THE BREAD OF LIFE CATHOLIC BIBLE STUDY
By Deacon Ken and Marie Finn
BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
Pray and ask God to speak to you through His Holy Spirit. “THE PARACLETE, THE HOLY SPIRIT WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, WILL INSTRUCT YOU IN EVERYTHING, AND REMIND YOU OF ALL THAT I TOLD YOU.” (JOHN 14:26)
FIRST DAY Reread last week’s readings.
1. What was a helpful or new thought from the readings or from the homily you heard on Sunday?
2. From what you learned, what personal application did you choose to apply to your life this week?
SECOND DAY READ DEUTERONOMY 4:32-34, 39-40 FIRST READING
(“You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today.”)
l. Who created man upon the earth, and what are the four questions asked in verses 32-34 of Deuteronomy 4?
2. Why did God let the Israelites hear his voice? Deuteronomy 4:36
3. What did the Israelites find out after God spoke to them? Deuteronomy 5:24, 26
4. What will the Lord do to all the nations in which the Israelites were afraid? Deuteronomy 7:22
5. What must we know and fix in our heart? Deuteronomy 4:39
6. What must we keep, and what will happen to us and our children? Deuteronomy 4:40
7. What is the new commandment that Jesus left his disciples, and how do we know whether we are a disciple? John 13:34-35
8. What commandment promises a long life and prosperity? Deuteronomy 5:16
9. Who did Jesus say was his mother? Matthew 12:49-50
10. What did Mary, the mother of God, say about the Mighty One (God), what does he extend to those who fear him, and to whom does he do this? Luke 1:49-50
Personal – How have you kept God’s commandments on an everyday basis? How have you loved someone who has not been loving to you this past week? See whether you can find ways to do this.
THIRD DAY READ ROMANS 8:14-17 SECOND READING
(“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”)
1. What are those who are led by the Spirit of God? Romans 8:14
2. If we are guided by the Spirit of God, what are we not under? Galatians 5:18
3. Who did Jesus give power to become children of God? John 1:12
Personal – By whom are you being led?
4. What did we not receive, and into what does that make us fall? Romans 8:15
5. What did we receive, and what do we cry? Romans 8:15
6. As proof that we are children, whom did God send into our hearts, and what does he cry out? Galatians 4:6
7. God did not give us a spirit of what, but rather a spirit of what three things? 2 Timothy 1:7
8. What does God’s Spirit do with our spirit? Romans 8:16
9. If we are children of God, we are heirs and joint heirs of whom if only we do what? Romans 8:17
10. If we suffer with Christ, what will happen to us? Romans 8:17
11. What are we to do to the extent that we share in the suffering of Christ, and when his glory is revealed we
may also do what? 1 Peter 4:13
Personal – In what way do you see yourself suffering with Christ, and do you see yourself as God’s child?
FOURTH DAY READ MATTHEW 28:16-20 GOSPEL
(“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.”)
1. Who went to Galilee, and what did Jesus order them to do? Matthew 28:16
2. When the disciples saw Jesus, what did they do even though they doubted? Matthew 28:17
3. How will true worshippers worship the Father? John 4:23
Personal – In what way have you worshipped Jesus this week?
4. What did Jesus tell his disciples? Matthew 28:18
5. Who has authority over all people, who gave this to him, and for what reason? John 17:1-2
6. When Jesus told his disciples to go, what did he tell them to do and in whose name were they to baptize them? Matthew 28:19
7. What were the disciples to proclaim, and what would happen to those who believed and those who did not believe? Mark 16:15-16
8. What would be preached in the name of Jesus? Luke 24:47
9. What are the disciples to teach, and what did Jesus promise he would do until the end of the age? Matthew 28:20
10. What does the name Emmanuel mean? Matthew 1:23
11. Who teaches us everything and reminds us of all that Jesus said? John 14:26
Personal – What have you learned from Jesus this week that you can share with those you meet?
FIFTH DAY READ PSALM 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22
(“For upright is the Word of the Lord.”)
Read and meditate on Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22.
What is the Lord saying to you personally through the Psalm?
How can you apply this to your life?
SIXTH DAY READ ALL OF THE COMMENTARY
DEUTERONOMY 4:32-34, 39-40
Today’s message is a powerful reminder to all nations that there is only one God, and that we who believe are his children. The people are being reminded by Moses that God loved them so much that an entire nation heard his voice spreading from the fire on a mountain top. They are reminded that they were freed from the bondage of slavery, not by their power, but rather by the power of God.
