Monday 27 April 2015

Year B - Fifth Sunday of Easter

Fifth Sunday of Easter - Year B
Apostles Acts 9, 26-31
Psalm 21
1 John 3, 18-24
John 15, 1-8


To go further

Details

-The Vine, it's me. There are places I bear fruit in my life and places where I'm pretty barren.

-Jesus has just pruned my life, that is to say, he comes to visit places where I do not bear fruit. Sometimes it's a clean cut in my life where there are so many parasites that the earth is useless. What are those areas where I lose myself?

-The Vine asks Jesus not to look at the dark or sterile areas of his life to see what works well. "Look right!" means "Look at what is going well in my life!" "Look where I am efficient in my faith" However, this Jesus already sees.


Questions

-As an attentive master, he wants my whole life to bear fruit. He desires that the light be put everywhere. Perhaps it is in darker areas of my life that Jesus wants to visit? Perhaps, in the future, I will carry more fruit in my branches which are currently barren, than in the other branches? 

-What are my current scenes of battle? What is not yet evangelised in my life? Where is the place where a little voice told me that part of my life is not great and can not be consistent with what Jesus asks of me? Do I think that place can be a place where life, flowers and fruits will spring if Jesus comes to visit? 


Today, there is even another cartoon illustrating the first reading which is in an article below.
Bonus !

Year B - Fifth Sunday of Easter


Fifth Sunday of Easter

Apostles Acts 9, 26-31

Psalm 21

1 John 3, 18-24
John 15, 1-8



To go further

Details

-All is grey in the landscape

-This Rabbit puts himself in the trash, he believes that he is the king of worthlessness (His heart is a big zero, that is what he thinks)

-He does not see two things:

1. That his heart takes him very high

2. That the sun rises (he turns his back)
 


Questions

-To believe oneself to be worthless does not necessarily mean "to be humble".
-To believe oneself to be worthless, that is to compare oneself to others, to judge, is to enclose oneself in a lie.
-To believe oneself to be worthless, it is to not listen to God, because God creates only good people. If I believe myself to be worthless, it means that my own thoughts of myself are held in greater importance than the thoughts which God has of me. Between God and I, who is most right? He or I?
"For God is greater than our heart and knows all things." Have you ever noticed that one of the benefits of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is to be told by someone else that we are pardoned? God is greater than our heart. The priest who listens to me, listens to me more sympathetically than myself, with less judgements than myself. When I confess (if it still happens to me ...), do I look at myself (as the rabbit turns towards himself), or do I hold my gaze towards the rising sun which is Christ ? 

Monday 20 April 2015

Year B - Fourth Sunday of Easter

Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year B
Apostles Acts 4, 8-12
Psalm 117
1 John 3, 1-2
John 10, 11-18


To go further

Details

-The commercial rabbit tries to sell a cardboard motorbike by showing a real one. His arguments are fabulous. ;
- "Full tank for free" (for a cardboard motorbike, logical...)
- New tyres (same)
- Cut price (1499 €, a little expensive for cardboard, but there is a key with it), Very portable (you can carry it with on hand, really...)
-The other rabbit seems skeptical, he is tempted though... Will he give in?

Questions

-The word of the drawing is not to say that we should not trust men. It tells us that trust in God is never wrong (but it does not stop us from trusting others too).

-Some would like to arrange their own religion, nice and comfortable, with whatever they want to take and whatever they want to leave... Jesus did not choose the throne, the castle, the limousine and the princess. It is clothed in the garment of weakness that he came. Sometimes we claim to do special tricks to attract young people. Be careful not to "mis-sell the merchandise" if we do not prepare them for the reality of this demanding life. Being inventive is a very good thing, but getting to the point where that young person truly clings to Christ and truly remains faithful when everything is dry, is another. Do I prepare others for this?

Monday 13 April 2015

Year B - Third Sunday of Easter

Third Sunday of Easter - Year B
Apostles Acts 3, 3-15, 17-19
Psalm 4
1 John 2, 1-5
Luke 24, 35-48

To go further

Details

-The Blue rabbit testifies to what he saw (and even feels it on his head ...) the resurrection has projected the tombstone, and he was in the corner.

-Strong from his experience, he's surrounded by bandages, but super happy from his experience.

-However, the grey rabbit wonders if it's bacon or ... rabbit 

Questions

-We can testify to the resurrection of Christ when it has had an impact in our lives (as we can speak with enthusiasm of a movie when we saw it, or of a food recipe when he have tasted it )

-Have I had a resurrection experience in my life over something that was hopeless?

-Do I ask God to put his life in me, for that which I think is now ruined?

-Am I always grateful, or is it all in the past?

-Am I conscious of that fact that if I testify, this could give others the opportunity to find hope? to perhaps find a solution to their impasse?


