30th Sunday of Year B

This week’s Introductory video by Larry Broding. Scroll down page to view RCIA discussion questions

TEAM RCIA

This Sunday’s Discussion Questions for RCIA Seekers

By Michael Marchal

Background:  When you finally get what you wanted, what will you do next?

Discussion Questions

1. What is the biggest obstacle in your life that you wish were removed? Has it changed over time?
2. What people might help you remove that obstacle?
3. How could Jesus help you remove that obstacle?
4. If it were removed, what would following Jesus “up the road” mean for you?

Practice: A big problem caused by the obstacles and trial in our lives is that they can make us blind to the struggles that other people face. This week take some time to look around your life, and ponder how you have been blind to the challenges that other people face. Whom do you need to apologize to? Do it.

Related Page: Team RCIA Blog

SOURCE: https://rcia-resources.teamrcia.com

SUNDAY WEB SITE

Blind Trust or Faith?

by Anne Osdieck

Discussion Questions (Gospel)

1. The disciples were trying to shut him up. But Bartimaeus kept calling out to Jesus anyway. When others tell you to keep quiet, what do you do? In the history of the Church can you think of great scientists and theologians who were silenced?
2. “Master, I want to see.” What is it that you want to “see” that will change your life as radically as Jesus changed that of Bartimaeus? What is the miracle here, the blind trust or faith of Bartimaeus or the healing of physical blindness

More Questions (i.e. First and Second Reading)

SOURCE: Sunday Web Site (Saint Louis University)

Word Sunday

Persistence in Faith

by Larry Broding

Discussion Questions

FIRST READING

How does God bring you hope, even in the dark times?

SECOND READING

God calls us to join the priesthood of his Son. We are to pray with and for others, while we understand their weakness. For we ourselves are weak. And we depend upon the strength of God.

How do you intercede to God for others? Who intercedes for you? How does your intercession help you empathize with the weaknesses of others? And understand your own?

GOSPEL

Human understanding can deepen and expand faith. We know that we believe. We want to know why. Faith and understanding work hand in hand to bring us closer to our Maker. But, faith needs to push the envelope of knowledge. For knowledge tells us what is possible. Faith tells us what is impossible. It is a vision of the impossible that brings us to God.

How has God helped you see the impossible? How has God helped you do the impossible?

Bartimaeus gave us an interesting example of conversion. Bold and persistent, the blind man could see the possibility Jesus offered, and risked social alienation for the result. But the result was far deeper that mere physical sight. Jesus offers us the same. At the risk of social standing, we, too, challenged to boldly ask and boldly receive change in our lives.

What seems impossible in your life right now? If you could see that impossibility through God’s eyes right now, what would you see? What would be possible in that impossible situation? Why would it be possible?

ECHOING GOD’S WORD

Jesus Does the Work of God: Restoring Creation

by Rev. Clement D. Thibodeau

Discussion Questions

1. What could you do as a class to make sure that other youth feel welcome in your meetings, in your activities, in your projects? Do you sometimes act as if God is not really interested in others, only in you? Do you realize that others will not know they are welcome unless you make them feel welcome? Do you understand that God’s hospitality is expressed through your hospitality?
2. What suggestions do you have for making your parish more concerned about the needs of people who do not now belong to the Church? How can your parish be seen as eager to listen to the call of people? Are we perceived as a group who really care? Are we truly willing to listen to people?
3. Comment on the phrase which says that Bartimaeus “threw aside his cloak” in his eagerness to come to Jesus. Do you realize that the cloak was most likely the only possession the man had? Surely, he will need it when nightfall comes. It gets cold at night in the Middle East. What does this say about Bartimaeus’ confidence that he would recover his sight?

SMALL GROUP FAITH SHARING

Persistence in the Face of Opposition

by Father Eamon Tobin

Discussion Questions

1.  Can you think of something that your eyes of faith helped you to receive that you previously did not see?
2. What is one of the great ‘eye-opening experiences’ that you have ever had?
3. What is your general response to beggars?
4.  n the Gospel, Bartimaeus shows great persistence in the face of opposition. What kind of situations call for you to be persistent? Would you say you are a persistent person?
5. What is the one thing Jesus is saying to us in this Sunday’s Gospel about how a disciple should speak or act? And what do you need to do or change to be a better disciple?

SCRIPTURE STUDY

“Your Faith Has Made You Well”

by Vince Contreras

Discussion Questions

1. In the 1st Reading, what is God doing for his people as they return from Exile in a foreign land? What does he want to do for us when we return to him in humility and repentance?
2. In the 2nd Reading, what qualities does Jesus possess as high priest of the New Covenant that enables him to respond to Bartimaeus as he does? How can we imitate these qualities of Jesus?
3. What is significant about the way that Bartimaeus addresses Jesus (verses 47, 48)? See also 1 Samuel 2:10, 2 Samuel 7:8-16.
4. How does he show his faith while the crowd does not? How is he different from the rich young man in Mark 10:17-22? How is his request different from that of James and John in Mark 10: 36-37?
5. What can you learn about prayer from the attitude and approach of Bartimaeus?
6. If Jesus asked you, “What do you want me to do for you?” what would you say?
7. Bartimaeus sees with the eyes of faith and is healed. Do you think God still works miracles i