Twenty-fifth Sunday Gospel B

They left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but Jesus did not wish anyone to know about it.  He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. 

· This was the second prediction of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection? When did we reflect on the first prediction in Mark’s Gospel?

· Why do you think the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying?

· Why were they afraid to question him?

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?"  But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. 

· This will be the last time Jesus goes to Capernaum before his journey to Jerusalem.

· What does this say to you about where the disciples were in relationship to Jesus at this stage of their journey?

· What does it say to you about your own relationship to Jesus at times?

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." 

· How does this teaching relate to what you and I were taught as we were growing up?

· How would we have reacted to this teaching if we were there with the twelve at the time?

Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me." 

· Why does Jesus use the example of a child as the model of discipleship? What does a child teach us about life with Christ?

· What is Jesus asking of us as we reflect on this passage and apply it to our lives?