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 April 21st, 2024 4th Sunday of Easter (B)
First Reading
Acts 4:8-12
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said:
"Leaders of the people and elders:
If we are being examined today
about a good deed done to a cripple,
namely, by what means he was saved,
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know
that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved."
First Reading Discussion Questions
F1. Peter says that it was Christ who healed the crippled man: Christ “is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” What gave Peter the courage to speak out like this, when before Jesus died he couldn’t even admit that he knew him? Do we receive that same gift when we speak out for truth or goodness?
F2. In this reading Peter responds to attempts by the “leaders of the people and elders” to discredit Jesus’ message. Do you see efforts to discredit Jesus’ message in the world today? Can you think of other besides racial bias that discredits “love your neighbor”? How can you help bring God’s saving grace to a world/neighborhood in desperate need of healing?
Second Reading
1 John 3:1-2
Beloved:
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God's children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Second Reading Discussion Questions
S1. What gifts have you received as a child of God? What gifts have you received today from God?
S2. God is always present, hovering like a mother hen. Why does God not just jump right in and save us from all the messes we get into?
Gospel
John 10:11-18
Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father."
Gospel Discussion Questions
G1. Jesus said, “I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus is applying the unconditional love between himself and his Father to the relation between himself and his own. What does this tell you about how well you are known and how much you are loved? And: for whom would you lay down your life?
G2. According to Pope Francis, what two things does Jesus want us to learn from the Good Shepherd metaphor?
The second aspect is that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows—the first aspect: defend; the second: he knows his sheep and the sheep know him (v. 14). How beautiful and comforting it is to know that Jesus knows us one by one, that we are not unknown to him, that our name is known to him! We are not a “mass”, a “multitude” for him, no. We are unique individuals, each with his or her own story, he knows each of us with our own story, each one with his or her own value, both as creatures and as people redeemed by Christ. Each of us can say: Jesus, knows me! It is true, it is like this: He knows us like no other. Only he knows what is in our hearts, our intentions, our most hidden feelings. Jesus knows our strengths and our defects, and is always ready to care for us, to heal the wounds of our errors with the abundance of his mercy.
… Therefore, Jesus the Good Shepherd defends, knows, and above all loves his sheep. … Christ’s love is not selective; it embraces everyone. He himself reminds us of this in today’s Gospel when he says: “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). These words testify to his universal concern: He is everyone’s shepherd. Jesus wants everyone to be able to receive the Father’s love and encounter God.
Pope Francis
Regina Caeli for 4th Sun of Easter
April 25, 2021
**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.