Tuesday 25 November 2014

Year B - First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent - Year B
Isaiah 63, 16...64, 7
Psalm 79
1 Corinthians 1, 3-9
Mark 13, 33-37



To go further
Details

- Two computers. One is in standby mode, the other one is off.
- On the right, the hand of God. It only just touches the mouse and a rabbit erupts, ready (maybe we have noticed that the computer that switches on is the one whose screen is facing God?)
- The rabbit is emerging from the frame. The frame represents what's usual, expected, normal. By coming out of the frame, he's ready for the novelty of God.
- He's "on guard", ready to listen (his ears are extended) and to follow God.

Questions

- The difference between a computer which is off and a computer which is in standby mode resides in the time it takes to start. The one which is off needs time to heat up, to initialise, to execute programmes. The one which is in standby mode is "ready". He only needs a little something to wake up.
- The drawing doesn't mean that God manipulates us as we manipulate a computer with a mouse. It means that you must be in standby mode to be able to welcome God's delicacies which will touch our life everyday and to be able to recognise them. Anyone Christian who goes to church on a Sunday and then puts his faith away in a cupboard for the rest of the week, is he not like a computer which is off?
- Do I want to get ready for Christ's coming on Christmas or will I carry on with my life without questioning it and get to Christmas Eve and say "Is it Christmas already?".
- How will I try to stay in standby mode, particularly during these four weeks?

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Year A - Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
Ezekiel 34, 11...17
Psalm 22
1 Corinthians 15, 20-26. 28
Matthew 25, 31-46


To go further
Details

- The character on the left represents Jesus (each time you see a halo with a cross inside, it is Christ. I use this symbol of the representation of Christ, taken from oriental icons.... not, of course, wishing to depreciate their value, but to keep the symbol)
- On the right, it is death (Nooooooo, not possible!).
- The scene is that where Jesus beats death definitively, by His death on the cross (the cross, on the detonator, is that which will make death jump). In short, death can do no more, he is lost.  He plugs up his ears waiting for the moment. Impossible to attack against the Saviour (look well, the scythe is hooked in the wire of the detonator, he can no longer cause ill) "Oh death, where is your victory?" Saint Paul says. 

Questions

- Do I believe that God is stronger than Satanism?
- Do I believe in the definitive victory of Christ on evil, on death?
- Do I believe in a future world, or in this world, in my own life?

Monday 10 November 2014

Year A - Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
Proverbs 31, 10...31
Psalm 127
1 Thessalonians 5, 1-6
Matthew 25, 14-30


To go further
Details

- Not a lot. The gold bar here is the grace of the baptism ; I have become Christian by grace of the death and the resurrection of Christ. That is what brings value to that which is received.
- There are 8 little clouds of dust (like the 8 Beatitudes). In burying the gold bar, we also bury at great depths the whole message that Christ proclaimed on the mountain.

Questions

- Do I contribute as much enthusiasm and energy to try to hide the fact that I am Christian, rather than to simply say it? If yes, why?
- Am I afraid to have to change something in my life if I say clearly that I am Christian?
- An ingot in the night does not shine any brighter than a heap of coal. What could shine brighter in you? To shine to guide others?