Discussion Questions

First Reading

Jeremiah 17:5-8

F1. Compare and contrast the tree planted beside the water with the barren bush. Do you identity completely with the tree or do you have some of the barren bush in you? Where does choice come into this picture?

F2. Are there any areas of your life in which you place your trust in human beings? Why? In which areas of your life do you place your trust in God?

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20

S1. Resurrection was a new idea for the early Christians and hard for some to believe. How do you handle new ideas? Is it an automatic rejection, automatic acceptance or do you collect information and study the ideas carefully? 

S2. Do you think every truth was present at the foundation of the Church or do you think some truths evolve with time and circumstances? How does the idea of resurrection impact your life now? What would your life be like now if you had no hope of resurrection?

Gospel

Luke 6:17, 20-26

G1. Although it is inevitable that disciples suffer, these directives don’t require you to be constantly poor or hungry, but that you realize your need for God, whatever your situation. They demand a choice. Is this a choice you can make once or do you have to make it repeatedly? Discuss.

G2. According to Pope Francis, how does poverty of spirit keep us from being prejudiced and inflexible?

“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God” (v. 20). Jesus says two things of his people: that they are blessed and that they are poor; indeed, that they are blessed because they are poor.

In what sense? In the sense that Jesus’ disciples do not find their joy in money, power, or other material goods; but in the gifts they receive every day from God: life, creation, brothers and sisters, and so on. These are gifts of life. They are content to share even the goods they possess, because they live according to the logic of God. And what is the logic of God? Gratuitousness. The disciple has learned to live in gratuitousness.

This poverty is also an attitude towards the meaning of life, because Jesus’ disciples do not think they possess it, that they already know everything, but rather they know they must learn every day. And this is poverty: the awareness of having to learn every day. Because they have this attitude, Jesus’ disciples are humble, open people, far from prejudice and inflexibility.

Pope Francis Angelus for 6 Ord C
Feb 13, 2022

Anne Osdieck

**From Saint Louis University