God sent terrible plagues, mighty miracles, war, and terror upon nations far greater than their nation. Moses told them that it was because God loved their ancestors and chose to bless their descendants that he personally delivered them from Egypt with a great display of power. Israel was being told that as a nation it would prosper if it obeyed God’s laws. God’s laws were designed to make his chosen nation healthy, just, and merciful. When they followed his laws they prospered. This does not mean that no sickness, poverty or problems existed among them. Individual problems were handled as fairly as possible, but as a nation they still prospered.
Today God’s promise of prosperity, his constant presence, comfort, and his direction about the way to live as we should extend to all believers. We will face trials; Jesus assured us of that. But we can and will avoid the misery that directly results from intentional sin. A nation that allows abortion, pornography, drugs, immorality, and rebellion to become a casual part of its accepted way of life is a nation that is heading toward disaster.
Today’s reading reminds us that if we remain faithful to the God who loved us so much that he sent his only begotten Son to die on the cross for us, we will know the great heavenly treasure that awaits us. God will reward nations as well as individuals who seek a deeper personal relationship with his Son, Jesus Christ.
ROMANS 8:14-17
In this passage Paul used the example of adoption in connecting the believers’ new relationship with God. Adoption in the Roman culture was looked at with great respect. Roman adoption was made more serious and difficult by the Roman “Patria Potestas.” This was the father’s power over his family and was actually the power of life and death. In regard to his father, a Roman son never came of age. Adoption from one family to another was a very difficult and serious step. In adoption a person had to pass from one “Patria Potestas” to another.
Paul, being a Roman citizen himself, knew the correlation between Roman adoption and being adopted into God’s family. In the Roman adoption the adopted person lost all rights and debts in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family. In the most binding legal way, he got a new father. Paul tells us about this part of Roman culture so that we today can see the incredible significance of what it means to be adopted into God’s family and to be adopted by “Abba,” our heavenly Father.
When a person enters into the Christian family, he gains all the rights of a legitimate child and he becomes a full heir to his new father’s estate. He also gains all the privileges and responsibilities of a child in God’s family. You and I no longer need to be cringing, fearful slaves. Instead, we are the master’s children. We receive this wondrous gift in our sacrament of baptism, and we share in great treasures, such as, being his children, receiving his forgiveness, and the incredible gift of eternal life. Our Father, or “Abba” which means daddy, encourages us to ask him for whatever we need.
Being a child of God means being identified with Jesus Christ. This identification includes the suffering that Christians have faced in the past and will have to face in the future. The early Christians suffered persecution and death. Today in many countries, suffering includes economic and social persecution as well as physical persecution and death. In many countries of today’s world, Christians face pressures just as severe as those faced by Christ’s followers. We are called as Christians to live as Christ did; nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price Jesus paid to save us.
I pray that today you will be identified with Jesus and become a member of his family and an heir to all that our heavenly Father has promised.
MATTHEW 28:16-20
Today, in all the Catholic Churches throughout the world, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. When we talk about the Trinity we bring the authority of the Father, the power of the Spirit, and the loving sacrifice of the Son into one Being called God. There is no clear-cut explanation to this incredible mystery, but all throughout scripture we are presented with the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In today’s Gospel, we are called to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We are being commissioned to go out into the darkness and bring others into our family of love and light. We have learned throughout scripture about a loving Father who loved the world so much that he chose to let his only begotten Son die for the sins of the world. He let his Son be the ransom for all of us who believe in him. We do not have that kind of power to make and carry out such a statement of belief, so God, in a true role of a loving Father, left us his Holy Spirit.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus, we can give glory to God the Father by going forth and bringing others into his healing presence. God gave Jesus authority over heaven and earth, and on the basis of that authority, Jesus told his disciples to make more disciples. These disciples preached, baptized, and taught with this same authority through the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).
Jesus still commands us to tell others the Good News and make them disciples. When someone is dying or leaving us, their last words are very important to us. Jesus left the disciples with these last words of instruction. He told his disciples that they were under his authority, and that they were to baptize and teach the people to obey his commandments. He also told them that he would always be with them, even to the end of the world.
We are to go forth, whether it is next door or to another country, and make disciples. This is not an option; this is a command by Christ himself. We are not all evangelists, but we have all received gifts that we can use in helping to fulfill the great commission. As we obey, we have great comfort and joy in knowing that through the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus, we are giving glory to God the Father. Let us all celebrate this special day called Trinity Sunday.
Application
The first reading reveals to us that God’s law is to be obeyed above man’s law. The second reading tells us that being adopted into God’s family means being a full heir to his heavenly kingdom. The Gospel calls us to be disciples of action and to go forth.
This week bring someone you know into God’s family. Tell that person about Jesus, share your faith with him or her. Let your witness be the spark that sets their heart on fire. You may have to go no further than your family, school or work to find new members for God’s family. In fact, you may find members of God’s family who need to be reminded that he is still with them even in their troubled times. You are messengers of the King!