© 2022 Gaétan G. Charland, Samuel Heïne
© 2022 Urantia Association of Quebec
¶ Word from the President April 2022
Gaetan Charland
president@urantiaqc.org
Hello readers and friends of the association,
Spring has finally arrived and many of us welcome this season with joy and pleasure in seeing nature awaken. For many, spring means the renewal of life. It is a season full of meanings that can draw their sources from the spiritual outlook we have on the seasons and the renewal of life. An endless cycle that manifests itself in many forms ranging from the material to the spiritual.
We often compare our lives to the seasons, of which many of us are now in the fall and some have begun to experience winter. As readers and students of the teachings of The Urantia Book, this analogy of the seasons to the cycles of life might awaken in us some awareness of the importance of the time given to us in order for our lives to have increasing spiritual meaning.
How did we feel when we discovered The Urantia Book? Was it not like a renewal in our lives; a spiritual springtime when we emerged from the torpor of spiritual winter dormancy? Let us recall the joy and enthusiasm we felt while reading it. We were probably like those birds returning after a long migratory journey and sharing their joy with their morning song. But, quite quickly, we realized that our song of joy was not often received with the same openness that we had had when we discovered The Urantia Book.
Have we stopped singing our joy? Have we lost our enthusiasm when our parents and friends refuse to take an interest in our discovery? Have we realized that perhaps we do not always have the right words and especially the right notes to express our spiritual joy? We must remember what the revelators say in the directives they issued in the Publication Mandate: “This Book is given to those who are ready for it, long before the day of its world mission. Thousands of study groups are to be organized.” “An early publication of the Book has been offered so that it may be available for the training of leaders and teachers.”
To many ears, your singing may not interest them. A song is well received when the ears that hear it are eager for its message. But there are many ways to sing, and we must adapt our songs to the times in which we live. If we were to hear songs from the future, we would probably find them odd, because our consciousness would not be sufficiently evolved to perceive these new meanings of melody. There is a season for every time, and for us readers of The Urantia Book, we are in the springtime of revelation.
We must prepare the world for the coming season, so we must put in place the foundations and means necessary for the revelation to become a spiritual springtime for all. “You must encourage your souls to be patient. You are associated with a revelation of truth that is part of the natural evolution of religion in this world.” (Publication Mandate). The time that is given to us, those privileged to discover The Urantia Book, must be used to prepare us to better share these teachings. The study groups that are being created throughout the world and the various Internet schools of The Urantia Book are means that are offered to us to learn to better live the teachings and share them.
The Urantia Association of Quebec provides you with a wide range of resources to help you better understand and serve the revelation. Visit our website at this address www.urantia-quebec.org. Under the Study Groups tab, I have added video presentations on study groups to help those who would like to start or join a study group. https://www.urantia-quebec.ca/groupes-etude/videos-pour-groupes-etudes. Also, under the Education tab, you will find information on the Ambassador School with its course, The Ministry of the Master.
In closing, I congratulate André Pominville, new vice-president and Claudette Gonthier, secretary for their election to these two positions at our annual general meeting on March 12. Thank you for your commitment to serving revelation in Quebec.
So, enjoy your spiritual spring and don’t wait until winter before taking action.
To love is to serve
¶ Remembrance Dinner on April 6, Jesus among us
The Remembrance Supper is a symbolic meeting with Jesus every April 6 since 2017.
The tradition continues. Let us gather in small groups to share a bite to eat in memory of Jesus, to share our impressions of his life and his incomparable teachings and what he left in our hearts. Let us celebrate with friends, with family members or with our study group. For where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is.
The Remembrance Supper is the believer’s meeting with Michael UB 179:5.6
I ask the host of this evening to send me his impressions to share with our brothers in a future newsletter.
Line St-Pierre
communication@urantiaqc.org
¶ The Urantia Book as a revelation
Samuel Heine
Reunion Island
For me personally, I increasingly see The Urantia Book as a revelation that allows us to emerge from the foggy ignorance concerning our origins, our destiny, the purpose of existence, the Creator God and his will, the cosmic hierarchy and organization, the life and teachings of Jesus highlighted and his true identity revealed.
I think this makes things much clearer, it allows us to have a cosmic overview of our ascending and eternal career (beyond our planet earth). It is not always realized that the faith of men based on the information they had in the Bible or the Quran was very vague and unclear on these questions essential to the development of a balanced faith and a coherent vision that integrates us into the whole of God, cosmically speaking.
