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The Alphabet of Lent – Letter J

28 février 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: actions, intentions, judge, Luke 6:37-38, Luke 6:41, plank, question, situations, speck, words

J pour Judge

Some words of Jesus are without appeal.
There is no way to discuss, or to hesitate, or even to delay in putting them into practice.

It is the case of the text of Luke, the gospel writer, reporting Jesus words (Luke 6:37-38)

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. 
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 
Give, and it will be given to you”. 

Some will reply without delay:
“But we must judge…
Judge whether an affirmation is true, or false.
Judge whether a situation is dangerous, or not.
Judge whether a proposition is legal, or dishonest.
Judge whether a bargain is genuine, or deceitful.”

Of course, it is necessary to judge words, actions, situations.
Jesus does not prone naivety, nor credulity.
But he does not accept that we judge people.

Yet, this is what we do quite often…
We lend to some people intentions that they do not have.
We see in them defects which are not so.
We sometimes hold them responsible for misdeeds they have not committed.
Our judgements are based on inaccurate reporting.
The reputation we ascribe to them is without real basis, pure invention on our part…

The text of the apostle Luke goes on with a parable of Jesus which asks us a disturbing question:

“How can you say to your brother,
 ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’
when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?” (Luke 6:41).

Probably, an answer that is true would be… an admission on our part…
And a resolve… NOT to judge!

 

Note: In a short video (in French), Nadia Labrecque continues the reflection on this subject: https://youtu.be/VgR5FioXrAw?si=NydqkSUvogRvuAbE

 

Source: Image: Scripture Images

 

 

22nd Sunday of Year C – 2022

26 août 2022
Nicole Gregoire
2 Comments
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: attentive ear, Ben Sira 3:28-29, Ecclesiasticus 3:28-29, noises, sounds, words

The texts for the Sunday celebration are rich and varied – they offer plenty to think about.
Sometimes there is so much given to our reflection that some expressions escape our attention…
It happens that some words, at the end of a text, may go unnoticed as we have already moved to the next paragraph.

The 1st reading of this Sunday (Si 3:17-18,20,28-29) has a thought that should NOT escape our notice.
It is found at the very end of the reading and says:

“An attentive ear is the desire of the wise.”
 
God knows – indeed – that words, sounds, noises of all kinds, keep our ears busy the whole day long.
Specialists can count the decibels involved in a whisper or a thunderclap, but… can they measure their impact on us?…

Do we have this wise desire of being attentive to what we hear?

  • The quiet invitation to pause a while and listen…
  • The gentle call for compassion…
  • The subtle request for help…
  • The softly spoken words of regret…
  • The discrete inspiration from the depths of ourselves…
  • The challenging invitation to a commitment…
  • ‘The sound of silence’ as the well-known song has it… *

 

 All of them – and more – can translate God’s voice unmistakenly.
They can transmit his message… always personalised!…

‘An attentive ear’ – something God cannot refuse if only we ask for it…
And how astonishing may be what we… finally come to hear!

 

* Simon and Garfunkel

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/22e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Images: unsplash.com

 

8th Sunday of Year C – 2022

25 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: compassion, conversation, Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7, help, hope, respect, talking, words

Words, words, words – they can be found everywhere.
Words spoken, printed, read, proclaimed, shouted, sung.
Your words, my words, those of the learned and those of the ignorant.
Those asserted by the bold and those whispered by the fearful.

The 1st reading of this Sunday is somehow an invitation to appraise our talk.
The wise author of the text says (Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7):

“The defects of a (man) person appear in (his) talking…
The test or a (man) person is in his/her conversation.
A (man’s) person’s words betray what he/she feels.”

Most of us do quite a lot of talking.
It would be interesting to look closely at our conversations with others and see what they reveal.

What shows itself in what we say?
Patience, hope, compassion, desire to understand, readiness to help…
Or, the opposite… indifference, selfishness, boasting, lack of respect…

I believe that the best way to appraise a conversation is to see its worth in the light of the one who is THE Word – Jesus himself.

Would he say what was just said?
Would he speak in the way the person has spoken?
Would he speak in such a situation or rather… keep silent?
Would he encourage, comfort, correct, reprove, invite, show the way?

This is the test for everyone who wants to be a follower of his…

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/8e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: unsplash.com

20th Sunday of Year A – 2020

14 août 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: advice, help, learn, methods, Mt.15:21-28, Mt.6:8, pray, words

Praying… an activity which always finds us in need to learn –
to learn how to approach God and, of course, what to say when we are in his presence.

