© 2021 Gaétan Charland, Claude Flibotte, Marc Belleau
© 2021 Urantia Association of Quebec
¶ Word from the President 2021
Gaetan Charland
president@urantiaqc.org
Hello readers of the Urantia Book and members of the association.
Spring is already upon us and for many of us, this heralds spring cleaning. During this time, we pay a lot of attention to taking care of our material affairs, but what about our spiritual affairs? Are we experiencing a spiritual spring, a period that comes back periodically or are we in a state of mind that constantly encourages us to evolve spiritually?
Here is a little secret to tell you. Many moons ago, as our ancestors used to say, I was one of those who waited for life, with its own way, to push me to improve my way of thinking and acting. I remember very well that spiritual spring that brutally woke me up from the torpor of the material winter in which I had buried myself. During that difficult period of my life, my call for help was as sincere spiritually as the deep despair in which my soul found itself, and help came to me almost instantly. God answered my prayer.
At that time, I had already been a reader of The Urantia Book for several years. A reader without commitment and without any involvement in service. I lived for myself; I was in the prime of life, as some would say. For me, the teachings of The Urantia Book had little spiritual interest, I had comfortably taken refuge in the sweet and deceptive intellectual lukewarmness. It was also during this period that I understood experientially and progressively that selfless service would be my lifeline.
The first and most important involvement at that time was to participate in a study group. The group “Les Pré-Morontiens”, maintained by Roxanne Proulx and her husband Léopold, was for me the lifeline. Attending a study group every week for several years supported me in my personal decision to improve my spiritual life. Since this first decision, the progress has been long and remains difficult, but how rewarding!
The second major decision was to become involved and serve in the Urantia movement. As the teachings of The Urantia Book so aptly put it, selfless loving service is the best way to progress in the universe. We begin with small services and are gradually called to serve in greater tasks. Nothing that comes our way is beyond our abilities or potential.
My third decision was to form my own study group, and to this day, the group I lead with my wife has allowed me to better understand and appreciate my fellow human beings, to deepen my understanding of the teachings of The Urantia Book, and to support my spiritual journey.
My fourth decision was to serve socially. Suffering from a generalized anxiety disorder, degenerating into panic attacks, led me to get involved in the field of mental health. I became a group facilitator in this organization, allowing me to overcome this handicap and helping people suffering from anxiety problems. A few years later, I agreed to get involved in their board of directors.
During the last two years, I have immersed myself intensely in reading and studying the life of Jesus and his incomparable teachings. Daily, before my period of prayer and meditation, I diligently read one or more chapters of the life of Jesus. This practice and these readings have a very profound and significant influence on my spiritual life. The truth that supports me the most in my reflections is this one “The Fatherhood of God and the Spiritual Brotherhood of Man” without forgetting the example of Jesus of always striving to do the will of the Father.
I still have a concern about the future of the Urantia movement in Quebec and the Urantia Association of Quebec. Where are the young readers? Where is the next generation? Where are the committed people? I know that some of you already serve as board members or volunteers in various projects of the association, but we urgently need new blood, new ideas and especially servants.
To love is to serve
¶ Réflectivité in electronic or paper format?
Claude Flibotte
editor in chief
Hello dear readers of the newsletter “Réflectivité”! As editor of our newspaper, I am now on its third issue since accepting this mandate. Obviously, I am not alone in this adventure, you are all cordially invited to participate by sending us short texts of public interest related to the fifth epochal revelation. In the newspaper team, we have Gaétan Charland, president of the AUQ; Line St-Pierre, communications officer; Robert Cadieux, proofreader; Gilles Bertrand, responsible for printing and mailing paper copies, and your humble servant for layout.