Thanks to Revelation and the method of Progressive Divine Wisdom, things become very clear (or should normally become so; what is well conceived is clearly stated).
This is truly a blessing that should fill us with joy, enthusiasm and wonder in faith and living service.
We can explain to our fellow men in very simple words that today we have received information from above that explains in detail everything for which we had no explanations and answers.
Once again on a personal level, without exaltation and with a loving gentleness linked to more balance and maturity, I talk about it more and more around me and I see the extraordinary results.
In all fraternal simplicity without entering into complicated and overly intellectual turns of phrase.
Concerning creatures, the worlds of creation and God the Creator, many things have become clear, simple and consistent.
We can talk about it around us as long as there is listening and a little curiosity. We do not need to talk about the Urantia Book to share what we have received.
¶ Hypotheses about Paradise Island
Claude Flibotte
Sainte-Julie
. . . Motion is not inherent on Paradise; it is volitional. But the concept of distance, even absolute distance, has very much meaning as it may be applied to relative locations on Paradise. Paradise is nonspatial; hence its areas are absolute. They therefore render many kinds of services which are beyond the concepts of the mortal mind. (UB 11:2.11)
The part I put in bold has always left me wondering, and for many years I have wondered what the revelators wanted me to understand! So, I share with you my thoughts on this subject.
¶ Static, Dynamic and Paradise
The revelators tell us that the Universal Absolute unifies and coordinates the dynamic infinity of Total Deity and the static infinity of the Unqualified Absolute (UB 0:3.21). Paradise being undeified, non-personal, non-living, but eternal and absolute, I could almost see it as static since it is unchanging except for its lower Paradise activities. Paradise is a super machine created by the Father controlling the energy levels and representing all the absolute potential of cosmic reality in order to free it from the limitations of infinity (UB 11:2.10). It is the opposite of what the Eternal Son is, the absolute person of pure spirit, freeing the Father from absolute personality. Paradise exists without time and has no location in space (UB 11:2.10). How can I imagine this? Paradise is the abode of the Paradise Deities (UB 11:1.1), where all gravity circuits of all kinds converge (UB 11:1.4). Only beings perfect in spirit can access it. In the area of the Most Holy Sphere of high Paradise, where the presence of the Deities is found, no material structure or intellectual creation could exist, only that of the highest spirit (UB 11:3.1).
¶ Spatial condition of the mind
As finite beings, we are familiar with time and space. However, for spirit beings, it is quite different. Spiritual patterns exist only in relation to space. They do not occupy or displace space, nor do they contain it (UB 118:3.7). Could this statement explain the fact that Heaven, although material, has a location in the universe, but no position in space UB 0:4.12?
¶ Physical Nature of Heaven
Paradise is composed of a single form of materialization called absolutum. This matter is neither dead nor alive; it is the original non-spiritual expression of the First Source-Center (UB 11:2.9). The non-spiritual here makes the opposition between what is spiritual, conscious, even personal. According to this logic, Paradise not being spiritual, it would behave in a manner similar to spiritual models that do not occupy or move space. This characteristic would explain the fact that Paradise is non-spatial, but absolute. It therefore becomes possible to imagine that on its surface the distances are relative. Since movement is not inherent in Paradise, without the presence of a personality implementing any movement, everything is static there, like the Unqualified Absolute associated with the functions of the lower Paradise.
¶ A practical application on the surface of Paradise
This particular situation on the Eternal Isle provides possibilities unimaginable here below. Let us imagine that I am in Paradise and in charge of organizing an exhibition of the human history of Urantia. I set up my booths in the allotted area, but a sudden arrival of additional information graciously provided by the universal reflectivity service requires the installation of vast stages to illustrate human life in all ages. No problem since the initially allotted area is absolute, the simple fact of needing additional space, this space exists.
Another example of the strange aspect of being in Paradise concerns movement. I am on the outskirts of Paradise on the south side and would like to go to the Most Holy area to worship my Father. Being a finaliter and now a being of a spiritual nature, simply by desiring to go to that location, I am there instantly. I do not move since space does not exist in Paradise. I am where I need to be for the intended function.
Am I wrong? I don’t know, but I’ll tell you about it when I get back from Paradise!
¶ Review of the activities of the Urantia Association of Quebec — 2021
During the annual general meeting on March 12, the members of the board of directors presented the activities that were organized and produced by the Urantia Association of Quebec in 2021.
