Discussion Questions

First Reading

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

F1. Pope Francis said the following about prophets, in an America Magazine interview led by Antonio Spadaro, SJ: 

Being prophets may sometimes imply making waves. I do not know how to put it. ... Prophecy makes noise, uproar, some say “a mess.” But in reality, the charism of religious people is like yeast: prophecy announces the spirit of the Gospel.

“A Big Heart Open to God” America Magazine, Sept. 30, 2013 
(Section: A Religious Order Pope

Can you think of people who have caused an “uproar” or made “a mess” announcing the spirit of the Gospel in our time? Who are they? Today, who is “making noise” about racial bias? Climate change?

F2. Does God raise ordinary people from our midst to become prophets? Is there a cause for which you might become a prophet?

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 7:32-35

S1. Paul says, “Brothers and sisters: I should like you to be free of anxieties.” Who has anxieties of one kind or the other? Could everyone living today have them?

S2. What are the anxieties you most feel? Do you have a way to deal with them? What virtue do you think might help most in your attempts to control anxieties? St. Paul recommends “adherence to the Lord without distraction.”

Gospel

Mark 1:21-28

G1. Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” Was there an incident that confirmed Jesus’ teaching and showed people its authenticity? If you can’t have absolute confirmation, as they did, what will work for you? Trust? Explain.

G2. On Jan 6, 2018, sixty-four African migrants died due to the shipwreck in the Mediterranean after a trafficker’s overcrowded rubber dinghy started taking on water. Today's Gospel says that, “the unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.” Would you call human trafficking one of today’s “unclean spirits” that needs to “come out of [them]” as in the Gospel? What are some other ones?

Anne Osdieck

**From Saint Louis University