Discussion Questions

First Reading

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

F1. Why does Ezra say “today” is holy? What is significant about “today” for Jesus? Do you live in the past or the future? What is the only time you have for sure? What happens to “now” if you spend all your time looking backward or forward?
 
F2. Each of the readings today is similar in that someone is proclaiming God's word to an asssembly. (Paul was writing to the Corinthians who were fighting over rank and status.) Do you think everything we would ever know was stated during Jesus’ time or does the Holy Spirit give us new insights as we need them?

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 12:12-30 or 12:12-14, 27

S1. Some people's gift is to diffuse tension in a meeting. Is this kind of gift more or less important than administering the parish, community or diocese? Why? What is your gift to the community?
 
S2.  If you had your choice of gifts which ones would you choose? Why? If you have a gift and you never use it, what will happen to it? Can you name some of your gifts?

Gospel

Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

G1. Jesus went to Nazareth, his hometown. People there thought of him as Mary and Joseph’s son. Suddenly he claims to be the Messiah. What would your reaction have been to such a declaration?

G2. Jesus said he had been ''anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor, ... liberty to captives, ... sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” Pope Francis talks about the glad tidings or the good news. Would you say that the graces of the Gospel constitute glad tidings: truth, unconditional mercy, and joy for everyone? Why do these “varied joys” sometimes need to be poured into new wineskins?   

The literal meaning of the word, Gospel, is good news. Does this mean that, even as it is spoken, that word becomes truth brimming with joy and mercy. We should never attempt to separate these three graces of the Gospel: its truth, which is non-negotiable; its mercy, which is unconditional and offered to all sinners; and its joy, which is personal and open to everyone.

This message can never be gloomy or indifferent, for it expresses a joy that is completely personal. It is “the joy of the Father, who desires that none of his little ones be lost” (Evangelii Gaudium No 237). It is the joy of Jesus, who sees that the poor have the good news preached to them, and that the little ones go out to preach the message in turn (ibid., 5) The joys of the Gospel are special joys.

I say “joys” in the plural, for they are many and varied, depending on how the Spirit chooses to communicate them, in every age, to every person and in every culture. They need to be poured into new wineskins, the ones the Lord speaks of in expressing the newness of his message.

Pope Francis: Find joy in the "little things."
America April 13, 2017

Anne Osdieck

**From Saint Louis University