Discussion Questions

First Reading

Acts 14:21-27

F1. Paul and Barnabas traveled around the country spreading the good news. According to them, who was responsible for accepting the Gentiles? Who is in charge of your ministry? How deep is your belief about that?

F2. Acts refers to its author “undergoing some hardships.” Could these be connected to the “new commandment” about love that Jesus gives in Sunday’s Gospel? And what about you? Have you discovered hardships in your life connected to loving your neighbor?

Second Reading

Revelation 21:1-5a

S1. What is the connection between the holy city in the reading and God’s dwelling with the human race?

S2. God and human persons dwell together. Where is this visible? Is it in the Lord’s legacy of selfless love? “He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Can you think of times God has wiped away your tears? How can God wipe others’ tears away through you?

Gospel

John 13:31-33a, 34-35

G1. Did Jesus give us edicts, rubrics and canons? What one rule did he give us over and over? What teaching of the Church do you think will bring all people to Christ? Do you recognize saintly people by how hard they work and the money and time they give––or by how much they love others? Or both? Does God love the world through us if we let it happen?

G2. “As I have loved you, so should you love one another.” According to Pope Francis, do our Christian lives begin with doctrine and good works or with the realization that God loves us? How does this realization help us love each other?

Brothers and sisters, may this message be the core of our own faith and all the ways in which we express it: “… not that we loved God but that he loved us” (1 Jn 4:10). Let us never forget this. Our abilities and our merits are not the central thing, but rather the unconditional, free and unmerited love of God. Our Christian lives begin not with doctrine and good works, but with the amazement born of realizing that we are loved, prior to any response on our part.

While the world frequently tries to convince us that we are valued only for what we can produce, the Gospel reminds us of the real truth of life: we are loved. A contemporary spiritual writer put it this way: “Long before any human being saw us, we were seen by God’s loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we were heard by our God, who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we were spoken to by the voice of eternal love” (H Nouwen, Life of the Beloved). He loved us first; he waits for us; he keeps loving us. This is our identity: we are God’s loved ones. This is our strength: we are loved by God.

Pope Francis: This is our identity: we are God's loved ones
May 15, 2022

Anne Osdieck

**From Saint Louis University