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Posts Tagged ‘Sunday Scripture Readings Yr C’
Download 13th Sunday Reflection Document
Reflection Questions
- Elijah is one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. But even he gets tired. God tells him to find his successor to continue the prophetʼs work. In your ministry and service of God are you ʻfinding a successorʼ to share the load and replace you? Have a conversation with God about this.
- Elijah is very wealthy. Most families would own only 1 Oxen. He kills the 12 Oxen and uses the farming tools to create a fire. He destroys everything so as to not be attracted back to his old life. He makes a decision that Godʼs work has primacy of place and is the first calling upon his life. Imagine living these actions within your own life and circumstances. What attracts you? In what areas of your life are you not ʻfreeʼ?
- St Paul continues to teach the Galatian community about the true nature of freedom. Freedom is really being ʻfree for othersʼ. To not be attached or enslaved to material possessions and self indulging desires (flesh) requires discipline and effort. In what area of your life could you make a daily prayer this week for God to help you? Is there an action you could do to enter this particular journey of ʻfreedomʼ this week?
- From Luke 9,51 we meet a tougher Jesus. Some texts have Jesus ʻset his face like flintʼ toward Jerusalem. He is determined and makes large demands of his disciples. Going to Jerusalem represents Jesusʼ obedience to God to do ʻhis willʼ. Is there anything you have heard God ask you to do? What will it involve for you to ʻset your faceʼ resolutely toward doing it?
- Three unknown people have questions about discipleship in the Gospel. We are invited to hear their questions echo in our own hearts, enter the conversation, respond to Jesusʼ challenge. Jesus has nowhere to lay his head. Are you free enough to leave home, security, comfort?
- Care for and burial of oneʼs parents was a top social and cultural priority for Jewish people. Allegiance to parents and duties as a child is replaced by Jesus with ʻproclaiming the kingdom of Godʼ. What pressures or expectations does society or your family place upon you? Do these ʻlimitʼ your freedom to respond to God by living the values and lifestyle of Jesus? How? What will you now do?
- Jesus takes disciples on a special journey toward Jerusalem from this point in the Gospel. There is no turning back. The joy and success of ministry in Galilee changes to resistance by religious people and civil authorities. Jesus urgently teaches his disciples about mission and the Kingdom of God. Imagine a fire is burning and many peopleʼs lives are in danger. Would you let go of your ʻworkʼ to ʻsaveʼ these people? Such is the call of the Kingdom of God. How will you respond?
- What is one action that you will do to be ‘livingtheword’ this week?
Download 16th Sunday Yr C
Reflection Questions
- The New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is only fully revealed in the New Testamentʼ. Here forms a special link between the First Reading and the Gospel Reading each Sunday. The common theme in the readings is Hospitality.
- Abraham has just won a significant battle, is a wealthy leader and herdsman. Yet he runs from his tent in the heat of the day, gets the equivalent of 20 pounds of flour, kills a steer, which would be an extraordinary feast for a small village, and then he ʻwaited on themʼ. Abraham shows middle eastern hospitality in providing safe passage for travelers. Strangers become guests. How do you show hospitality in your life, family, friends, work colleagues, strangers…..?
- Sarah and Abraham are surprised in receiving news that they will have a child. What surprises have you enjoyed and received recently in showing hospitality?
- Paul rejoices in sufferings and sees them as part of the work of Christ. Any suffering that is part of growth and extending the work of the Church is Christʼs work continuing and making up or completing what was unfinished in Christ. Enduring difficulties became a privilege and an honor for Paul. What sufferings do you find hard to carry? Can you see a different way of looking at them as gradually transforming the world and the Church starting with your own ʻfleshʼ?
- Paul goes where no-one else would go – to the gentiles – to warn, teach and present them to Christ. Is there someone you know who has drifted away from God and the Church. How might you ʻwarnʼ them, ʻteachʼ them, ʻpresentʼ them to God?
- Martha and Mary have Jesus – and his hungry disciples – arrive at their home. Cultural expectations of women would have weighed heavily on both Martha and Mary to serve and provide hospitality and food. Mary however chose to do what was not socially acceptable, and sit at the masters feet, the traditional expression of being a ‘disciple’ – and one normally reserved for ‘males’. Consider what obstacles Mary has overcome to ‘sit and listen’. What obstacles would you have to overcome to sit and listen to Jesus in prayer?