Activities of the Board of Directors in 2021:
- Five meetings of the board of directors were held for current business: January 28, March 25, May 27, September 23 and November 18.
- February 28, lecture by Conrad Lavallée: Reflection on the personal and planetary implications of the fifth epochal revelation, part 1.
- March 28, conference by Conrad Lavallée, 2nd part.
- April 11, conference by Jean Annet: Opening the end of the divine channel connecting God to man.
- September 26, conference by Moustapha Ndiaye: Human philosophy and meaning
- October 17, conference by Hélène Boisvenue: The Beatitudes or how to obtain a cosmic identity.
- November 7, conference by Khatabe Ndiaye: The Supreme: insights and perspectives.
- December 12, conference by Marc Belleau: Biological elevators.
Activity report for the president. Year 2021
- Participation in meetings of the board of directors of the Urantia Association of Quebec
- Chaired the Association’s Board of Directors
- Monthly publication of the President’s word in the Réflectivité
- Maintaining communications with the UAI board.
- Maintaining the website and member database up to date.
- Recording and production of videos for virtual conferences organized by the association.
- Recording, production and uploading of training videos for the management of the website’s functionalities for board members and volunteers who oversee the publications of Réflectivité and the addition of educational work by readers.
- Publication on Facebook and Twitter of the association’s virtual conferences and webinars.
- Online publication of the seven seminars on Progressive Divine Wisdom.
- Updating the activity calendar on the website and sending newsletters to readers subscribed to newsletter publications.
- Management of Zoom subscriptions for accessibility to virtual study groups.
- Updated the list of study groups and their contact details.
- Management of Zoom subscriptions for the new progressive Divine Wisdom school referenced on the education page of the association’s website.
- Project management of the translation and publication of the book “The Untold Story of Jesus”.
- Writing the in memoriam donation internet project and working with the web designer to create a web page for this purpose.
Member Support: Responsible — Line St-Pierre
- Line responded to several emails and calls from people wanting information on how to participate in a study group, the association’s meetings and where to get The Urantia Book. A new member received a welcome letter, his membership card and the inspiration cards after contacting her by phone.
- In the tasks of this committee, Line takes care of postal mail and making deposits of donations and contributions.
Women’s Committee: President — Line St-Pierre
- Line participates every month in virtual meetings with the women of the committee.
- Two virtual retreats took place, one in March with Peruvians and the other in April during the International Congress of the International Association which took place via ZOOM.
- During these events, Line takes care of all the logistics; she reserves the platform, sees to the creation of the program, the sending of invitations and associated documents.
- Line met and trained future facilitators from Peru, so that they in turn could offer women’s retreats based on the same concept as the retreats, Dancing with God.
- The program “Cafe virtual-Urantia”, located in South America, invited her for an interview on November 1st, to elaborate on the work she does in the retreats. In these retreats, an atmosphere of trust is co-created within a spiritual circle, where the exploration and sharing of personal experiences and discoveries on how we respond to this call to dance with God, which is an open invitation to bring God’s love a little more into this world by pursuing a unified life, directed by the spirit in our present life.
Communications Committee: Responsible Line St-Pierre
- Line has written numerous press releases for Réflectivité to inform readers of upcoming local and international events.
- She asked several students to give a lecture in the context of the themes.
- At each conference she sent the invitation to the French, Belgians, Swiss and Senegalese.
- She is the hostess of these conferences with Gaétan Charland who takes care of the technical side.
- She responded to a request from an inmate who wanted to receive a Urantia Book.
- Line met the chaplain of the Federal Training Center to give him 3 books: 1 French, 1 English, 1 Spanish.
- She publishes a daily thought on the AUQ Facebook site and responds to comments.
- A few times a year, she promotes a thought to a target audience on Facebook.
- Line represented the association at the annual general meeting of the Urantia Association of Canada last March.
- She joined the Peruvian team to help promote the AUI international congress.
- She translated texts for the Peruvian association for the 2021 international congress.
- She made voice recordings in French and English broadcast on social networks to promote the virtual congress in April.
- Occasionally she acts as a French-speaking resource person to correct certain translations made by the International Association.
- She continues to solicit readers to write articles in Réflectivité.
AUQ is asking for your help:
The members of the AUQ board of directors are looking for help from members of the association or readers who would like to get involved.
It is not necessary to be a member of the AUQ to participate in the various committees or offer assistance. Anyone can contact us for this.
Anyone is welcome to provide valuable assistance.
