices and decisions
just in the plans we make and the options we choose
just in our relations with people…

In other words: behaving with honesty and integrity.

This could be the first step in this Advent period as we set on the path to welcome anew God’s coming to us.

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/1er-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-c-2021/

And in a short video, also in French, Ghislaine Deslières offers us another reflection on this 1st Sunday of Advent at: https://youtu.be/lpkMLsxne3s

 

Source: Image: slideplayer.com

Feast of the Body and blood of Christ, Year B – 2021

4 juin 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Body and Blood of Christ, dream, gift, Jn.6:51, Mk.14:12-16, Mk.14:22-26, promise, real presence

“A dream come true!”
We often hear this expression from someone who had been hoping for something and this very thing happens, or is given to the person.
The words are spoken spontaneously with jubilation.

This phrase came to me as I read today’s gospel text (Mk.14:12-16,22-26)
following the Alleluia verse (Jn.6:51) which says:

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. 
Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 
 
Jesus had spoken these words some years before on the day after he had fed the crowd having multiplied the   loaves.
Of course, the people had come back the next day… for more!
But, the ‘more’ which they received what Jesus’ promise of another kind of bread –
the one he was now providing during this Last Supper.

We could say, in our usual way of speaking, that it was for Jesus ‘a dream come true’.
He wanted to share with us his love and his life, a life that would endure for ever.
He found the way to do precisely this in giving us the Eucharist
which is known as the sacrament of his real presence.

This is what we remember and what we celebrate today on this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.
We do so as well every time we take part in his offering of himself in the Eucharist.

A dream come true.
A promise realized.
A life enduring for ever.
A gift beyond what we could have imagined or hoped for!

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at:

 

Source: Images: Catholic Current   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

23rd Sunday of Year A – 2020

4 septembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
2 Comments
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Christ's presence, faith, Mt.18:15-20, Mt.8:26, promise

People may speak to give some information or to state a fact.
They may tell a story or give some instruction.

But it happens that someone makes a promise – this is a different kind of statement.
It is binding on the person who speaks and promising to the one receiving the promise.

What if it is… God himself who promises – we know he cannot fail to carry out what he has promised.

In today’s gospel (Mt.18:15-20), Jesus speaks such words of promise:
“Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
 
I wonder how many groups of people, gathered together because of Jesus are truly convinced of this?
If suddenly he appeared before their eyes, these people would be astonished.
Yet, even if invisible, Christ is no less present, no less REAL…

Perhaps he would chide them gently with the words he spoke before:
“You, of little faith…” (Mt.8:26)

Note: Another reflection on a different theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/23e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: The Church if Scotland

 

5th Sunday of Lent, Year A – 2020

27 mars 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: believe, future, Gods promises, Jn.11:1-45, promise, waiting

 

W A I T I N G !

I know very few people who like to… WAIT.
In general people do not like delays, postponements, adjournments.
Of course, this can mean a pause, a rest, but this is not what we want.
We are a generation where not only business but busy-ness is the order of the day!

But, if we think about it, a promise involves precisely this: waiting…
Being promised something means that we have to wait for it.
The realization of the promise will come later, it is to come true… in the future.
We will get what has been promised after a certain time, a period possibly unknown, unspecified.

And, this is true of… God’s promises!
We just do not see yet that they can come true… that they WILL come true…
We have to believe that they will.

Writing these words, I come back to the gospel of this Sunday (Jn.11:1-45).
 
“The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
“If you believe, you will see the glory of God.”
 
WILL live, WILL see, WILL never die – it is all to take place in the future,
it has definitely the form of a promise.

But the the wonderful thing is that the promises of God are… reality-in-the-making!
They are blessings-being-REALised!
 
As he was about to raise Lazarus, Jesus told his Father:
“I knew that you always hear me.”
 
