Discussion Questions

First Reading

Jeremiah 31:31-34

F1. “I will make a new covenant, … I will write it on their hearts.” Something new for the chosen people and for us. What kinds of things has God “written on our hearts”? Will we find the “God of Surprises” there?

F2. In this reading the Lord says, “ … I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.” Are you good at forgiving? How about forgetting?

Second Reading

Hebrews 5:7-9

S1. “In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers supplications with loud cries and tears. …” What causes us to cry out with tears? Children dying in wars? Gun violence in schools and public gatherings like the KC Chiefs' parade? Starving people? What might be the outcome of our tears?

S2. Jesus spent his life alleviating the suffering of others. Is he finished with that, or does he continue to care for suffering people today? If so, how? Are you a caretaker or are you cared for?

Gospel

John 12:20-33

G1. When Jesus thought about what was coming he said, “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?” What are some of the things that trouble you? On whom do you call when you are troubled?

G2. The Greeks told Philip, “We would like to see Jesus.” Today many people would like to “see Jesus.” Do we have any responsibility as Christian communities to help the seekers meet and know Jesus? How do we do that?

We too must respond with the witness of a life that is given in service, a life that takes upon itself the style of God—closeness, compassion and tenderness—and is given in service. It means sowing seeds of love, not with fleeting words but through concrete, simple and courageous examples, not with theoretical condemnations, but with gestures of love. Then the Lord, with his grace, makes us bear fruit, even when the soil is dry due to misunderstandings, difficulty or persecution, or claims of legalism or clerical moralism. This is barren soil.

Precisely then, in trials and in solitude, while the seed is dying, that is the moment in which life blossoms, to bear ripe fruit in due time. It is in this intertwining of death and life that we can experience the joy and true fruitfulness of love, which always, I repeat, is given in God’s style: closeness, compassion, tenderness.

Pope Francis, Angelus for 5th Sun in Lent B
March 21, 2021

Anne Osdieck
 

**From Saint Louis University