image-i-nations trésor

1st Sunday of Lent, Year B – 2024

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)

 

5th Sunday of Easter, Year A – 2020

In this period of pandemic, the prevailing mood of most people is not that of exuberant joy,
and this is an understatement.
Sadness, loneliness, and for some even hopelessness, characterize their days.
Downcast, dejected, discouraged, would describe many people.
 
In the first line of this Sunday’s gospel (Jn.14:1-12) Jesus says:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. 
You believe in God; believe also in me.”
 
It seems so simple, too simple…
In life – and especially life nowadays – there are many reasons to be troubled.
Sickness, worry about a mortal virus, about money, about the situation of loved ones we cannot visit…
And worry about… death, of course.

We have been repeating to ourselves:
‘It will be fine. Together we will overcome’.
And to reassure ourselves we have displayed pictures of rainbows to assert our hope.
But, somehow, it does not always work…
The discouragement returns and sometimes tears run down the cheeks of this or that person.

Jesus says that we should NOT be troubled…
And he speaks from experience –

  • deserted by his followers (Jn.6:66)
  • abandoned by his close friends (Mt.26:56)
  • betrayed by one (Mt.26:15) and denied by another (Lc.22:54-62)
  • feeling distress and anguish (Lc.22:44; Mt.26:36)

Long ago, the author of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote to the first Christians:
“We do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
 
The temptation to say: ‘It’s too much. I can’t bear this any more.’
Yet… like an outstretched hand, help is there…
The help of his presence, his strength, his comfort, his relief…

You need not look for the hand, but HE is there!

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

 

Source: Images: thechurchofchristoflatterdays.org Dreamstime.com