Mary, Mother of Mercy Parish https://www.mary-mom.com/small-groups Gospel Reflection Small Group Outline for week ending May 17, 2020 Sixth Sunday of Easter Lectionary: 55 Opening Prayer: In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Lord God, we open our hearts, minds and souls to worship to you. Thank you that today we dwell in your kingdom and live in your presence. Thank you that as we gather together we join with all Catholic Christians across the world to glorify your holy name. Come be with us, inspire us and lead us in our time together. We ask all this in the beautiful name of Jesus. Amen. This Day in the Church: Saint Giulia Salzano Profile: Daughter of Adelaide Valentino and Diego Salzano. Her father was a captain in the Lancers of King Ferdinand II of Naples, and died when Giulia was four years old. Raised and educated by the Sisters of Charity in the Royal Orphanage of Saint Nicola La Strada until age fifteen. School teacher and catechist in Casoria, Naples. Friend and co-worker with Blessed Caterina Volpicelli. Noted for her personal devotion to the Virgin Mary. She encouraged others in devotion to Our Lady and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Foundress of the Congregation of the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1905. She devoted her life to the charism of catechesis, affirming: “While I have any life left in me, I will continue to teach the catechism. And then, I assure you, I would be very happy to die teaching the catechism”. Born October 13, 1846 in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, Italy Died May 17, 1929 in Casoria, Naples, Italy of natural causes 1 Canonized October 17, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI Gospel Reading Background: The Advocate Gospel Reading: John 14:15-21 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, 17 the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” Reflections: 1. What phrase or phrases mean the most to you? Why? 2. Who do you identify most with? Why? 3. How does this passage relate to: a. You personally? b. You spiritually? c. Your relationship to others? 4. How are the disciples to show love to Jesus? Would you say they are “earning” their way to heaven? Why/why not? Study Guide: a. 14:16 Another Advocate: Jesus is the first advocate (paraclete); see 1 Jn 2:1, where Jesus is an advocate in the sense of intercessor in heaven. The Greek term derives from legal terminology for an advocate or defense attorney, 2 and can mean spokesman, mediator, intercessor, comforter, consoler, although no one of these terms encompasses the meaning in John. The Paraclete in John is a teacher, a witness to Jesus, and a prosecutor of the world, who represents the continued presence on earth of the Jesus who has returned to the Father. b. 14:17 The Spirit of truth: this term is also used at Qumran, where it is a moral force put into a person by God, as opposed to the spirit of perversity. It is more personal in John; it will teach the realities of the new order (Jn 14:26), and testify to the truth (Jn 14:6). While it has been customary to use masculine personal pronouns in English for the Advocate, the Greek word for “spirit” is neuter, and the Greek text and manuscript variants fluctuate between masculine and neuter pronouns. c. 14:18 I will come to you: indwelling, not parousia. Reference to Old Testament Prophecy Wisdom 9:17 Or who can know your counsel, unless you give Wisdom and send your holy spirit from on high? Catechism of the Catholic Church: 728 Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world. He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus, to the Samaritan woman, and to those who take part in the feast of Tabernacles. To his disciples he speaks openly of the Spirit in connection with prayer and with the witness they will have to bear. 729 Only when the hour has arrived for his glorification does Jesus promise the coming of the Holy Spirit, since his Death and Resurrection will fulfill the promise made to the fathers. The Spirit of truth, the other Paraclete, will be given by the Father in answer to Jesus' prayer; he will be sent by the Father in Jesus' name; and Jesus will send him from the Father's side, since he comes from the Father. the Holy Spirit will come and we shall know him; he will be with us for ever; he will remain with us. the Spirit will teach us everything, remind 3 us of all that Christ said to us and bear witness to him. the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and will glorify Christ. He will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. 730 At last Jesus' hour arrives: he commends his spirit into the Father's hands at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, "raised from the dead by the glory of the Father," he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by "breathing" on his disciples. From this hour onward, the mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." Group Intercessions: [Ask each participant if they have any specific prayer intentions that they would like the group to pray for. It may be a good idea to start a group prayer intention book and the leader can read from it each week and add new requests as needed.] Closing Prayer: In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Lord, your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Thank you that we can live in your light and walk in your truth. May the things that you have revealed and thoughts that we have shared dwell in our hearts and stir us to action. We ask all this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. 4 .