1. What is the significance of the word “witness,” in this sentence: “We are witnesses of all that he did”? Peter uses it both as a noun (“observer”) and a verb (“corroborate,” “testify”). So it is something you can be and do. Be: how are you a witness? Do: what is your action to witness the truth?
2. Should we witness with more than words? Peter bore witness in a different manner after the Resurrection than he did before Christ died. To what do you attribute this? Was he consumed by love for Christ and his Gospel? Is the source of strength for Peter the same source for us?
3. How do you see darkness manifest in the ordinary existence of the people in your environment?
4. How do you feel about being a witness? What makes it difficult? What makes it easy?
1. “Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above.” (See later in Colossians 3 for Paul’s meaning of”above”). He says that we should put on heartfelt compassion. What does compassion look like in our immediate world and in the larger one? Discuss Pope Francis’ statement: “We incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved by the suffering of others.” (The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium, #193)
2. One of Paul’s last directives is to let the peace of Christ control our hearts. How do you do that when you’re feeling confused or paralyzed with fear, or depressed? Where do you find help?
3. What does “your life is hid with Christ in God” mean to you?
4. What have you found helpful to enable you to “set your minds on things that are above”?
1. The same women who came to anoint his body in the morning had been with Jesus when he died. Were they deterred from their task by fear or an immovable stone? Compare and contrast their behavior with the actions of some of Jesus’ other disciples. Think about events like the Selma march, Isis beheadings, and people like Gandhi and Dorothy Day. Were they stopped by fear? Where is your own courage on a scale of 1 to 10?
2. What is it that allowed John to “see and believe,” to have this kind of clarity? Does love give you knowledge about a person, or insights into their behavior? In John, Jesus said “Whoever loves me … I will love him (her) and reveal myself to him (her)” (Jn 14:21). Is there a connection between Jesus’ statement and John’s “seeing and believing”?
3. How do the responses at the tomb provide an analogy of the conversion process?
4. What is the significance of such detail in reporting the resurrection?
5. Through this incident, what value do you see of living your faith in companionship with other believers?
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