Sunday Readings' Discussion Questions
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 16, 2013 (11C)
From the Center for Liturgy at Saint Louis University
Sunday Readings
Lecturas y Comentarios
Prayer of the Hours
Burning Question: What commandments require restitution?
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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
Second Book of Samuel, Chapter 12, Verses 7-10, 13
1. Is there a lesson in the story of the great king David’s lust and his killing of Uriah the Hittite? Does that lesson apply to you? Is there any sin too heinous for God to forgive?
2. What about Uriah’s family? How hard would it be for them to forgive David? How hard is it for you to forgive wrongs done to you? How hard is it for God to forgive? How hard was it for Jesus?
Responsorial Psalms
Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 7, 11
1. Speak of the peace you obtain after having received Absolution for your sins when you participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
2. Our psalmist, David, is convicted of his sins and acknowledges his faults before the Lord.What is it in your life that inspires you to confess
your sins before the Lord?
Second Reading
Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians, Chapter 2, Verses 2-16, 19-21
1. St. Paul says, “I live by faith in the son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” Why do you think Jesus gave himself up for us? Why would he want to live in you?
2. Can your good works be holy? What makes them so? If Christ is living in you, are you just a shell that he uses to do his works? Or do you live in the flesh by faith in the Son of God?
Gospel
According to Luke, Chapter 7, Verses 36-50; Chapter 8, Verses 1-3
1. Compare and contrast the Pharisee with the weeping woman. Do you think he had stereotyped her? Do you stereotype people?
2. Did the woman love Jesus because he had loved her first and had forgiven her sins? Or do you think she loved him first and in response he forgave her sins? To say it another way, does love follow forgiveness? Or does forgiveness follow love?
Online Sunday Bible Study Group
Please share your reflections on the above Sunday Readings with other ParishWorld readers. May we be blessed by God's words as reflected in your thoughts and experience-sharing.
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Reflections
ReplyDeletePsalm 32: 1-2, 5, 7, 11
“Then I declared my sin to you, and
you took away the guilt of my sin.”
A simple act of confession, which sometimes
is so difficult for us, is how we get rid of the
torment in our lives that is a consequence of
unconfessed sin. We all know the peace that
we obtain when we receive the Sacrament of
Confession, when our burden of guilt is lifted.
We are convicted of sin as was our psalmist
King David (1st reading), whose sins against
Uriah resulted in horrible consequences for
his family.
We may not be able to avoid the consequences
of sin, but we can lift up the burden of sin and
give it to Jesus, our Savior. After all, as scripture
tells us, Jesus came to heal the sick, and to forgive
sinners like us. Having received the Lord's
forgiveness, we become the happy sinners that
our Psalmist talks about. And that joy inspires us
to sing out and praise the Lord.
In this Psalm, one of David’s penitential psalms,
our Psalmist sings out about the heaviness of his sin,
that weighs upon him so long as he keeps silent.
David's sins were hidden in his heart.
Then when he declares his sin, and confesses his faults,
his burden is lifted and his guilt is taken away.
David is compelled to cry out “unclean, unclean”
and to seek God’s forgiveness in order to be healed.
We too are called to kneel before Jesus and beg
for mercy in order to receive His grace during
the Sacrament of Confession.
As Jesus says, it is what's inside our hearts
that needs to be purified. And having been
cleansed from within, we really have something
to be joyful about.
We are all pitiful in the sight of Christ, but
once on our knees, having confessed and repented
of our sins, there is hope for us sinners whose sin
is forgiven. As it says in the Psalm,
“Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.”
We all need a spiritual cleansing from time to time
if we are to obtain a pure heart. They say confession
is good for the soul and from what we know from
the Psalm, confessing our faults will lead us
to be glad in the Lord and rejoice.
Amen