Sunday Readings' Discussion Questions
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Mar. 18, 2012 (L4B)
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: Is Jesus and God the same?
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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
2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
1.
Do you think God continues to send messengers now? What about you
personally: does God send messengers “early and often”? Can you give an
example? What can you do to “open your door wider” so that all the
messengers can get in?
2. Name some people who were rejected because of the messages they delivered.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 137: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
1. This Sunday's Response is, "Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever
forget you!" When you are separated from God because of sin,
have
you noticed how it becomes difficult to praise and worship Him? In a way
your tongue becomes silenced for a time. Explain how you can get your
voice back and start again singing a song of the Lord.
2. Our
psalmist tells us that it was difficult for the Israelites captive in
Babylon to sing the songs of Zion in a foreign land. Is it sometimes
difficult for you to speak of your faith in the company of
non-believers? If you are being persecuted by a world that does not
acknowledge you as one of its own, how do you overcome your reticence
and speak boldly of your faith?
Second Reading
Ephesians 2: 4-10
1. In Diary of a Country Priest, the writer,George Bernanos’makes
this statement: “Grace is everywhere.” Can this be true? Discuss.
2.
How would you define grace? Describe three places where “the
immeasurable riches of his grace “ are at work in the world or in your
life today.
Gospel
John 3:14-21
1.
“God so loved the world that he gave us his only son.” What did Jesus
say motivates the Father to treat the world so well? What did the Father
do when so motivated? How is our salvation accomplished? If you imitate
God. what motivates your penance and good works?
Sunday Bible Study Group
Please comment on the Sunday Readings. May we be blessed by God's words as reflected in your thoughts and experience-sharing.
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This Psalm is a song of the chosen people in exile in Babylon.
ReplyDeleteAs our 1st reading (2nd Chronicles) tells us,
the Lord became angry with the Israelites
because of their many infidelities.
And when they mocked the messenger of God,
God allowed them to be carried off to Babylon as slaves.
“By the rivers of Babylon, we sat mourning and weeping.”
But they could not forget Jerusalem
and the covenant God had made with them.
“If I forget you Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.”
And more important, God did not forget them.
It is the same way with us.
We sin against God and he allows us to be carried off
into a kind of self imposed exile,
where we separate ourselves from him for a time.
“But how could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?”
When our hearts are hardened by sin,
how could we sing a song of the Lord?
When we are in the darkness because we prefer
the darkness, how could we sing a song of the Lord?
When we are separated from the Lord
and indulging in things of the world,
how could we sing a song of the Lord?
It is only when we are in the light,
then can we sing a song of the Lord.
As our 2nd reading (Ephesians) tells us,
“Even when we [are] dead in our transgressions,
[God] brings us to life with Christ.”
And the Gospel reminds us in a powerful way that
although we are a wicked people who hate the light,
God sent his Son not to condemn us,
but to save us and lead us into the light.
That is how we free ourselves from our own spiritual exile.
And that is how we too can say as the psalmist says,
”May my tongue stick to my palate
if I do not remember you,
if I do not exalt Jerusalem beyond all my delights.”
Amen