- Burdened with much serving, Martha tries to pull Mary into her activity to help. Welcome and Serving can sometimes end up with the feeling of being burdened and complaining. Mary courageously resists her sister. What is going on? Is a ʻburdened and complainingʼ spirit present in your life, work, relationships, ministry? Have you taken the time to figure out where the ʻworryʼ is coming from?
- This passage coming straight after the parable of the Good Samaritan provides a christian balance to discipleship. Hearing and Doing are not opposites but inter- twined. What is Jesus saying about the choice that Mary made to sit and listen to him? What do you think needs to come first, listening or doing? Why?
- What is one action that you will do to be ʻliveingwordʼ this week?
Download Trinity Sunday Yr C
Reflection Questions
- Trinity Sunday has its origins in the Arian controversies of the 4-5th Century (denying the divinity and humanity of Jesus). These arguments resulted in the Nicene Creed being formulated and an increase in preaching and devotion to the Holy Trinity arose. By the year 1000 the Feast of the Trinity was celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost.
- The passage from Proverbs is a unique reference to the Wisdom of God personified, playing, creating ‘beside God’. At times it has been interpreted as reference of the Word of God (Jesus) or the Power of God (Holy Spirit). Have you ever considered Jesus having a pre-existent life before being ‘born of Mary’? What does this mean for Jesus’ relationship with the Father?
- What strikes you about the image of God in the passage from Proverbs: Have you ever considered God ‘delighting day by day’, ‘playing….’ How might this help you relate to God?
- St Paul shares with his community in Rome that the experience of Christian faith brings peace and hope. Sometimes we can only know what we have by imagining what life is like without it. What would life be like for you without Jesus?
- Jesus knows that disciples are not ready to know the complete truth immediately. Have you experienced the gentle guidance of the spirit into a deeper truth and freedom? Is there any area of your life where you desire more freedom? Do you recognise the desire for a deeper freedom is the sign of the spirit? What is the ‘truth’ (desired in you by the Spirit) that you would like to live?
- St Paul shares with his community in Rome that the experience of Christian faith brings peace and hope. Sometimes we can only know what we have by imagining what life is like without it. What would life be like for you without Jesus?
- Jesus knows that disciples are not ready to know the complete truth immediately. Have you experienced the gentle guidance of the spirit into a deeper truth and freedom? Is there any area of your life where you desire more freedom? Do you recognise the desire for a deeper freedom is the sign of the spirit? What is the ‘truth’ (desired in you by the Spirit) that you would like to live?
- Reflecting over the past week consider any ‘God moments’ where you have felt God speaking to you through experiences, people, books, prayer time, emotions… in a sentence what do you think God is trying to ‘speak’ to you?
- Consider entering a time of prayer with each person of the Trinity. What would you like to pray in thanks and praise to the Father, Son, Holy Spirit? What would you like to ask for?
- The work of the Holy Spirit is to ‘glorify’. Have you experienced your mind and heart being turned to wonder and awe at creation, salvation, the sacraments of the Church, the gift of heaven? When was the last time you experienced a deep sense of rejoicing and praise / glory to God
- What is one action that you will do to be ‘livingtheword’ this week?
Download Pentecost Sunday Yr C
Reflection Questions
- Pentecost was a Jewish harvest feast which also involved a liturgical celebration of bringing water into the temple and pouring water from the side of the altar. Life-giving water would symbolically flow from Jerusalem and give life to the whole world! Jesus fulfills and replaces this Jewish feast saying that out of him will flow life-giving water (Jn 7:37-39). What does this image of Pentecost teach you?
- Pentecost is the reversal of the Old Testament Tower of Babel story (see Gen 11). Humankindʼs sin and self importance building the tower to reach and equal God eventuated in the scattering of people and the confusion caused by different languages. The gift of the Spirit at Pentecost unites people and leads people to understand each other and the christian message ʻin his native languageʼ. What does this suggest is the true function of the Holy Spirit in the world? In the Church?
- Paul wrote to the Community at Corinth because some people who didnʼt have the gift of tongues were considered inferior. It was causing division in the community. One gift was not to be stressed over another. Everyone is gifted What gift do you find easy to share and benefit others with? What gift do you feel you would like to develop more and use for God and the community? The Spirit and ʻgiftsʼ are connected to the ʻbodyʼ. Which part of the ʻbodyʼ do you identify with your gifts – eyes, head, heart, hands, mouth, ears. How do you show this in your daily life?
