Family Bible Study - 5th Sunday of Lent - Year B - March 25th, 2012

Fifth Sunday of Lent, B
March 25, 2012
Gospel Passage
John 12:20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some
Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him,
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and
Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son
of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the
earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep
it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will
my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. 27 “Now my soul is
troubled. And what should I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this
reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice
came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd
standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has
spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for
mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be
driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
Questions
The Greeks said, “We wish to see Jesus!” If someone came up to you saying
that they wished to see Jesus, what would you tell them? What would you do?
Where could they find Jesus?
Jesus says that whoever serves Him must follow Him so that where He is, we
will be too. How do we serve Jesus? Where are we following Him?
Sometimes when plants die (like wheat), a seed drops and fruit can grow from
the seed. If you let something you do “die” (like stop fighting with your
family), what good “fruit” would come from that? What else could you let
“die” to make some good “fruit” grow?
used with permission - Fr. Roger Landry

Sunday Gospel Message - 5th Sunday of Lent

"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Jesus did not deny the Scribes and Pharisees the right to carry out the prescription of the Law, but He insisted on one condition, namely, that they have no sin on their consciences. When Jesus and the woman were left alone, He looked up and said, "Woman, where are they?" Ironically, the self-righteous observers of the Law, so eager to throw stones, could not measure up to the requirement that Jesus had laid down. Previously called "Passion Sunday", this Sunday marks the beginning of Passiontide, a deeper time of Lent. This is the third Sunday of the scrutinies for the preparation of adult converts, and the final Sunday of Lent before the beginning of Holy Week. The Liturgy of the Word of this day speaks of recreation, resurrection, and new life.
used with permission - Msgr. Bob Lawrence

Family Bible Study - 5th Sunday of Lent

Gospel Passage
John 11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was
Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.
3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, "This
illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it." 5
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days
longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again." 17
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 20 When Martha
heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 And even now I know that whatever you
ask from God, God will give you." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to him,
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection
and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and whoever lives and believes in me
shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son
of God, he who is coming into the world." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her
also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; 34 and he said, "Where have you laid him?" They
said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some
of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then
Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39 Jesus said, "Take
away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for
he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see
the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee
that thou hast heard me. 42 I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people
standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud
voice, "Lazarus, come out." 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face
wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who
had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.

Questions for discussion:
1. Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, who was already dead four days and in the tomb. Is there anything that Jesus cannot do?

2. Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, even though he die, shall live.” What does he mean?

3. Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus. He also loves you. Do you know and feel
this love? How does he show you this love?
used with permission - Fr. Roger Landry

Sunday Gospel Message - Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first
to throw a stone at her.” “Has no one condemned you?” “Go,
and from now on do not sin any more.” These are Jesus’
words! Is this not a good reminder of the difference between
the sin and the sinner? God loves us even when we sin. He
loves us enough to encourage us to seek His forgiveness and
mercy and not to sin again because we hurt ourselves. He loves
us enough to urge us not to remain in our sin, but to turn to Him
and receive forgiveness.
used with permission - Msgr. Bob Lawrence

Family Bible Study - Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C

Gospel Passage
John 8:1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came
again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach
them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in
adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this
woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses
commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to
test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down
and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he
straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the
first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the
ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the
elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus
straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned
you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go
your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

Questions for Discussion -

1. This woman was caught trying to take away someone that belonged in
marriage to someone else already. If we have something that belongs to us, is it right for someone to take it away? Should we take things that don’t belong to us? What is the sin of adultery? Why is it so wrong and contrary to God’s plan?

2. Jesus said, “Let the one among you without sin be the first to cast a stone at
her.” Jesus knew that, sometimes, we like to tell on other people so that they
won’t notice our sins so much. Has this ever happened to you? What do you
think Jesus calls us to do about it?

3. While Jesus did not condemn the woman, he did condemn her sin and
told her, out of love, to go and “from now on, do not sin again.” Why does Jesus do this?
used with permission - Fr. Roger Landry