image-i-nations trésor

25th Sunday of Year B – 2021

To move from the written words to what they express…
To go beyond images to perceive what they describe…
To understand situations to the point of perceiving the reality they suggest…

This is the task that we are faced with in trying to understand the texts of Scripture, especially those of the gospel.
 
In simple words it means: to appropriate a text, to make it my own.
It demands of me that I try to discover what it really means in my own life.
The gospel text of this Sunday (Mark 9:30-37) can serve as an example.
The last verse mentions the words of Jesus:
 
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me;
and whoever welcomes me
does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”   

If someone were to ask you: ‘Did you ever welcome God?’,
you would probably hesitate to say ‘Yes’, or ‘No’.
But, did you ever welcome a child… in the name of Jesus?
If so, you have indeed welcomed God!

We should NOT see this reflection as some grammatical exercise, it is so much more than that!
It leads us to read the words of Scripture no longer as simply some sacred writings that we should understand and remember.

It enables us to receive the word of God addressed to us personally.
God’s message wants to reach us in our here-and-now situation, whatever it is at any given time.

If we allowed God’s words – God’s Word Himself in Jesus – to address us in such a personal way…
what a change this would make!

You need not take my word for it but… try it!

 

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/25e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2021/

 

Source: Image: www.daily-prayers.org

World Autism Awareness Day – 2 April

World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) aims to put a spotlight on the hurdles that people with autism – and others living with autism – face every day. As a growing global health issue owing to its increasing exposure in the press and common knowledge, autism is an issue that is only gaining more understanding – and WAAD activities are planned every year to further increase and develop world knowledge of children and adults who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

What’s more, World Autism Awareness Day goes one step further to celebrate the unique talents of those with autism, while putting a huge focus on the warm embrace and welcome that these skills deserve through community events around the globe.

Source: Text & Image: www.worldawarenessdays.com

 

World Day of Migrants and Refugees – 14 January

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE  104th WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 2018
“Welcoming, protecting, promoting and
integrating migrants and refugees”

Dear brothers and sisters!

“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).

Throughout the first years of my pontificate, I have repeatedly expressed my particular concern for the lamentable situation of many migrants and refugees fleeing from war, persecution, natural disasters and poverty.  This situation is undoubtedly a “sign of the times” which I have tried to interpret, with the help of the Holy Spirit, ever since my visit to Lampedusa on 8 July 2013

Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies with the welcomed and rejected strangers of every age (Matthew 25:35-43)…

This solidarity must be concretely expressed at every stage of the migratory experience – from departure through journey to arrival and return.  This is a great responsibility, which the Church intends to share with all believers and men and women of good will, who are called to respond to the many challenges of contemporary migration with generosity, promptness, wisdom and foresight, each according to their own abilities…

In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that “our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate.”

Source: Text: Radio Vatican Image: The Independent

NOTE: An article in French on this topic is available at: https://image-i-nations.com/journee-mondiale-migrant-refugie-14-janvier/

and a video presents the same theme in an interview of David Minier with James Marchant at: https://image-i-nations.com/banc-james-marchant/