Year B - First Sunday of Lent

First Sunday of Lent - Year B

Genesis 9, 8-15

Psalm 24

1 Peter 3, 18 - 22

Mark 1, 12-15

To go further

Details

- When we are baptised, God makes a commitment towards us. We become "Children of God", His children ! Those of you who have children know that we can't have children without committing to feed them, house them, bring them up...
- On this drawing, God commits, he's already signed. He's asking the baptised person for something in return.

- Baptism isn't a stamp that gives your a right to other sacraments (communion, confirmation, confession, marriage…), it's first and foremost a gift. God gives his life for me. God commits for me. Check on the picture, where you're supposed to sign, what can you see ? There's a cross on the cap of the pen. This is God's commitment. He commits to loving me even if I turn my back on Him, loving me even if I betray Him, loving me to the death, even to death on a cross.

- The rabbit is trying to get away from it. "He wasn't told" that you had to give something in return. Maybe I didn't ask to be baptised ? Maybe I feel like I was forced and now I'm forced to commit ? If that's the case, then maybe I should first try to understand the real meaning of baptism. Then, I will probably be quite pleased to have been baptised.

Questions

- The rabbit is accusing the other "I wasn't told". It's often quite easy to say so. It takes away any responsibility. It's just like saying "It's not my fault" and the problem is solved. When I commit to something, do I think about the consequences ?

- If things don't turn out as expected, do I run away from my responsibilities, do I look for answers somewhere else or do I accept my responsibilities ?

- Find an example when you ran away from your responsibilities and one when you accepted them.

Year B - Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Leviticus 13, 1...46

Psalm 31

1 Corinthians 10, 31-11, 1

Mark 1, 40-45

To go further

Details and questions:

-There's not much to see, apart from two details : the angle of vision and the colours.

-The angle of vision used is called "high angle": we look from up high. It reinforces the superiority of the one who is observing and the smallness of what is observed. How do I consider the people or the material tasks which are less rewarding? Standing on my pedestal?

-The colours, everything is dull (grayscale) apart from the rabbit, his gloves, his sink strainer, his apron... This shows that everything in our life, the same events, the same people, the same landscapes... can be dull or amazing, depending on how we look at them.

Do everything for the glory of God... The secret resides in the "Spirit in which we do things."

Do I do things simply because they have to be done?

Or do I give some meaning to everything I do? A soul? A goal? To anticipate the reign of God?

Year B - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Job 7, 1...7

Psalm 146

1 Corinthians 9, 16...23

Mark 1, 29-39

To go further

Details and questions:

- Sometimes, we look for God... but we close our eyes... The rabbits' attitudes reflect the way in which we look for God. From left to right.

-We walk forwards and we look backwards. We refuse to let go of the past.

-We shout towards God but we close our eyes to make sure we can't see what he's asking for...

-We face him, we hold a magnifying glass and inspect details, but we forget the Essential (Him)

-We are close to Him (the rabbit in the middle) and we look somewhere else (distraction while we pray)

-We are lost in the bushes and we struggle. Why are we looking for Him in the bushes? (we refuse to leave our entanglement and stubbornness)

-We're looking under the stones. All these stones are so heavy to lift! (exhaustion from looking the wrong way, occultism, pseudo-revelations, miracle makers...)

-We're looking for Him in dialogue "Haven't you seen him?" and the other one shakes his head "No" (refusal to testify to the wonders that God made in our lives, and which could help the other one move forward)

-And also, the cross is very visible, but we prefer to look for God in glory... Don't we?

Year B - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Deuteronomy 18, 15-20

Psalm 94

1 Corinthians 7, 32-35

Mark 1, 21-28

To go further

Details

- This rabbit on the stage is a prophet. He speaks in the name of God, he "climbs on high", he proclaims (with all his might because we can see his tongue really extended). 
Curiously enough, there is no microphone but his words are reflected  in the speakers (which signifies that God helps to amplify the small part of the action that he has asked us to accomplish).

- Beneath, there is a priest who is with his Bible, to announce the Good News but without success, visibly.

- He who speaks to the priest reproaches to him the fact that he cannot hear him. We need to meet three criteria in order to be audible:

         1. To make oneself heard (if I speak very softly, I take the risk of not being heard)

         2. To make oneself understood (I adapt the message. I do not adapt the content of the message, but the manner of saying it, the vocabulary...)

