Accountability and Support

“Iron is sharpened by iron; one person sharpens another.”
– Proverbs 27:17

Monthly Focus on Study

What have I studied during the past 30 days to help me better understand the gifts of God?
M1.   Bible Reading
M2.  Books of Formation
M3.  Periodicals
M4.  Other

Discussion Questions for February 16, 2025 (C) 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

First Reading

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.

First Reading Discussion Questions

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

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Second Reading Discussion Questions

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

Jesus came down with the twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false
prophets in this way.”

Gospel Discussion Questions

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

**From Anne Osdieck & USCCB

Suggested Strategies for Managing the Clock

  • For those with smaller groups or those who have the luxury of enough allotted time, it is suggested that the group cover each question from the monthly focus through the Gospel discussion questions

  • For those with larger groups or don't have the luxury of operating on God's Time, it is suggested that the group cover the monthly focus question and then feel free to skip around and attempt to answer only a few questions - whether that’s just the gospel, or the second reading and gospel, etc.