Jeremiah 31:31-34
1. Jesus’ covenant is written on the hearts of people and requires interior as well as exterior commitment. Do you think that both involve relationship and come with feelings? Do they awaken your love and open your spirit to others?
2. In this reading the Lord says, “ … I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.” Do you ever feel God’s forgiveness? Are you good at forgiving? How about at forgetting?
Second Reading
Hebrews 5:7-9
1. “In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers supplications with loud cries and tears … ” In his weeping do we see the tears of the Father? Why does Pope Francis ask if we have learned to weep? Should we be suffering with Jesus? What might be the outcome of our tears?
2. 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?12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar had a simple but profound question for Pope Francis. “Why did God let this happen to us?” the young Filipino asked, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed. The Pope continued,
I invite each one of you to ask yourselves: Have I learned how to weep, how to cry when I see a hungry child, a child on the street who uses drugs, a homeless child, an abandoned child, an abused child, a child that society uses as a slave? Only when we too can cry about the things that you said are we able to come close to replying to that question.
Francis struggles to answer crying girl's
question about suffering,
Jan. 17, 2015
Gospel
John 12:20-33
1. 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? Who do you call on when you are troubled?
2. “ … Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” How is the way of self-denial opposite to the way of egoism? Which gives life to others?