         3. Live, myself, that which I say.

Questions

- What do I reproach to priests in the manner of conducting themselves? What do I expect of them?

- And I, how can I give a speech of life? With whom am I most at ease to speak with? Maybe it is in this place that God will call me?

- In the apostolic letter to the devoted Pope Francis said "The prophet receives from God the capacity to scrutinize the history in which he lives, and to interpret events: he is like a sentinel who watches during the night and knows when dawn comes (cf. Is 21: 11-12).  He knows God and he knows men and women, his brothers and sisters.  He is capable of discernment and also capable of denouncing the evil of sin and of injustices, because he is free; He answers to no master but God, he has no other interest but those of God.  The prophet is usually on the side of the poor and of those without recourse, because God himself is on their side"

- In what way does this speak to me? How ?

Year B - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Jonah 3, 1-10

Psalm 24

1 Corinthians 7, 29-31

Mark 1, 14-20

To go further

Details

- Religion of fear, it is to do things by obligation, without necessarilly putting ones heart into it. I go along with something, but un reaility, why do I go along with it? Does it give me a place, and ideal, a goal? If I don't adhere to it, what will happen to me?

The rabbit of the religion of fear is livid. He has no strong colour. He does things which makes him lose his colour, his personality. He goes forward because he is forced to do so.

- The religion of love, it is not so much to follow the commandements, it is more to follow a living person, Christ. And starting from the moment that we follow Christ, it becomes logical to follow the commandments as well but we do the with all our heart, without judging he who does not do like me. The rabbit of the religion of love has a real colour, his own. He is motivated and has hi eyes fixed on the love of God.

The rabbit of the religion of fear and the one of the religion of love have the same remark "Ok Ok". Except that one of them believes in it, the other does not.

God is attractive to us when we feel loved by Him. Am I not attracted by someone because I feel there is love, goodness in them?

Questions

- And I, where am I? What does this comic strip reveal of myself, of the others, of God?

- And when I look to bring someone else to God, is it with force or love?

In the religion of fear, be careful to not put yourself in the place of God in saying to the other what they must do.

In the religion of love, it will be God himself who will educate you progressively.

Year B - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

1 Samuel 3, 3...19

Psalm 39

1 Corinthians 6, 13...20

John 1, 35 - 42

To go further

Details

- John and Andrew are asking Jesus where he is staying. With a gaze, they are looking up.

- Jesus answers by showing his dwell : the heart of Man. To find Jesus, you need to go deep into the heart of human beings, very deep.

- There is a ladder, which shows how long the journey is. We have to go down one step at a time. Looking closer at the ladder, we can see that the further down we go,  the narrower it gets. This represents the spiritual path which becomes more and more refined.

- You don't get to know the Man's heart at once. Trust is something that gets created over time.

- The heart-shaped hole was covered by a stone which has been rolled away. This is an image of the Resurrection. When Jesus is present in the heart of the Man, there is life in the darkness.

- Jesus tells the two apostles to get ready before going down: "Come and see". To be able to come, you need shoes, and to be able to see, you need glasses.

Questions

- To walk and to watch, isn't that the attitude of whomever is constantly searching for God?

- Before sending off his disciples, Jesus invites them to come, to get to know him. He invites them to come down.

- What about me ? How does this image talke to me today ?

- What does it reveal to me about God ? About others ? About myself ?

Year B - First Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Isaiah 42, 1...7

Psalm 28

Apostles Acts 10, 34-38

Mark 1, 7-11

To go further

Details

- There is no likely detail which can help meditation, except for the rabbit at the top of the tree. Clearly, he missed the mark. He should have gone over or next to the tree, but no...

Questions

- Usually, the more I step back, the further I go
- Do I take the time to look back on my day ? To think about my behaviour, my words, my attitudes, so that I'm not in a slave position next time the situation presents itself ?

- To what extent are God's ways not necesarily the ones I was thinking about ?

- In what way did God surprise those who lived in his time ?

- What was expected of him ? How did he respond to it ?

- What about me ? What do I expect of him ? How do I react if he doesn't fulfill my expectations ?