Those who want to come and support the actions of our association through voluntary work can contact us. We will be delighted to integrate them into the AUQ’s mission.
Finances: Our treasurer — Marc Belleau
During the year 2021, our treasurer took care of the following tasks:
- Board of Directors:
- Participation in meetings
- Presentation of budget reports for CA meetings
- Website:
- Learning how the database works and the features of the new website (ongoing)
- Updating members’ contact details in the database (continuously)
- Budget :
- Continuous budget update
- Receipts and disbursements
- Banking conciliation
- Creation of invoices for membership renewals on the Stripe platform
- Creation of expense statements for the various AUQ stakeholders
- Communications with readers:
- Support for members in paying dues and donations
- Sending receipts for income tax purposes at the beginning of the year
- Communication with government authorities:
- Preparation of financial statements and forms to be produced for the 2 levels of government o Sending of documents required by law to the Canada Revenue Agency and Revenu Québec
- Request for reimbursement of the portion of GST and QST taxes
- Current projects:
- Creation of a guide for donations by testamentary legacy
- Search for information on endowment funds
- Registration as a supplier at the Royal Bank; possibility of transferring, automatically and on a recurring basis, amounts to the AUQ account
- Conferences:
- Virtual conference on December 12, 2021: Biological elevators.
Réflectivité — Reporting to the Communications Committee. Exists since 1982. Responsible: Claude Flibotte
- Eleven issues of this important communication and dissemination link were published in 2021, including a special issue in July with its 17 pages.
- Claude Flibotte did the editing, Robert Cadieux did the corrections, and ten of these issues, with an average of 150 mailings per month, were mailed by Gilles Bertrand.
Translation Committee:-Formed in 2017
Alain Cyr has taken over the responsibility of translating “Tidings” since last summer. He also translates “Le Journal” published twice a year by the International Association.
All this concept of atonement and sacrificial salvation is rooted and grounded in selfishness. Jesus taught that service to one’s fellows is the highest concept of the brotherhood of spirit believers. Salvation should be taken for granted by those who believe in the fatherhood of God. The believer’s chief concern should not be the selfish desire for personal salvation but rather the unselfish urge to love and, therefore, serve one’s fellows even as Jesus loved and served mortal men. (UB 188:4.9)
¶ Picnic for the feast of Jesus
Invitation for Sunday August 21, 2022 at 11:00
Come celebrate the feast of Jesus on Mount Royal in Montreal near Beaver Lake and the restaurant Le Pavillon du Mont Royal 2000 Chemin Remembrance, Montreal, Qc H3H 1X2
(follow the signs with concentric circles)
Paid parking nearby
We will be waiting for you with the pleasure of greeting you and sharing
Bertin Perron and Julien Audet
¶ The School of Ambassadors
The Ambassador School of THE CHRIST EXPERIMENT is the premier school of ministry, designed to equip readers of The Urantia Book with the skills necessary to effectively disseminate the fifth epochal revelation.
Comments from a student…
“I did not expect what I found when I took the “Ministry of the Master” courses. I am always looking for ways to communicate the teachings of The Urantia Book. It has been an adventure for me to learn new ways of doing things, just as Jesus did. It has helped me gain a different perspective on how to communicate with people who are not familiar with the Bible or The Urantia Book.”
For more information, and to begin your journey toward successful Fifth Epochal Revelation outreach ministry, visit:
https://fr-school.thechristexperiment.org
¶ Virtual Conference — The Spiritual Quest: God in Question(s)
Presented by Mamadou Doudou Diagne
Sunday, April 10 from noon to 2 p.m.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82154579457
God is not evident to human consciousness. And yet, we want to believe in Him, to know Him, and even to make Him known. This is why we must enter into a search, a quest, a spiritual quest by which we must make the effort to question God(s).
¶ 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.
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
NEW
Group: “Urantian Universalists”
Every Monday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Eastern Time (Montreal)
Responsible:
Claude Flibotte (438) 404-6399
Subject: Appendices of W. S. Sadler Jr.
Zoom Virtual Group. (Get informed)
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: | Robert Cadieux Gilles Bertrand |
(438) 404-6399 Claude Flibotte
(514) 237-3616 Robert Cadieux
(418) 871-4564 Gilles Bertrand
Publication (monthly)
Last week of the previous month.
To submit your articles:
Send them to: c_flibotte@videotron.ca
Add: Your name, city of residence, a photo of you, thank 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.