The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful ... to learn the 'surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,' by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. 'Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.' "
                                                                  Catechism of the Catholic Church §133

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Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105

 

 

 

Read God's Book continually; never let the sacred volume be out of your hand. Learn, so that you may teach. --St. Jerome

 

 

 

 

 

Note: New studies are posted Wednesday evenings

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Opening Prayer    

Psalm: 34:2-9

Overview of the Gospel:

• This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. St. Peter, head of the 12 Apostles and the first Pope, was martyred for the Faith by being crucified upside-down in Rome. St. Paul, who was at first a persecutor of the early Church, became its most zealous Apostle, traveling throughout the Roman Empire preaching the Good News and writing what would become much of the New Testament. He was also martyred in Rome by beheading.
• This Sunday’s Gospel reading highlights Simon Peter and his profession of Faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus changes Simon name to Peter (that is, “Rock”) signifying that the Church will be built with Peter as it’s sure foundation.
• Jesus also confers primacy upon him— “the keys of the kingdom”—earthly authority over Christ’s Church, with the power to bind and loose. Therefore whatever judgments he makes on earth concerning faith and morals will also be ratified in heaven. This authority will in turn be passed down to Peter’s successors all the way down to the present Pope.

Questions:

·         Why did people think that Jesus was John the Baptist, Elijah or Jeremiah?

·         If you asked the typical person today, “Who is Jesus Christ?” what would they say? How would you explain who he is to them?

·         What was significant about Peter’s confession?

·         What do we believe about the insight (verse 17), power (verse 18), and authority (verse 19) given to Peter? What are the “keys of the kingdom”? What do they bind and loose?

·         What is your attitude to the legitimate authority of the Church as ordained by Jesus Christ? Do you need to do to cultivate a spirit of humility and obedience to Christ and to the servant leadership of his Church?

·         From today’s readings, what do you think are the traits of each Apostle (Peter: Matthew 16:13-19; Acts 12:1-11 and Paul: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18) that are most worthy of our imitation? How can you imitate those traits this week?                

Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 440, 424, 442, 153, 881, 552, 869

Closing Prayer  

For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.                                                                         -St. Jerome

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This page was last updated on Wednesday, July 02, 2008