Year B - Second Sunday of Easter

Second Sunday of Easter - Year B
Apostles Acts 4, 32-35
Psalm 117
1 John 5, 1-6
John 20, 19-31




To go further

Details

-The disciples are closed in. They are verifying that all exits are well guarded. They are on the alert.
-There are several possible locks : On the left, two beams, like a cross, that one can unlock quite quickly. The one in the middle is a final lock. If we look well, the latch cannot be pushed to the left or to the right due to the walls. The door will never open. Then there is the door on the right which is blocked by a bunch of stuff that we can find inside the house ; a mattress, a broom, a fridge, a table (and a bucket of water for the joke)
-And then, Jesus stands in their midst. He is there but nobody sees him. The important thing is not to know how he came to be there but to know that he is there.  He said himself "I am with you until the end of the world". He has not stopped keeping this promise.
-And finally, there is Thomas who stays outside. In the Gospel, we know that he was not there when Jesus appeared for the first time before his disciples.  What is important, is who is inside the house, inside you. It is there that we can meet Jesus.

Questions 

-Fear locks me inside with a phobia for outside, even though my powers are inside me.
E-E Schmitt wrote : "Everything that man has built begins, most often, in fear of the other man. The power of Christianity, it is to denounce this fear and to dare to affirm that human relationships can develop into love".
In what way is this true for me ? Am I aware ?

Sunday 5 April 2015

Year B - Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday - Year B
Apostles Act 10, 34, 37-43
Psalm 117
Colossians 3, 1-4
1 Corinthians 5, 6-8
John 20, 1-9





To go further

Details

-The two disciples arrive at the tomb. John arrives first, and waits outside. Peter enters.
-Peter is perplexed, John enters afterwards, he BELIEVES when he sees... NOTHING.
-In this drawing, Peter scans the shroud, with his glasses, trying to find a rational explanation to the thing. He is looking for something. Maybe he does not know what he is looking for ?
-John seems to have understood. Understood the words of Christ which resonate in him currently "And on the third day he will rise again"
-John looks in two places ; the wall and the exit. Towards what should I look ?

Questions

-In which of these two people do I see myself right now ?-Sometimes, we look for God in wanting him to present himself to us in our way.
-But no, Jesus surprises ! The proof, he has even made his bed before leaving... And this we hadn't seen ? (Yes ? you had noticed ?)

Friday 3 April 2015

Year B - Good Friday

This reading was not heard today but last Sunday. It is not a problem, there is something to learn anyway...



To go further

Details

Saint Peter will arrange so that the rooster does not sing (Jesus told him "Before the rooster crows twice, you yourself will disown me three times") 
-By this image, I want to underline the fact that there is no "predestination". It is not because the rooster sings that Peter will disown Jesus. It is not because Jesus gave a mouthful to Judas that Satan enters in him. The devil is not in the mouthful, he is in the heart of Judas who has already decided to accomplish his demands. Jesus does not consider Judas as his enemy, he gives him opportunities (when  Judas delivers him, Jesus still calls him "my friend" and he really means it)
-Jesus said "this is my body delivered FOR you". He could have said "delivered BY you", but he keeps the initiative. He gives his life actively, and not passively.

Questions

-It is easier to accuse "destiny", things, people, and try to get rid of the issue, rather than looking at our responsibility head on, concerning evil and sin.
-It is not by knocking the rooster out that my heart will change.
-What are the roosters that I want to knock out ? Which are the people that I want to accuse to clear me of my sins ? of my responsibility ?


Thursday 2 April 2015

Year B - Good Thursday - Mass of the Last Supper

Good Thursday - Mass of the Last Supper - Year A

Exodus 12, 1 - 14
Psalm 115
1 Corinthians 11, 23 - 26
John 13, 1 - 15




To go further

Details

- "How to become a Christian with only one piece of advice"... The only lesson is to do like Jesus.
- At the beginning, this rabbit (on the left) really wants to become a Christian. He receives a sheet, some help from another Christian. The silence of this hand means that at some point, you have to choose and you're alone in front of this choice.
- In the middle, there's an instruction manual which seems very simple: "Do as I have done for you". But that's the issue, WHO are we supposed to copy? If I'm supposed to do like Mother Teresa, that will be very complicated. So if I'm supposed to do like Jesus...Ouch! It's both simple and complicated. Simple because he puts himself at our level and he's no Olympic champion, but a close friend. Complicated because we have to commit to much more than one hour every Sunday. You're committing every place and moments you live. If I am a Christian, I need to represent Jesus wherever I am.
- The rabbit on the right (still the same) prefers a more complicated solution, he wants something measurable. How can you evaluate whether or not you're like Jesus? At the end of the day, you can't say whether you succeeded or not. On the other hand, accomplish a good action, say a particular prayer, that's easier to evaluate. My Christian life will always be judged by someone else.

Questions

- The rabbit would prefer something more complicated, something he can assess, measure. Jesus asks us to stay simple because he is the master. My uncertainty concerning whether I'm doing right or wrong will remain an uncertainty. And that's a good thing, otherwise I would become self-righteous.

- So, how will I follow this one piece of advice in one lesson today?