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Download 3rd Sunday Easter Yr B
Reflection Questions
- Easter lasts for 7 weeks in the Catholic experience. It is called Eastertide and marks the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost. What practice or ritual could you live for 50 days to celebrate Easter and let its message get ‘under your skin’ and change you?
- Peter has gone through a remarkable experience of change and has the confidence to preach the core christian message to unbelievers. However, his preaching is connected with his ‘living’ and the ‘signs’ that he works (he just cured someone!). ‘Preaching’ comes after ‘living’. What sign / action / witness can I ‘live’ this week to let people experience Jesus through me?
- ‘Repent and be converted’ is an invitation to a complete change of one’s value system. The worldview of the early disciples had been tipped upside down with the Resurrection. Consider what change took place for the early disciples to sell land and give to those in need? Is your value system those of the ‘world’ or ‘Christ’? Prove it.
- Some people in the Johannine community believed that knowledge of salvation was salvation. Knowing Jesus and his forgiveness was all that was important. Moral behaviour and changing ones lifestyle didn’t matter. Yet the Easter Acts of the Apostles and Gospel readings teach the disciples of Jesus witnessed to the resurrection with power and signs and wonders. The Easter Sunday Victory of the Resurrection is supposed to overturn the evil of good Friday. Christians are not just baptised and waiting for the idea of the resurrection to turn true with eternal life. We have a job to do. How could you ‘keep the word’ more and let the ‘love of God come to perfection within you’ more?
- Jesus was ‘made known to them in the breaking of bread’. This new action and new words with it was so new at the last supper that it had to be Jesus who did this. And yet the resurrected Jesus must have appeared different to the disciples. How do you understand what happens at the celebration of the Mass / Eucharist? How does it help you to experience the continued presence of Jesus? Do you have questions of the scriptures that require some help to understand them. What are they? Who could you ask for help?
- “Why are you troubled and what are the questions rising in your heart” What are the things you need to look at, discuss with someone, write about, research, pray about, so as to reach the peace Jesus offers?
- What is one action that you will do to ‘livetheword’ this week?
Download 2nd Sunday Easter Yr B
Reflection Questions
- Easter lasts for 7 weeks in the Catholic experience. It is called Eastertide and marks the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost. What practice or ritual could you live for the next 50 days to celebrate Easter and let its message get ‘under your skin’ and change you?
- The followers of Christ became a “community”. A love in their hearts was expressed in love to others – especially those ‘in need’. What change happened in the lives of the disciples to enable them to share everything in ‘common’ so that there was ‘no-one in need’? What change am I invited to make in my own life with regard to posessions? How could I show a deeper commitment to my parish community?
- The victory that conquers the world is our faith. Victory and conquer are both ‘battle’ laden words. There is a ‘fight’ to be victorious over the ‘world’. It is not by ‘water’ (baptism) alone but also by ‘blood’ (sacrifice – martyrdom!). The real lived consequences of Easter challenge us: am I willing to fight the same fight Jesus endured to overcome injustice, discrimination? Only with this level of commitment will Easter Sunday Victory swallow up the evil of Friday.
- It is significant that immediately after Jesus’ resurrection the disciples are afraid. Locked in a room. Sacred. They are followers of a ‘rebel’ who has been crucified for seeking to over-turn the religious and political status-quo. Consider rebel fighters in Syria as a possible contemporary image. Yet the rebellion is one of bringing true peace and forgiveness. Can you experience the fear. Imagine the scene and pray with it.
- The final gift of Christ to his disciples as they huddled in a locked room in fear is peace and the guaranteed forgiveness of their sins through the gifting of the Holy Spirit in the Church. What is the source of your ‘un-peace’ and fear that Jesus wishes to heal?
- Thomas struggles to believe. He was not with the group as they saw Jesus for the first time. He wants to ‘see with his own eyes and physically ‘touch’ Jesus. He asks for some ‘signs’ to help him. What do you need in your life to help you believe and grow stronger in your faith journey? Spend time in prayer asking Jesus.
- The famous South African civil rights proponent Allan Boesak once stated that Jesus, at the pearly gates, won’t question us about how well we carried out our religious obligations. He’ll only ask us to show our wounds, the wounds that are the outward sign we’ve spent our lives imitating him. What if the only question Jesus asked on entry to heaven was: ‘show me your wounds’?
- What is one action that you will do to ‘livetheword’ this week?
Download Ascension Sunday Easter Yr C
Reflection Question 5: The Feast of the Ascension celebrates Jesus’ place now in Heaven, promising the Holy Spirit (1st Reading), acting as the Heavenly Priest (2nd Reading) and sending his disciples to witness to all nations (Gospel). This poses an interesting dilemma: ‘why are you standing there looking at the sky?’ Where is the focus of your energy and attention as a disciple: looking upward to heaven, or looking sideways to mission?
