Discussion Questions

First Reading
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19

F1. Obstinate people present themselves to Jeremiah and Jesus this Sunday. Why do people resist a prophet’s profound call to peace and justice? Do you always accept “radical messages” right away? Prophets incite people to action. Is there some injustice about which you can no longer remain silent? What would you like to rouse people to do?

F2. “For it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, … against Judah’s kings and princes, against its priests and people.” Do disagreements within your Church or within your parish sometimes take place? Is this a bad thing? Discuss the idea that growth involves some tension.

Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 or 13:4-13

S1. Why is this reading placed in the middle of two readings where prophets are trying to change people’s attitudes or hearts? What changes people for the better? Discuss American author, Willa Cather’s quote: “Where there is great love there are always miracles.” (Death Comes for the Archbishop)

S2. “Love … hopes all things.” Faced with the evils of climate change and racism, what does Pope Francis say will keep us hopeful and creative about finding new ways to solve problems and change things for the better? 

Love is our strength, the source of strength for those of our brothers and sisters who here too have suffered prejudice and indignities, mistreatment and persecutions for the name of Jesus. Yet while the power, the glory and the vanity of the world pass away, love remains. As the Apostle Paul told us:“Love never fails.” (1 Cor 13:8). …

Love does not grow weary and despondent, but always presses ahead. It does not get discouraged, but stays creative. Faced with evil, it does not give up or surrender. Those who love do not close in on themselves when things go wrong, but respond to evil with good, mindful of the triumphant wisdom of the cross. God's witnesses are like that: not passive or fatalistic, at the mercy of happenings, feelings or immediate events. Instead, they are constantly hopeful, because grounded in the love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13:7).

Pope Francis’ homily in Baghdad, 
March 6, 2021

Gospel
Luke 4:21-30

G1. Both Jeremiah and Jesus provoked people in God’s name. Who are some of the prophets in your lifetime? Did they accomplish their missions? Can you be a “lesser prophet” and get small things changed in your world (e.g. start a recycling program, address discrimination in your city, suggest a plan to help the homeless, etc.)?

G2. Jesus said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” What does his “today” mean to us? Does it apply to every age, men and women of all times and places?

**From Saint Louis University