Small Group Sharing
4th Sunday of Lent (A)
Vimeo The Gift of True Sight
Have you ever played a game with a blindfold? Or, have you ever been on a trust walk, where you are blindfolded and led by another person?
Playing games with a blindfold helps us appreciate the gift of sight. Sight is a double blessing in a culture whose media manipulates visual contents, its patterns, and its timing. A quickly edited, fast moving commercial on television proves the point; your eyes quickly “read” the message.
Through the cure of a person born blind, John’s gospel presents sight in a metaphorical sense. Sometimes a person can look, but not see. Here, the blind man received not only the ability to use his eyes but the gift to see the truth.
FIRST READING — How does God judge us? How does he know we are ready for his will? Have you ever been disappointed with God’s will? Have you ever been delighted with God’s will? Has this delight or this disappointment kept you from an openness to his will?
PSALM – What is more important, the journey or the destination? Why? How do you show your dependence upon God in your daily life? How do you celebrate those events of God’s presence?
SOURCE: Larry Broding | Word-Sunday
SECOND READING – Have you ever been in a rut? What put you “back on track?” When has the Lord shaken you out of your ruts? How has he helped you return to spiritual growth? (Don’t worry, we’ve all had times of spiritual ruts.)
GOSPEL – Have you seen God change someone for the better? What sort of changes came about? How was faith involved? How has God changed you in the past? What sort of change is God calling you to now?
Our Sunday Readings – Study Guide
oursundayreadings.wordpress.com SOURCE: Edrianne Ezell
Study Questions
- In the 1st Reading, how does Samuel let superficial appearances influence his judgment? How am I too quick to let my prejudices and preconceptions limit God’s work in my life?
- In the 2nd Reading what does St. Paul mean when he refers to “light”? To “darkness”? How are, or how can, each of these be operative in each of our lives?
- In the Gospel Reading, what assumptions lie behind the disciple’s question (verse 1)? What does Jesus’ answer reveal about how he views the blind man’s suffering?
- In this story, what are “the works of God” (verse 3)? The “night” that is coming (verse 4)? The “light of the world” (verse 5)? How are sin and suffering related?
- Note the conflicting claims to knowledge and certainty on the parts of the Pharisees, the parents, and the man born blind. What is each party sure of? Not sure of? In response to the man’s growing spiritual insight, how are the Pharisees progressing? Which way is your faith progressing?
- When you hear of another’s misfortune, do you react like the disciples of Jesus? Why?
- What physical or emotional misfortune in your life has turned into an opportunity for God to demonstrate his power?