What a great surprise it was to learn this month that nearly two hundred paper copies of Réflectivité had been mailed. I thought the number was around forty copies. This news coming from readers of the Urantia Book astounded me! Naively, I believed that we were all Urantians concerned about the environment and the well-being of our planet, our little blue spaceship! I would like to ask here for your voluntary and responsible collaboration in choosing to obtain your Réflectivité in electronic format for free for more than one reason: in addition to saving trees, the electronic PDF format allows you to read it on all your electronic devices, whether it be your computer, your tablet or others.
Unlike the paper format, the electronic format allows you to increase the size of the characters at will for easier reading. The PDF saves you from having to recycle the paper format knowing full well that in Quebec we still have the problem of recycling everything, and that some of it will be sent to landfill. If you keep them, the electronic format saves you from accumulating paper at home and the storage space that this entails can be better used. This is a useless habit since you have constant access to the Réflectivité archives on our website. You still want to keep them always at hand, that makes me very happy! The low weight of the PDF format allows you to keep them in a folder on your computer.
Another important aspect of choosing the electronic format is to save a lot of work for our brother Gilles and his wife. They have to devote many hours of volunteer time to printing at the printer, producing the shipping labels, buying envelopes, stamps and mailing all these envelopes. All this has a cost that could be saved to our Urantia Association of Quebec with a little goodwill. I fully understand the few people who do not have an electronic means to access Réflectivité in PDF format, the paper format is there precisely for them!
So, my friends, I humbly ask you to register on the AUQ website, provide your email address, subscribe to the electronic Réflectivité in addition to the other possibilities of subscribing to other services to receive your Réflectivité in your email box for free each month.
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
¶ 11th International Congress of the Urantia Association
The 11th International Congress of the Urantia Association will be held virtually on April 24-25 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The conferences will be translated into 4 languages.
All workshops will be offered at the same time from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Register as early as possible. Places in the workshops are limited. See the program.
¶ Workshops
Before registering, we ask that you read the workshop descriptions which can be viewed by clicking on the PDF link below. (This PDF is in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.) When you register, you will be asked for your 3 workshop preferences for each day. Every effort will be made to give you your first choice, but if that workshop is full, you will be given one of your other preferences. You will see that each workshop has a code. Make note of the codes for your 3 preferences for Day 1 and Day 2. When you register, you will be asked to choose your preferences by clicking on the codes of your choice.
PDF Descriptions of the workshops — Workshops in French # 14-15-16
Please note that the last two hours of each day will be dedicated to workshops. Throughout the congress there will also be breaks, cultural activities, ways to get to know Cusco, Peru (a virtual tour), and the opportunity to interact with other people.
¶ Registration
Registration is now open! Although this is a virtual conference via Zoom, for security reasons, you will still need to register in advance. Please remember to choose your workshops as explained above before registering. Click the link below to register:
¶ A new web service available
Marc Belleau
AUQ treasurer
You may have noticed that there is a new addition on the AUQ website, the possibility of making a in memoriam donation. This idea came to me when I wanted to mark the passing of Lise Routhier. I was part of Lise and Pierre’s study group for 2 years, the Veritas group, and because they were my first contacts with the Urantian community, I did not want to send a simple condolence card. I wanted to do more to celebrate Lise’s life by supporting a cause to which she had devoted a large part of her existence. So I sent my wishes to the family specifying that I had made a donation to the AUQ. I thought, then, that it would be great if this service was offered on the AUQ website. By making an in memoriam donation, a card is automatically emailed to the bereaved family with your wishes and a note that a donation has been made in memory of the deceased.
How does it work? Go to the contribution/donate page of the AUQ website, then enter the required information for the amount of the donation, its recurrence, the information on the deceased and that of the person who should receive your condolences. You will be able to write your personal message or choose one from the drop-down menu, choose an image from those proposed, enter your name and see a preview of the card before it is sent. You will need to enter your payment information and some information for the issuance of your income tax receipt (sent in January of each year). When you are ready, click on the blue button at the bottom of the page and that’s it. There you have it, in a few clicks and without leaving the comfort of your home, your message is sent to the family and you are, at the same time, supporting a cause that the deceased had at heart.