Download 6th Sunday Easter Yr C
Reflection question 3: Circumcision was physical and symbolic – an outward sign of an inner consecration and being a nation ‘set-apart’. It was a physical part of oneself offered to God like a sacrifice. Jewish Christians wanted gentile christians to follow their Mosaic practice (given by Moses) and be circumcised. This question caused the first Council of Jerusalem meeting. How do we know what is important to keep practicing? Are external markings important? Do you show / wear of sign of belonging to God? Why?
Feedback: livingtheword is having a 3 month review. If you use the site, with a group, have some feedback, would like changes, improvements to the site – send a note. contact@livingtheword.org.nz
Download 5th Sunday Easter Yr C
Reflection question 3; Paul and Barnabas broke centuries old prejudices of considering God only loved ‘the Jews’. His ‘chosen’. Going to the Gentiles was an enormous change. To put this into context, if a Jew married a Gentile in Jesus’ time the Jewish family would conduct a public funeral to say to everyone that you were now ‘dead’ to the family. Gentiles were considered ‘intrinsically unclean’. Strict Jews believed they were ‘defiled’ by being with Gentiles. Which group of people today are considered ‘outcasts’, ‘sinners’, beyond God’s love? Could you be a missionary to them? What might need to change in you? In the church?
Resource highlight – as well as many resources check out also the google bookshelf created for livingtheword. On this bookshelf are a few well chosen books that can help you investigate and study the scripture readings yourself. Enjoy!
Welcome to Holy Week. Click on the title and open this post completely into its own page. Enjoy and share with others on facebook by clicking the facebook icon at the bottom of the page. May you have a blessed Holy Week journey!
Holy Thursday – The Last Supper
Good Friday – the painful sacrifice of the Father
Good Friday – another perspective (movie – Most)
Easter Sunday – Jesus is Risen
Download document: Palm sunday Yr C
Reflection question 4: Palm Sunday is also called ‘Passion’ Sunday as we listen to the whole story of Jesus’ personal betrayal by his disciples, his court appearance before religious and political rulers, his rejection by previously welcoming crowds, his cruel whipping and torture by soldiers. Watch, listen, feel the violence. Where does such cruelty originate from in the world? Why does the world seek a ‘victim’?
The Readings for the Holy Week ceremonies can be found here:
Download: 5th Sunday Lent of Year C
Reflection question 5: Sexual sin is personal, embarassing, and can be a guilt ridden experience. Everyone expected ‘judgment’ of the woman but Jesus lead everyone into ‘enlightenment’. Consider your personal struggle with human weakness. Instead of judgment, consider what you are ‘learning’ about yourself? How could you move from guilt toward wisdom in this area of your life?
- Please note. 2010 involves Year C readings on Sunday. However during Lent for the purpose of teaching the candidates who are going to be baptised at Easter you may find your parish using different readings (Year A for a few Sundays). To view the Year A Readings follow this link
download: 4th Sunday Lent of Year C
Reflection question 7: The Father does a number of humiliating actions which show the depth of his love. The Father runs in public. It was unbecoming for a Jewish elder to show one’s ankles in public. It is the equivalent of ‘baring one’s bottom’. The crowds attention is now drawn away from the son and the possibility of hurting him. The father accepts the humiliation, in front of the whole community, of the older son angry and argumentative. Does the older son wish the father was dead too? Does anyone appreciate the Fathers love? If this is what God is like toward you what is your response?
- The Sacrament of Reconciliation is often celebrated before Holy Week in parishes. You may find this reflection on the Parable of the Prodigal Son helpful for your personal reading and preparation. Check out the googlebooks link to the Parable of the Prodigal Son in ‘The Cultural World of Jesus”
Welcome to livingtheword and the new season of Lent.
Its great to have you join this relaunched site. May you enjoy hearing, sharing and living the word this Lent and beyond.
If you’re new to livingtheword.org.nz print off a card, picture or poster and share the word. Join up on facebook and Check out some of the reflection resources too.
Essentially livingtheword provides a resource for 30minutes of prayer with the Sunday Readings. Invite people to spend 10 minutes reading, 10 minutes writing and 10 minutes sharing / praying.
Have a go, it will do more for your faith than not eating chocolates for Lent! And just to help you on the journey, here is a Lenten message from Bishop Pat.
Enjoy
p.s. If you encounter any problems with the site as it gets going please let us know so we can fix them (contact@livingtheword.org.nz)
Fr Frank Bird sm.