Sunday Readings' Discussion Questions
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 21, 2012 (29B)
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: Is it OK to just not vote?
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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
Isaiah 53:10-11
1. Do you suffer with a loved one who is suffering? Would you take the person’s place if you could? Does God act in this manner regarding the suffering of human beings?
2. “Do this in memory of me.” Is this an invitation to join Jesus’ suffering and participate in his redemption of the world? Can God use your actions or your suffering to accomplish God’s work in the world today?
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
1. The psalmist says, 'Our soul waits for the Lord.' Tell of how you have a spiritual hunger for the Lord in your life, and explain how the Lord satisfies your longing.
2. The psalm's verses state that, 'The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him.' Do you feel the eyes of the Lord upon you because you hold Him in awe? Explain.
Second Reading
Hebrews 4:12-13
1. Christ is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses,” the reading says. Does he completely understand your situation no matter how complicated it is? Are you able to understand other people’s weaknesses?
2. Jesus was tested in every way we are. Do you ever remember this fact when you are being tested?
Gospel
Mark 10:35-45 or 10:42-45
1. What place do status, rank and privilege have in Christian ministry? Why does Jesus attribute so much importance to the emptying of oneself?
2. Jesus told the disciples that the way to rank first is by serving others. What does unselfish service look like in your parish, work, or home? On a larger scale how could it change the world?
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.
“Our soul waits for the Lord,
ReplyDeletewho is our help and our shield.”
The Psalm is written in praise
of God’s power and providence.
It is the Lord’s design for His
people that stands through all
the generations. It is through
His Plan that we are saved.
Our own feeble efforts count for
nothing. We must be submissive
and abandon ourselves to His Plan,
just as Jesus tells us in the Gospel.
And how do we know His Plan?
The lst reading (Isaiah) pretty
graphically outlines what God
has in mind for His son – that
he be “crushed for our offenses.”
This is how we are delivered from
death. The psalmist has it right,
“The Lord’s eyes are upon those
who fear Him … to deliver them
from death.”
In our 2nd reading, the letter to the
Hebrews answers the question,
“How can we approach the throne
of God?” The answer is with confidence,
and then we will find “mercy and grace.”
The theme of the Psalm is the same,
“The Lord’s eyes are upon those Who
hope for His grace.”
Because Christ humbles himself for
our sake, becomes a slave to our sin,
there is hope for us, even in our time
of spiritual famine
It is said that even people who have
no faith have a longing in their hearts
for God. There is something missing
in their lives. For us who are believers,
we are dependent on the Lord – we
openly ask for His help and His protection.
He is our shield in the spiritual battle
that we all have to fight.
If we trust in the Lord, His eyes will be
upon us, and we can expect to receive
His grace. And through His grace we
are delivered from death, kept alive in
times of spiritual famine. And for this
we praise the Lord, as the psalmist says,
we know He will fill the earth with
goodness, and His kindness will be
upon us. The Psalm ends on a positive
note, “Lord we have put our hope in you.”
Amen