- Jesus is able to pass through locked doors to offer peace and forgiveness. What ʻlocked doorsʼ are present in your life? Use your imagination in a time of prayer and allow Jesus to meet you on the other side of these locked doors….. what happened?
- The Spirit sends the Disciples / the Church ʻon missionʼ. The Church is as it were ʻplugged inʼ to a living power moulding all into the image and consciousness of Christ. Pentecost fills the Church and allows the Church to be the extension of Jesusʼ ministry in the world. What feelings and thoughts arise in a person when they are ʻsentʼ? Are you conscious of being sent out by the Father to ʻrepair the worldʼ?
- In the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles the Holy Spirit had a difficult time in getting the disciples out from hiding behind locked doors and praying in the temple and in peopleʼs homes. It was only persecution in Jerusalem that eventually caused the light of the good news of Jesus to be given ʻto all the nationsʼ. Welcoming gentiles into the christian community was a huge obstacle and struggle for Jews who were the first christians. What are the big obstacles to unity and inclusion in the Church today? How could the Church be more reconciling in the marketplace and with those the world ʻexcludesʼ?
- What is one action that you will do to be ‘livingtheword’ this week?
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Download 1st Sunday Lent Yr C
Reflection Questions
- The book of Deuteronomy shares one of the most important statements of faith in the Old Testament. It was spoken every time a person gave their offering to the priest in the Temple. It reminded them of their identity and how God ‘saved’ them. Bringing the tithe (tenth) of the harvest to the temple acknowledged God’s care and provision. How could you express this religious practice of thankfulness – ‘tithing’ (giving a 10th)? Dt 26: 12-15 invites giving to the levite (priest), the foreigner (refugee), the orphan and the widow (those without family and financial support). This is at the heart of the Lenten practice of ‘almsgiving’. How generous will you be in giving of your time, talent, money, compassion… this Lent as a way of ‘thanksgiving’ for what God has given you?
- Paul’s letter to the Romans is a careful explanation of how we are made right with God. Justification by keeping the ‘law’ was deeply ingrained in Jewish consciousness and history. Paul reminds us that it is faith in God’s covenantal relationship with us in Jesus that saves us. In a relationship, what is the difference between ‘law’ and ‘love’? Do you ‘enjoy-love’ your relationship with God? Does a ‘love’ relationship need to respect any ‘law’? What word or image would describe your relationship with God ‘now’ as the journey of Lent begins?
- Jesus in the desert provides us with the starting point of Lent. Consider how you can create some ‘desert’ space in your life, away from distractions and noise, to be with God and discover your ‘true’ self? What is 1 decision you can make to enter the Lenten ‘desert’?
- Careful reflection on Jesus’ temptations leads us to see a mirror conflict within ourselves between good and evil. Get bread for ‘self’. Seek power and reputation. Demand support from others. Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are practices during Lent to deconstruct our false self and reconstruct our true self. Almsgiving enables the hungry at our door and beyond to be fed and healed. Fasting turns us from worldly consumerism to clarity of purpose and compassion for others. Prayer tunes us into God’s vision and voice. From Jesus’ temptations, which core temptation do you notice strongly at work in your life? Which Lenten practice do you need?
- Repent literally means ‘change your mind’. It could be understood as ‘turn your value system around completely – 180 degrees’. As Lent begins, Jesus guides us: there is more to life than satisifying our ‘bread-belly’ and physical or material cravings. What creative fasting experience could you create to nourish your spirit and soul journey?
- Returning from the great baptism event in the Jordan, Jesus would have faced pressure to get active and do things. Interestingly his choice was to listen to where the Holy Spirit deep inside was calling. Are you faced with a temptation to ‘perform’ and be a certain type of person in public? Whose voice is the Spirit and what is the Desert for you?
- What is one action that you will do to be ‘livingtheword’ this week?
Download Trinity Sunday Yr C
Reflection Question 4: The passage from Proverbs is a unique reference to the Wisdom of God personified, playing, creating ‘beside God’. At times it has been interpreted as reference to the Word of God (Jesus) or the Power of God (Holy Spirit). Have you ever considered Jesus having a pre-existent life before being ‘born of Mary’?
Centre for Liturgy Website – a Helpful Sunday Resource