Sunday Readings' Discussion Questions
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Nov. 4, 2012 (31B)
From the Center for Liturgy at Saint Louis University
Sunday Readings
Podcast of the Readings
Video of Reflections on Readings
Lecturas y Comentarios
New American Bible
Prayer of the Hours
BQ: What commandments require restitution?
--------------------------------------------
Questions on Sunday's Readings for use by discussion groups,
prayer groups, or for individual prayer.
--------------------------------------------
First Reading
Deuteronomy 6: 2-6
1. Is there any contradiction between the Ten Commandments and the commandment to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength?
2. Compare governments and corporations who want all your money with God who wants all your love. What would the world look like if heads of state loved their people, and wanted real love from everyone?
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 18: 2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
1. Our psalmist exclaims, 'The Lord lives!' Speak of how the Lord is present to you and why you believe He is your rock, your fortress, here and now.
2. The Psalm makes it clear that David loves the Lord and that the Lord is the source of his strength. Describe your love for the Lord and how you have been led to serve Him and praise Him.
Second Reading
Hebrews 4:12-13
1. Explain why Jesus’ sacrifice takes place now and always (in the Eucharist) as well as in the past. Compare the love Jesus has for you with the love he had for his disciples.
2. How do you feel about someone who “lives forever to make intercession” for you?
Gospel
Mark 12:28b-34
1. What do you think it means to love the Lord with your whole heart, your whole soul, all your mind and all your strength? Who was able to do this? Do you think you can follow this directive perfectly, or do you think it might take years to come near it? Explain.
2. Why do you think Jesus added, “And love your neighbor as yourself” to the commandment to love God with your whole heart?
Sunday Bible Study Group
Please share your thoughts online on the Sunday Readings. And please do use these questions for your own Bible study sessions with family and friends.
--
“The Lord Lives!”
ReplyDeleteThe Psalm is saying that the Lord
is present to us, here and now, just as
He was when He delivered David
from his persecutors.
The really key revelation for us is
that the Lord lives. He lives among us;
He is present in the Word; Jesus is
in fact the Living Word; He is present
on the inside of us through the holy
Spirit. He is alive in the Eucharist;
He humbled himself to share in our
humanity, so that we might have a
share in His divinity!
So Jesus is alive and well, standing
by us as our “rock of refuge, our
shield, our saving horn.” We join
with David in praising God and loving
Him with all our heart and all our mind,
as Jesus reminds us to do in the Gospel.
How do we apply the Psalm's verses to
our lives? We turn to our Lord to equip
us for the battles that we fight against the
evil one. Jesus becomes our fortress!
In this Psalm we hear David, crying out
to the Lord, as one cries out to his savior.
“My God, my rock of refuge, my shield,
my saving horn, my stronghold.” David
has just emerged after being saved
by God from his enemies and the clutches
of King Saul. David has been rescued by
that same God of compassion and mercy
that spoke to Moses.
David says, “You have shown kindness to
your anointed.” God promises to hear us
when we cry out to Him as our psalmist
does.
David praises his savior in language that
is familiar to us as his spiritual descendents:
“The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock!
Exalted be God my savior!”
For David has been delivered from the
forces of evil that surrounded him.
And that same deliverance is available to
us, so long as we surrender ourselves
to God and love God with all of our heart
and soul and strength.
Amen