FAITH should enable us to say the same… even while waiting…

Note: Another reflection is available in French on a somewhat different theme at: https://image-i-nations.com/5e-dimanche-du-careme-annee-a-2020/

 

Source: Images: Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

6th Sunday of Year C

15 février 2019
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Cor.15:12, 1 Cor.15:16-19, desires, gratification, hope, long view, now, promise

It is said that our society is one where immediate gratification is the order of the day.
People want success, money, fame, NOW.
Satisfaction must be obtained without delay and preferably without too much effort.
One can’t wait to possess and to enjoy whatever will satisfy one’s desires.

In the 2nd reading today (1 Cor.15:12,16-19), Paul addresses the Corinthians and speaks a language that is very different.
He boldly says: “If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.”
 
Words quite strange to our modern ears. 
They are in sharp contrast with the popular attitude in fashion nowadays.
We are to take… the long view!
We must look beyond the here-and-now to envisage the hereafter…

The present situation may have much to offer yet it can never satisfy fully –
have we not made this experience time and again?
Our human DNA is programmed with the desire for always more, always better, always…

It would appear that Paul is right after all: HOPE is for what is yet to come!
And… the best it promises to be!

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

Source: Image: heartlight.org

 

World Polio Day – 24 October

24 octobre 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Centres for Disease Control, development, Dr. Jonas Salk, efforts, eradication, generations, healath, promise, vaccine

 World Polio Day is an opportunity for the global polio eradication community to renew its promise of a polio-free world to future generations.

In honor of World Polio Day, CDC will celebrate and highlight polio eradication work around the globe using Twitter and Facebook. Tweets will feature the efforts and photos of CDC staff deployed in the field who are working to end polio. CDC will also create a photo gallery on the Center for Global Health Facebook page to feature images of polio eradication work done by CDC and partners worldwide.

World Polio Day, established by Rotary International over a decade ago, is held on October 24th in celebration of the birth of Dr. Jonas Salk, the man who led the first team to develop a vaccine against polio. The development of the polio vaccine reduced polio worldwide by 99% with only Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan as the remaining polio endemic countries in 2012.

Source: Text: CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention   Image: Journée Mondiale

13th Sunday of the Year, A

29 juin 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: abundance, commitments, Concern, everlasting, first, happiness, Jn.10:10, let go, Life, Mt.16:37-42, priorities, promise, success, time

“FIRST THINGS FIRST”!
We hear these words from time to time.
They usually come from someone who has a lot to do already and to whom someone may ask to do something more…
The person may feel that too many tasks demand his attention, too many commitments claim her time and energy.
There is the obvious need to set priorities and, yes, to decide what should come first!

I would say that this Sunday (13th, Year A) is the day for doing exactly that: set priorities!
In fact, it is Jesus himself who asks us to do so and in no uncertain terms! (gospel: Mt.16:37-42).

His message is demanding, exacting, challenging!
We are to… stretch ourselves beyond the here and now.
We must extend our concern from the present to the ever-present = the everlasting!

We want life to be brimming with happiness and success and we are asked to… let go of it.
Let go of what we are trying to reach – at times, desperately so – to receive a life “in abundance” (Jn.10:10) promised to us.

It is a promise… Some may be tempted to say: ‘Only a promise…’
Yes, but from the one who never fails to make them come true! 

Source : Images : Adobe, Pinterest

Ascension of the Lord, Year A

25 mai 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: affirmation, Bible Texts, consolation, conviction, healing, Mt.28:16-20, Presence of God, promise, strength, truth, wisdom

In the Bible, there are many texts which are truly beautiful.
They are inspiring, encouraging, consoling.
They give light, they provide strength, they bring healing.
They can lead to the truth, instill wisdom, and enrich our daily life in so many ways.

When I ask different people what their favourite verse is, they come up with different answers which express what, for them, is most important and helpful.

For me, one verse which I find especially meaningful is the last sentence of today’s gospel (Ascension, Year A – Mt.28:16-20):

“I am with you always, yes, until the end of time. »

A clear affirmation.
More still: a promise, simple and straightforward.
No condition, no restriction.
No limitation, no reservation.

It is expressed in the present –a present that is continuous, on-going, permanent.
If only… we accept it with an unshakable conviction and allow it to be realised in our lives, day after day…

Source: Image: Pinterest