Bookshops and libraries are full of material published precisely to guide us with methods and advice about praying.
Many spiritual authors suggest what they consider the best way to pray; their thoughts and suggestions cover many pages.

The Syrophoenician woman we meet in today’s gospel (Mt.15:21-28) may not have known how to read, but…
she knew how to pray, and how to pray well:

“Lord, have mercy on me.
Lord, help me.”
 
Few words – short words – simple words –
but words that touched Jesus to the point that he did for that woman precisely what she was asking for.

Why do we sometimes think that God needs long explanations of our needs and detailed requests for his assistance?
Jesus has assured us: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Mt.6:8)
 
The Syrophoenician woman was right after all!
“Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, help me” – this could be enough… could it not?

 

Note: This gospel scene is also offered in video format at: https://youtu.be/M-KMEFoxhSE

And another reflection on a similar theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/20e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: theministryofezra.com

 

 

 

18th Sunday of Year A – 2020

31 juillet 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: conviction, faith, Luke 15:4, nothing, Romains 8:35-39, words

Language is made of thousands of words – short words, longer ones, easy words, more difficult ones.
Words for all occasions and situations, some words provoke laughter, others cause sadness or anger.

There are words which I would qualify as categorical: they are direct, explicit.
There is something final about their meaning, words such as: ALWAYS, NEVER, ALL, NOTHING.

This last one – NOTHING – is at the heart of the 2nd reading of this Sunday (Rom.8:35,37-39).
Writing to the first Christians of Rome, Paul makes a very strong statement –
his words express a very deep faith, a profound conviction.

He says:
“I am convinced that… NOTHING will be able to separate us from the love of God 
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
And, in the space of what I wrote as … Paul lists 9 things, situations, people,
and he concludes: “Anything in all creation” cannot, really cannot, separate us from the love of God.
Is it not astonishing, absolutely amazing?!

I wonder… how many Christians share the same conviction with the same strength?
Being utterly certain that I am so important to God that he will not allow anything to separate me from him,
unless… I move away myself…
Even then, he will be searching for me – he told us so! (Luke 15:4).

Note: Another reflection on a different theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/18e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: Life.Church Open Network

 

 

 

5th Sunday of Year A – 2020

7 février 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: 1 Cor.2:1-5, Gamaliel, God's Spirit, language, message, philosophy, power, wisdom, words

Language – of whatever nation or tribe – is made of words: short words, long words, simple words, difficult words.
They are uttered, spoken, whispered, proclaimed, sung or shouted – we cannot escape them.
They take on different shades of meaning according to the way they are used –
in joy or anger, in hope or desperation, inviting or rejecting, encouraging or despising.

Yes, words have a tremendous power, for good or… bad.
They can be uplifting or dispiriting.
But what a power they have when they are… God’s own words!
When they convey God’s message being inspired by God’s Spirit.

This is the meaning of the apostle Paul in the 2nd reading of this Sunday (5th Sunday, Year A).
He assures the Corinthians to whom he is writing that
the message he sends them is not something deriving from human insight,
but it comes from the Spirit of God himself (1 Cor.2:1-5).

He is not relying on the Jewish wisdom his master Gamaliel had passed on to him,
nor on the arguments of the Greek philosophy he is familiar with.
He says it clearly:

“Far from relying on any power of my own…
in my speeches and the sermons I gave
there (was) only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit.”
 
In our own attempts to speak about God,
we could do no better than rely on this same power!
 

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

 

Source: Image: www.areasonforhope.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15th Sunday of the Year, A

13 juillet 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: beatitude, glimpse, God's message, God's presence, happy, Life, looking, meaning, Mt.13:1-23, perceive, questioning, réflection, see, sight, situations, staring, words

The words we use can express different levels of meaning.
Some words go deeper than others, we know it.

To get a glimpse of something or to catch sight of someone, is different from truly looking at the thing or the person.
Looking at a scene, staring at somebody, this too is different.

Seeing itself is also different from perceiving which implies something more…
And we all know that we may be looking… without seeing!…

This reflection came to me as a few words of today’s gospel caught my attention (15th Sunday of Year A – Mt.13:1-23).

A single line suddenly caught my sight.
It is the one which gives Jesus words as he says:

“Happy are your eyes because they see.” (v.16)

 

I stopped reading, there and then I paused…
I paused and… I asked myself whether this ‘beatitude’ is mine!

My questioning led me to ask whether I truly see the sights, the scenes, the situations of my daily life, as God would want me to…

More still, do I perceive there God’s presence?
Do I discern God’s message?

Perhaps much of life is about SEEING… as God sees!…

Source: Images: Dissolve, Masterfile, goodtherapy,org, Masterfile