Year A - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Isaiah 55, 1 - 3

Psalm 144

Romans 8, 35 - 39

Matthew 14, 13 - 21

 

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Details 

- Most of the details are in the colours. The tramp-rabbit is all dressed in grey. The rabbit in the centre is very flashy : red clothes and trainers, yellow mobile phone.

- He's so much "in your face" that the rabbit on the right can't even see the other people, whether it be the tramp or the central character. The only thing which attracts his attention is the mobile phone. 

Questions 

- Am I more attached to things or to people ? 

- To answer to that question, for example, can I describe the salesperson at the lasy shop I've been to ? (in general, we can do so if the person was unpleasant ...)

Year A - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

1 Kings 3, 5. 7 - 12

Psalm 118

Romans 8, 28 - 30

Matthew 13, 44 - 52

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Details

- This blue rabbit is trying to buy the "Champ de Mars" (for those who don't know about it, the "Champ de Mars" is in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower, which we can see through the window on the picture, stands pride of place.

- To do so, he only has a little piggy bank which doesn't weigh much in exchange for this unaffordable land

Questions

- The treasure mentioned in today's gospel can represent a variety of realities

- Another biblical word reads "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be". To know what my treasure is, I only need to know what I spend most of my (spare) time doing or even what for (or who for) I spend my money.

- Christ ? My life of faith ? ... Are they part of my treasure ? What do I concretely dedicate to them ?

Year A - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 12, 13. 16 - 19

Psalm 85

Romans 8, 26 - 27

Matthew 13, 24 - 43

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Details

- The picture is quite clear : the rabbit is getting exhausted while rowing depite having the wind on his side. We can see clearly that the boat is going quite fast but the rabbit is exhausted.

- The name of the boat is "let blow"

- The wind is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.

- The mast is the cross. The spirit is given to us when Jesus is on it. He's giving the spirit.

- The direction of the action is reversed. Usually, we go from left to right. Here it is the opposite direction, meaning that when we let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit, we're quite often going in the opposite direction of the world, its appeals, its easiness, its ideas.

- On the helm, there's a brake handle. On this picture, the rabbit is neither resisting the Holy Spirit nor God as he's not braking. The problem is he is going about it the wrong way. He's relying on himself more than on God.

Questions

- What about me, do I make projects and ask God to bless my projects (including for him) or do I start by praying and by asking him what he wants ?

- That would prevent me from rowing, even if that's not quite what I had planned for ...

Year A - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 55, 10 - 11

Psalm 63

Romans 8, 18 - 23

Matthew 13, 1 - 23

 

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Details

- The rabbit is moving forward while sowing seeds, under the penguin's skeptical look

- In this picture, nothing could prevent the seeds from growing apart from the soil itself

- There also is a periscope. We don't quite know what it is doing there. It is hope, in the coldest lands, which is looking in the direction the rabbit is taking.

- The rabbit is carrying a towel. On his shoulder (not on his frozen ears). It's the softness, the warmth and the strength of the Holy Spirit. With your shoulders, you can carry heavy things, that's why when we make the sign of the cross, we sign our shoulder when we mention the Holy Spirit.

- The seeds are red, the towel is yellow ; the colours are visible. They are they only warm ones of the picture. The Spirit that God put within ourselves is the only one that can make us live, like a source of heat in a frozen environment.

Questions

- In this picture, nothing could prevent the seeds from growing apart from the soil itself. We can take away the warmth of the sun from the parable, the birds, the bramble, ... If the soil is not welcoming, nothing can grow. The seeds bounce as if to go somewhere else.

- For God's grace to rest within ourselves, we must clear the ground a bit. The more we clear, the more welcoming space there is.

- How can I clear the ground this week ?

Year A - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Zachary 9, 9 - 10

Psalm 144

Romans 8,9 11 - 13

Matthew 11, 25 - 30

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Details

- The rabbit is digging. He's taking a break, he seems tired.

- The little earthworm discovers the treasure by chance. The wormhole he's digging is zig-zagging.

- The chest looks solid, yet it's easy to open, there's no lock.

- On this picture, the rabbit represents the scholar : he's digging ... and the more he digs, the more he's piling soil on top of the chest, the less chance he has to find this treasure. He's digging, but in the wrong place.

Questions

- Digging is going deeper. We sometimes long for knowledge and we want to dig, but not in the right place. For Christians, Jesus achieved the Revelation, which means he opened the doors to knowledge for us, and nothing is left hidden. There's no more intrigue, neither secret nor mystery that only the Vatican would know. There's no need to look elsewhere, in other private revelations, apparitions, or particular literature. Everything is in the Bible (and in the Tradition, for catholics). Everything. 

- What about me, do I go elsewhere, in magic, in horoscopes, in private revelations, in other religions ? If so, why ? Wouldn't that be called idolatry as I'm not putting all my trust in God only, but in something else.  

- Has it ever happened to me to meet a person who is "lesser" than me (in terms of age, ideas or experience) and who is much more advanced than me in terms of faith ?

Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Apostles Acts 12, 1 - 11

Psalm 33

2 Timothy 4, 6 - 8, 16 - 18

Matthew 16, 13 - 19

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Details

- On this drawing, nothing can help this rabbit except his perseverance. There's nothing but water all around him. If he stops swimming, there will be a problem ...

Questions

- The second letter of Saint Paul to his disciple Timothy was written shortly after his martyr in 67 AD. We can feel that his end is near.

- "Fighting a good fight", that's sometimes using all of one's strength to ... flee. Like on this picture. To fight against sin can be done by either facing it or running away from it. The same Saint Paul, in his epistle to the romans (Rm 12, 9) says : "Hate what is evil, cling to what is good". Sometimes I overestimate my strengths, I think I will stay strong when facing temptation and I put myself into a dangerous situation in front of temptation. Looking for caution is starting to know myself, to know where I am weak and fragile, and avoid putting myself into situations where I have every other chance to fall. If I stay away from this situation, I will have every other chance to avoid fallling.

- What is the sin that often makes me fall ? Have I taken stock of it ? Do I wave a red flag and wait for it to bite me or do I avoid it by staying away from it ?

- What means do I have to run away from it ?

Year A - Blessed Sacrament

Blessed Sacrament - Year A

Deuteronomy 8, 2 ... 16

Psalm 147

1 Corinthians 10, 16 - 17

John 6, 51 - 58

 

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Details

- The rabbit on the left is wondering about that "bread down from heaven". Who never wondered about that bread which we receive every Sunday, that bread which is in reality the body of Christ, God in our hands, God on our tongues. He's thinking in a human way : some bread, the sky, a slide, ...

- An angel tells him he's misguided and shows him child Christ's crib. That's where he should be looking : Jesus was born in Bethleem (which can be translated by "House of bread")

- Jesus was born of God and Virgin Mary. So he's coming down from Heaven.

- At birth, he was put in a manger, which means he's giving himself as food. Today, this Word comes true : "He's the living bread that came down from heaven"

Questions

- To understand what Jesus says, we must often read and listen to the scriptures. The answer is there. Why go and look somewhere else in such or such private revelation, unheard of.

- God doesn't like scoop. He acts like the continuous flow that polishes a rock.

- Where do I look for answers to my questions ? Do I make them up like this rabbit ?