Accountability and Support
“Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.”
– 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Monthly Focus on Nurturing Relationship with Christ
When was I most aware of Christ’s presence in my life during the past 30 days? Why?
Discussion Questions for July 13, 2025 (C) 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading
Deuteronomy 30:10-14
Moses said to the people:
"If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God,
and keep his commandments and statutes
that are written in this book of the law,
when you return to the LORD, your God,
with all your heart and all your soul.
"For this command that I enjoin on you today
is not too mysterious and remote for you.
It is not up in the sky, that you should say,
'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say,
'Who will cross the sea to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
No, it is something very near to you,
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out."
First Reading Discussion Questions
F1. Moses refers to commandments in this reading. What do you think inspired these? Are they hard to understand?
F2. Do you find yourself relying on codes and guidelines more than on the underlying commandment? What if that “love” guideline were the basis for all created laws? Because we have free will, would there still be evil in the world, but might there be fewer things like wars and school shootings?
Second Reading
Colossians 1:15-20
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
Second Reading Discussion Questions
S1. He was “Christ Jesus, the one who is before all things, the firstborn of all creation.” With whom did he spend time? With whom do you want to spend time? Do you make an effort to give your time to God and the people you love, or are you always in a hurry to do more important things?
S2. The reading says Christ reconciled all things, making peace by the blood of his cross. What still needs reconciling today? Can we help Christ with that?
Gospel Reading
Luke 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise.”
Gospel Reading Discussion Questions
G1. Think of the Good Samaritan story in terms of today’s world. What groups need the Samaritan? Ecojustice? The Trafficked? Gun control groups? Homeless and hungry? Jesus said “go and do the same.” Whether it is large or small, is there anything you can do to help any of these?
G2. In his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis says that “each day we have to decide whether to be Good Samaritans or indifferent bystanders.” Should we do the former in the abstract? Do it sometimes? Or every time we confront a stranger in need.
69. … And if we extend our gaze to the history of our own lives and that of the entire world, all of us are or have been like each of the characters in the parable. All of us have in ourselves something of the wounded person, something of the robber, something of the passers-by, and something of the Good Samaritan.
70. It is remarkable how the various characters in the story change, once confronted by the painful sight of the poor man on the roadside. The distinctions between Judean and Samaritan, priest and merchant, fade into insignificance. Now there are only two kinds of people: those who care for someone who is hurting and those who pass by; those who bend down to help and those who look the other way and hurry off. Here, all our distinctions, labels and masks fall away: it is the moment of truth …? Will we bend down and help another to get up? This is today’s challenge, and we should not be afraid to face it. In moments of crisis, decisions become urgent.
Fratelli Tutti
Encyclical Letter, On Fraternity and Social Friendship
Pope Francis, 2020
**From Saint Louis University & Anne Osdieck
Suggested Strategies for Managing the Clock
For those with smaller groups or those who have the luxury of enough allotted time, it is suggested that the group cover each question from the monthly focus through the Gospel discussion questions
For those with larger groups or don't have the luxury of operating on God's Time, it is suggested that the group cover the monthly focus question and then feel free to skip around and attempt to answer only a few questions - whether that’s just the gospel, or the second reading and gospel, etc.