In this Sunday's Readings for February 1, 2015, the Gospel finds Jesus going to the synagogue in Capernaum with four of his disciples where people are astonished that He teaches with such authority. And then he casts out a demon from a possessed person. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.
Sunday Readings' Discussion Questions
Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Feb. 1, 2015 (4B)
From the Center for Liturgy at Saint Louis University
Sunday Mass Readings
Podcast of the Readings
Video of Reflections on Readings
Lecturas y Comentarios
New American Bible
Prayer of the Hours
BQ: Believe in God or to believe in the Church?
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Questions on Sunday's Readings for use by discussion groups,
prayer groups, or for individual prayer.
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First Reading
Deuteronomy, Chapter 18, Verses 15-20
1. Does God raise ordinary people from our midst to become prophets? Think of some people you would call prophets. Do they do things differently? Is there a cause for which you might become a prophet?
2. Has God ever put “words into your mouth” to help others? Discuss. When God sends a message through a prophet, he can sometimes put “words into the prophet’s mouth.” How much do people understand? Does God help them “hear with their ears?”
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 7-9
1. Our Psalm tells us not to harden our hearts if we should hear the Lord's voice. What causes you to harden your heart in the presence of the Lord? What can you do to become a better listener when you hear His voice, and how do the verses of the Psalm help you in that regard?
2. Our psalmist says, 'We are the people he shepherds.' What does it mean to you to be one of God's sheep?
Second Reading
1 Corinthians, Chapter 7, Verses 32-35
1. Do you think you are the only one, or could everyone living today have anxieties of some kind?
2. What virtue do you think might help most in your attempts to control anxieties? What are the anxieties you feel most? Do you have a way to deal with them? What might help you to adhere “to the Lord without distraction”?
Gospel
Mark, Chapter 1, Verses 21-28
1. What incident showed the people that Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes”? Would you like confirmation that Jesus or the Church have authority and love? If you can’t have absolute confirmation will trust work for you? Explain.
2. What is astonishing and spellbinding about Jesus’ teaching (“Love God above all else and your neighbor as yourself”)? How is this message different from what the people of Galilee had been hearing from the scribes? What do you find spellbinding about Jesus?
Sunday Bible Study Group
Please reflect on the Sunday Readings. May we be blessed by God's words as reflected in your thoughts and experience-sharing.
Our Psalm is about obeying and worshiping God.
ReplyDeleteWe are urged to bow down in worship before our God,
whose sheep we are (remember we are his well-tended flock).
We are instructed to be alert for his voice
and to be receptive to his teachings (we need to be good listeners).
We are not to harden our hearts or test the Lord
(as the Israelites did at Meribah).
We are to humble ourselves and open our
hearts to the Lord; this sets us free;
we are no longer constrained by the
things of this world,
and we can be open to his love and his teachings.
Having called upon the Lord to speak to us
through one of our own kind (recall the lst reading from Deuteronomy),
then we had better listen to God’s son, Jesus.
His works should be sufficient to convince us of his
saving power and grace.
St. Paul tells us we need to be free
from anxiety and distractions;
not an easy thing to do when we are caught up
in the things of the world.
We would all benefit
from an authoritative cleansing of our hearts,
and a removal of unclean forces that distract us
from praising the Lord.
One thing we can all probably use is a
spiritual housecleaning (recall what Jesus did for that man in the Gospel),
Then we can make room for Jesus to fill our hearts
and remain in us.
Amen