On Sunday, 22 October 2023, Dialogue & Alliance CC organized its monthly meeting on the theme: "Cultivating gratitude".
The main face-to-face meeting was held at the Espace Barrault in Paris, with Zoom connections from several countries, including Algeria, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Canada, Congo, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, France, Haiti, Morocco, Pakistan, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, etc.
Some of the speakers and participants at the Espace Barrault in Paris listen to Professor Jacques GAUTHIER in Canada
To begin the meeting, the moderator, Mr Dorian GRAVRAND, briefly presented the Universal Peace Federation-International's call for action on Israel and Gaza.
In the first reading, Mr Jacques GAUTHIER, former professor of theology at Saint-Paul University in Ottawa (Canada), poet and essayist (https://www.jacquesgauthier.com/ ), gave a brilliant commentary on the passage from Genesis 1.31, where God expresses His gratitude after the Creation.
The second reading brought a Muslim perspective. It was verses 151 and 152 of Sura II: The Cow. They were commented on by Ms Anne-Sophie MONSINAY, co-founder of the association "Voix d'un islam éclairé" (https://www.voix-islam-eclaire.fr/ ) and imam of the Sîmorgh mosque.
Ms Anne-Sophie MONSINAY, one of only three women in France to be Imam
Ms Marie-Christine ODENT
We then had a short musical break, with the poem by Francis of Assisi, " The Canticle of the Creatures", performed by Robert LEBEL (https://www.robertlebel.com/ ). A priest and singer-songwriter for over 30 years, he is well known across Canada and even in Europe.
The third presentation was based on a quotation from Dr Hak Ja HAN-MOON, founder of the Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP), which was read by Mr Modeste AMOUSSOU and then explained by Ms Marie-Christine ODENT, marriage and family counsellor and Vice-President in France of the Women's Federation for World Peace (https://wfwp-france.org/ ). In particular, she showed the link between gratitude, forgiveness, love and work.
The meeting concluded with a question-and-answer session led by Dr Laurent LADOUCE, a researcher with the Universal Peace Federation, and some remarks by Mr Jean-François MOULINET, coordinator of the Dialogue & Alliance circle, who announced that the next meeting would be held on Sunday 19 November on the theme: "Cultivating hope".
A recording of this programme is available at https://youtu.be/kgqbgPuzz9E .
Dialogue & Alliance CC