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The Alphabet of Lent – Letter I

27 février 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: disciples, energy, exhausted, invitation, Matthew 11:28-30, meaning to our life, rest, the Master

I for Invitation

Invitations – we receive all kinds of them.
In times past, we used to receive them in the mail, or someone brought them to us.
Nowadays, the emails and social media bring them to us with an amazing frequency!

Invitation to join a group.
Invitation to take part in a celebration.
Invitation to collect funds for a certain cause.
Invitation to help some people in need.
Invitation for some teamwork here, or there.
Invitation to walk for, or against, a given situation.
Invitation to a meeting of former students of this college, or that association.

Invitations, again and again… each with its own face:
family reunion, gathering of friends, political meeting, religious celebration…

If I asked you if you ever received an invitation from… Jesus, what would your reaction be?
He has indeed addressed one which is clearly presented in the gospel of Matthew:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light  » (Matthew 11:28-30).

An invitation that is absolutely unique.
And it comes from someone who knows us well –
someone who knows how much we sometimes need rest…

Someone who understands how we are sometimes exhausted –
with no energy, no courage, not even with the desire to go on living…

He invites us to be his disciples because he knows that this is what will give meaning to our life.
To follow him, the Master, will give a direction to our daily experiences… a vision to our commitments…

A Master who is “gentle and lowly in heart” – a description that is rare and so encouraging!
We should not miss such an invitation…

 

Source: Image: pexels.com (amine)

 

14th Sunday of Year A – 2023

7 juillet 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: break, duties, invitation, life-style, Matthew 11:25-30, missed opportunities, painful memories, relaxed, rest, stress, vacation, worry

It is summertime and many people are longing for a break.
Some have been planning their vacation for a long time already.
Others have decided they’ll leave as a family for a ‘trip to nowhere’.
A few will be spending time at their chalet in the countryside.
All of them want to leave aside the usual routine and have a REST!

Surprisingly, the gospel text speaks precisely of this (Matthew 11:25-30).
Jesus himself invites us to experience true REST.
He tells us:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

God knows – he does indeed! – that we often feel wearied and burdened–
we really need a rest.
REST… from what?

From the burden of useless worry…
From the repeated efforts to prove ourselves…
From the constant feeling of having to perform…
From the painful memories surging so often from the past…
From the regrets of missed opportunities…
From the chores, the tasks, the duties demanding time, always more time…

It does not mean to give up the responsibilities we have freely accepted.
We are not to forget what we have committed ourselves to do for people who count on us.
We will not simply think only of ourselves and what we feel like, or desire.

It means that we will take on a new… ‘lifestyle’, if it can be put this way.
The gospel text adds:

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me”. 

This is the second part of Jesus’ invitation: to learn from him, taking on his ways, his ‘lifestyle’.
We may find – amazingly – that this takes away the stress as well as the self-centredness.
We go about daily living in a more relaxed fashion.
Life becomes lighter, freer, more enjoyable… restful!

It is worth a trial!…
Answering Jesus’ invitation is a good occasion to do this…

 

Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/14e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2023/

 

Source: Images: pexels.com (Uriel Mont)   (Ron Lach)   Proud to Be T J’S Man

 

16th Sunday of Year B – 2021

15 juillet 2021
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: direction, eat, Mark 6:30-34, meaning, purpose, reason to die, reason to live, rest

It has been said that more than food, drink, or rest, what a human being needs is meaning.
What is most necessary, in life, is a sense of direction, a purpose for living.
The statistics about suicide given in the media support this affirmation.

This thought came to me as I read the gospel text of this Sunday (Mark 6:30-34).
In the scene presented to us, we see Jesus concerned about his apostles.
As they return from their teaching tour, Jesus is aware that they need to rest for a while.
To rest and to eat, because people are coming to listen to Jesus in such great numbers that his apostles have no time even to eat.

With them, Jesus crosses the lake to a lonely place, but the crowd has guessed their intention and meets them there.
Seeing these people in search of him, Jesus perceives their need:
the need to hear from him the words that give meaning to their existence.
They have discovered that his message gives a sense of direction to their daily life.

They, who are “like sheep without a shepherd” have found in Jesus the Shepherd who can guide them to what they want to be and to become.

If we think seriously about it, what all of us need, is it not a reason to live and… a reason to die?…

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/16e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2021/

 

Source: Image: thechurchnews.com

14th Sunday of the Year, A

6 juillet 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: agenda, burdens, coping, demands, energy, gentle, invitation, meaning of life, Mt.11:25-30, rest, stress, tasks, time, time to breathe, tired, yoke

The conversations overheard at a bus shelter or in the waiting-room of a clinic can be quite revealing.
A woman may tell another: “You look tired…”
To which the other replies: “Tired is not the word I am exhausted! It seems I get up in the morning as tired as when I went to bed the night before…”

The man waiting for his medical appointment may whisper to a neighbour: “I want the doctor to give me tablets to sleep. I can’t cope any more.
The stress at work is more than I can bear, I am at the end of my tether, I am afraid I’m heading for a breakdown…”

Modern life can indeed be very stressful with its many tasks and its multiple demands made on our time and energy.
It seems that our agendas are always full of things to be done, people to meet, engagements to keep, commitments to honour –
and the list of them all is tiring even to look at!

And then… today’s gospel message (14th Sunday, Year A – Mt.11:25-30) finds its way to our attention and the words slowly sink in:

“Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened,
and I will give you rest.
Shoulder my yoke and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.”

It sounds nearly too good to be true!
REST! Relief from the burdens we carry from day to day.
Some time to breathe, to stop running here and there.
A moment to look around and notice the green of the new leaves and the sun shining through them.

Reading the words of this text of the gospel, taking in each word slowly and letting it reach our worried minds and anxious hearts…
Of the many people who can speak like the two mentioned above, I ask myself: ‘How many would take Jesus at his word? 

How many would come to him and tell him what they spontaneously admit to a friend or neighbour?…’
“Lord, I can’t cope any longer, it’s too much for me.
I am so t i r e d , my burdens are too many and too heavy their weight…”
How many would heed his call: “Come to me… you will find rest.”
 
It has been said that God does not necessarily take away from us those burdens we find heavy and painful but he will carry them with us.
Shouldering his yoke means: to take on his ways, walking and working at his rhythm.
And yes, accepting to learn from him the meaning of life and its many tasks – those we take on willingly and those imposed on us…
And – amazingly – finding with him an unexpected and so welcome REST!

Source: Image: Pinterest