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4th Sunday of Lent, Year C – 2022

25 mars 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: bitterness, compassion, émotions, feelings, freedom, hunger, Luke 15:1-3, Luke 15:11-32, need, pleasures, regret, The Father, the Spirit

In many ways, feelings and emotions mold our personalities.
They mark our actions and reactions.
They influence much of what we live, for better or for worse.

Today’s gospel is filled with emotions (Luke 15:1-3,11-32):
The eagerness of sinners to hear Jesus.
The frustration of the Pharisees seeing them at the table.
The desire for freedom of the younger son.
The compassion and generosity of the father.
The anger of the jealous brother.

In this whole panorama describing human attitudes, there is one verse that stands out.
It refers to the young man and says:
“He came to himself” (v.17).
 
And this has been quite a long journey indeed!
He has gone through a whole landscape of feelings.

 

His desire for freedom, his enjoyment of life’s pleasures,
his hunger and need, the awareness of what he has lost,
his regret, his planning to return home,
the preparation of his ‘confession’ to his father,
and… finally setting on the road…
with, probably, more than a little bitterness.

This was the l o n g  process of ‘coming to himself’…
And, strangely enough, it had to take place before he could come to his father!

This may be the experience we need to make in this period of Lent:
We have to come to ourselves.
We have to become aware of what lies deep within us –
become aware and acknowledge what makes us act and react as we do.

Then, with all that ‘inhabits’ the depths of our being,
we will be able to set on the way to return to our Father.

This may involve a long pilgrimage but the Spirit can accompany us every step of the way…
If we allow him to do so…

                                                              

And another reflection, on a different theme, is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-du-careme-annee-c-2022/

 

Source: Images: Free Bible Images   

 

 

 

6th Sunday of Easter, Year A – 2020

15 mai 2020
Nicole Gregoire
2 Comments
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 P 3:15-18, believe, Coronavirus, God Father, hope, Jn. 14:15-21, overcome, the Spirit

After nearly two months of confinement and of social distancing, some people are longing to see…
the light at the end of the tunnel.
With the daily statistics of the Coronavirus more often going up rather than down,
people themselves start feeling… down.

No wonder that we need to repeat and remind one another:
IT WILL GET BETTER.
WE WILL OVERCOME TOGETHER.
TOMORROW WILL BE BRIGHTER.

Do we really believe it?
Do we still HOPE that it will come true?

In today’s 2nd reading (1 P 3:15-18), the apostle Peter tells the first Christians:
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
 
Do we still have hope and what kind of hope is ours?
We may try to make ourselves believe in better days but we soon find out that…
it does not always work.

What we need is the hope that comes from the promise given to us in today’s gospel message (Jn.14:15-21):

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever… the Spirit…”
 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. I live, you also will live…”
“He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him.”
This is solid ground, this is reliable support, this is unfailing assistance:
it is indeed true HOPE.

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/6e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-a-2020/

  

Source: Image: King James Bible

 

 

Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Year A – 2020

31 janvier 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: consolation, difficulty, gift, Lk.2:22-40, petitions, question, Sumeon, the Spirit

A young Jewish couple brings their first-born child to the Temple, as it was the custom.
An older man is there, Simeon, who is known to be faithful to the Lord.
Of this man, it was said that he was:

“looking forward to the consolation of Israel.”

The gospel of this Sunday is a long text (Lk.2:22-40),
But there is one sentence that struck me and… questioned me…
The question addressed to me is whether I expect the consolation of God.

Our prayers to him are of different kinds, and length, and intensity!
Of course, we praise him and we thank him.
But, we – most of us – have a long list of petitions that we address to him regularly,
especially in times of doubt, difficulty, distress.

But do we look forward – as if we were sure that it will come – to his consolation?
It may be that, for a long time, God has wanted to give us this special gift and…
he has not been asked for it!

Or, is it that… we did not recognize it?
Simeon held a baby in his arms and he recognize God’s salvation!

