Discussion Questions

First Reading

Acts 1:1-11 (Ascension)
1. What does “witness to the ends of the earth” mean to you. What “witnesses” (saints, declared or undeclared) do you like to think about? Do you “witness” in any way? Care for Excluded? Help feed starving children in Kenya due to drought caused by climate change?

Acts 7:55-60 (7th Sunday of Easter)
2. What are the parallels between Stephen and Jesus? What made Stephen able to witness with his blood? Have you ever received a grace to do something you wouldn’t ordinarily do?

Second Reading

Ephesians 1:17-23 or Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23 (Ascension)
1. We do not yet experience completely Christ’s coming, even though he is there in sacrament and word. Think of some times or instances in your life where an appropriate plea to God would be “come, Lord Jesus.”

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 (7th Sunday of Easter)
2. How does Christ’s sacrifice differ from “the high priest’s who enters the sanctuary each year with blood that is not his own”? How absolute is your trust in Jesus?

Gospel

Luke 24:46-53 (Ascension)
1. What was the promise of the Father that Jesus spoke of? Who brings Jesus’ message and mission to completion in us and in the world? Do you listen for the Spirit’s message to you personally?

John 17:20-26 (7th Sunday of Easter)
2. In this Gospel passage Jesus says, ”I wish that where I am they also may be with me.” What do you find most reassuring in Pope Francis’ thoughts about Jesus’ wish?

God, the Son of God, descends and becomes man, takes our humanity and redeems it—he now ascends into heaven, taking our flesh with him. He is the first man who enters heaven, because Jesus is man, true man; he is God, true God; our flesh is in heaven and this gives us joy.

Now a human body sits at the right hand of the Father for the first time, the body of Jesus, and in this mystery we each contemplate our own future destination. This is not at all an abandonment; Jesus remains forever with the disciples—with us. He remains in prayer, because as man, he prays to the Father, and as God, man and God, he shows him his wounds, the wounds by which he has redeemed us. Jesus’ prayer is there, with our flesh: he is one of us, God-man, and he prays for us.

Pope Francis, Angelus
May 16, 2021

Anne Osdieck
 

**From Saint Louis University