If you have any questions, comments or need assistance with your donation, please contact me at tresorier@urantiaqc.org and I will be happy to assist you.
¶ Conference by Jean Annet
“Opening the Divine Channel — How to Contact Your Adjuster
Sunday April 11, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The Book tells us in UB 146:2.4
“By opening the human end of the channel of the God-man communication, mortals make immediately available the ever-flowing stream of divine ministry to the creatures of the worlds.” (UB 146:2.4)
What is this end and what is this channel? How can we actually open this channel to make available the constant flow of divine ministry? How can we improve our contact with our indwelling Adjuster?
Through different personal development techniques and the experiences of mystics from different religions of the world, we will try to see what are the means used since the dawn of time by all men in search of God. We will end with some practical exercises.
You are invited to click on the link 5 minutes before the time to access the meeting.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85454695049
¶ Commemoration Dinner
The memorial supper is the believer’s meeting with Michael UB 179:5.6
A tradition has been established every April 6 since 2017, proposed by our brothers and friends of the group TheChristExperiment.org, when people come together to share a bite or a meal in memory of Jesus and exchange their impressions on the life and teachings that he left us. This celebration of the meal of remembrance is very well organized between friends and members of the same family or with your study group.
Let us celebrate together this request of Jesus made to his apostles during the last supper with them.
¶ Study groups
This activity allows several readers of different levels of understanding to exchange and study together the teachings of The Urantia Book. It promotes spiritual progress by allowing its participants to find practical applications to the teachings of The Urantia Book in their daily lives. This important step helps to maintain a broad perspective on concepts of truth.
You wish to participate or form a study group; we will be happy to assist you. If you wish to have your study group appear in this list, contact the person in charge, via email association.urantia.quebec@gmail.com or at 450-565-3323.
Outaouais Group
Region: Gatineau
Wednesday, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Maurice Migneault (613) 789-6833
Group: “Uni-Terre”
Region: Joliette
Sundays from 9:00 am to 11:00 am, (virtual Zoom)
Contact :
Eric Martel (450) 756-9387
Group: “At Maisonnia”
Region: Quebec
Every 2 weeks: Sundays, from 1:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Gilles Bertrand & Louise Renaud (418) 871-4564
Group: “The United Family of Urantia”
Region: Montreal — Downtown
Thursdays, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Mrs. Diane Labrecque (514) 277-2308
Group : “Le Pont”
Region: Montérégie
(Sainte-Julie, south of Montreal)
Tuesdays, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Claude Flibotte (438) 404-6399
Virtual Study Group, French
Every Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time (Montreal)
Via Zoom: https://www.zoom.us/j/9084766734
Responsible :
Guy Perron (438) 495-7747
Group: “Découverte”
Region: Laurentians — St-Jérôme
Mondays, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Gaétan Charland and Line St-Pierre Tel.: (450) 565-3323
Possibility to participate via Internet (Zoom)
Sherbrooke Group
Region: Sherbrooke
Every 2 weeks: Tuesday or Wednesday, (to be confirmed) from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Helene Boisvenue and Denis Gravelle
Tel.: (819) 569-6416
To see the official list of study groups:
Click directly on the following link: http://urantia-quebec.ca/activites_liste_des_groupes.php
¶ Réflectivité
| Responsible: | Claude Flibotte |
| Assisted by: | Normand Laperle Gilles Bertrand |
(438) 404-6399 Claude Flibotte
(418) 835-1809 Normand Laperle
(418) 871-4564 Gilles Bertrand
Publication (monthly)
Last week of the previous month.
To submit your articles:
Send them to: reflectivite.auq@gmail.com
Add: Your name, city of residence, ideally a photo of you.
Warning:
Any submission of articles or otherwise becomes the property of Réflectivité and none will be returned.
We do not guarantee that all articles in our possession will be published in the next Réflectivité.