We are told that he was “guided by the Spirit”,
perhaps we need to allow this same Spirit to guide us also…

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-presentation-de-jesus-au-temple-annee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: youtube.com

 

 

 

 

20th Sunday of Year B

17 août 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: commands, Eph.5:15-20, evil, good, peace, perception, Pr.9:1-6, Ps.34:10-15, Psalms, the Spirit, will of the Lord

Going through the readings of this Sunday (20th Sunday of Year B),
I am surprised at the number of… recommendations… injunctions… commands…
we are given to take into consideration!
I note but a few and I find them… quite demanding…

“Leave your folly and you will live,
walk in the ways of perception.”     (1st reading: Proverbs 9:1-6)

“Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord…
Listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord…
Never yield to evil, practise good,
Seek peace, pursue it.”     (Response: Ps.34:23,10-15)

“Be careful about the sort of lives you lead…
Recognise what is the will of the Lord.
Be filled with the Spirit… »
« Sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns…”   (2nd reading: Eph.5:15-20)

I make a summary for myself and it comes to this simple formula:
“Recognise what is the will of the Lord.
Be filled with the Spirit…

Enough there for… a lifetime!

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/20e-dimanche-de-lannee-b/

Source: Images: seton.com

Feast of the Holy Trinity, year B

25 mai 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: God's presence, Jn.10:30, Jn.14:17, Mt.29:16-20, promises, The Father, the Spirit

Promises – they are important, we rely on them,
especially when they are from people who are trustworthy.
And then… there are very special promises: those from… God himself!

In today gospel, on the Feast of the Holy Trinity (Year B – Mt.28:16-20), the last verse gives us precisely this:
a promise from Jesus assuring us:

”I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.”
 
An astonishing statement, all the more so when we remember that he also said:
“The Father and I are one” (Jn.10:30) and
“The Spirit is with you, in you” (Jn.14:17).

So, these three verses summarize, in a way, what today’s feast is about:
the Father, Jesus himself and the Spirit are with us, in us,
yes, “until the end of time.”

Note: Another reflection is available in French on a different theme at: https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-la-sainte-trinite-annee-b/

Source: Image: Brainy Quotes

2nd Sunday of the Year, A

12 janvier 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Cor.1:1-3, expérience, Is.49:3-6, Isaiah, Jn.1:29-34, John the Baptist, Paul the apostle, the Spirit, truth, witness

Being a witness can be a duty and it sometimes becomes an obligation that cannot be avoided.
It can be a pleasant task as it is to act as witnesses to the commitment of two people getting married.
It can be a painful experience to retell the details of an accident which one has witnessed.
And it can be very stressful to appear in court and, under oath, to say what one knows and sees as true.

In all these circumstances, a person is called to say clearly what he, or she, has seen, heard, and knows of a given situation.
In other words, the personal experience of the witness is what is required.

On this 2nd Sunday of the Year (A) the three scripture readings somehow refer to this aspect of human responsibility: witnessing.

Isaiah claims: “The Lord formed me in the womb to be his servant” (Is.49:3,5-6) and this service will be that of proclaiming God’s message to his people, speaking as a witness of what God has revealed to him.

In his turn, Paul affirms that he has been “appointed by God to be an apostle” (1 Cor.1:1-3), in other words he, too, will be asked to tell what he has experienced of the God of Jesus.

However, it is John the Baptist who speaks more clearly as he says of himself: “I have seen and I am the witness” (Jn.1:29-34).

Our times need witnesses no less than the past. It is easy to dismiss the fact that each Christian is called to be precisely that. Speaking for God, sharing Christ’s message, allowing the Spirit to lead me to speak when I should so that the truth may be known. The truth of who God is and what he calls us to be.

We need not be theologians, teachers, or specialists in explaining Bible texts. What is expected of us is simply letting our experience of God speak for itself… speak for Him!

Source: Images: wisconsinvows.com; 123RF.com;  www.diminishedvalue.com;  spiritualityhealth.com