Discussion Questions

First Reading

Deuteronomy 26:4-10

F1. “We cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and he heard our cry.” In your own faith story do you ever cry out to the Lord?

F2. What good things came out of the Israelites’ desert sojourn? Metaphorically speaking, is the desert a place to fear or do you find its mysteries compelling?

Second Reading

Romans 10:8-13

S1. In the small places in which you live your daily life (in the parish, at work, with family or friends), do you ever proclaim the Lord? Would such a proclamation require words? How can the Church or your parish proclaim itself an “island of mercy” in a sea of indifference?

S2. Are your actions colored by the love you have for a person? The word who is “near you, in your mouth and in your heart” is Christ. How often do you remember this? Always? Sometimes? Not often? Would it impact the way you treat everyone if you remembered it often?

Gospel

Luke 4:1-13

G1. When an athlete starts to get flabby or lethargic, he or she exercises to get back in shape. Is there an analogy here for your spiritual life? How would you use exercise to get in shape spiritually? What would a “flabby” or a lethargic spiritual life look like? How does yours look now?

G2. Pope Francis says going to the desert helps us hear the voice of God in our lives. What new paths do you need to open? If everyone did a little desert time beforehand, do you think the upcoming Synod could help “new paths” open up in the Church? What blossoms would you like to see in your Lenten desert?

Let us imagine that we are in a desert. The first feeling would be that of being enveloped by a great silence: no sound besides the wind and our own breathing. The desert is a place of detachment from the din that surrounds us. It is the absence of words to make room for another Word, the Word of God, that caresses our hearts like a light breeze (cf. 1 Kings 19:12).

  “Behold I am doing a new thing; ... I will make a way in the wilderness” (Is 43:19). A new path opens up in the desert, which takes us from death to life. We enter the desert with Jesus and we will leave it experiencing Easter, the power of God’s love which renews life. It will happen to us just as it does to deserts that blossom in spring, suddenly sprouting buds and plants “out of nothing.” Take courage, let us enter this Lenten desert. Let us follow Jesus in the desert: with him, our deserts will blossom.

Audience with Pope Francis
Feb 26, 2020

Anne Osdieck

**From Saint Louis University