The Disciple s Journey: Called, Transformed, Sent to Serve Lent and Eastertime 2011 (Year A) Group Leaders Notes Thank you for agreeing to lead a Scripture reflection group. If this is your first time leading a group, we hope that the notes help to give you confidence and ideas. Whether it is your first group or whether you are part of an established group, we hope that these sessions are a thought provoking and enjoyable experience for you and help you and your group to explore the gospels of Lent and Eastertime. What is in the pack? The pack contains materials for each week of Lent and Easter which follow a similar format. Opening Prayer To share To listen (usually the Gospel Reading) To think about being called and invited to be transformed To reflect upon questions for personal reflection To discuss questions for group discussion or personal reflection if doing alone. Closing Prayer Sent to serve something to do during the following week Ideally, each member of the group should have their own leaflet wallet. Although all the sheets could be already in the wallet, it is probably better to give them out week by week simply to reduce the temptation to read the Fourth Week of Easter during the Second Week of Lent! Preparing for Meetings There are two main aspects to your preparations hospitality and creating an atmosphere that will help people to pray. Do not feel that you need to do it all on your own asking others to help with the teas and coffees and to read parts of the material will encourage them to feel involved. 1
Hospitality Keep it simple! Tea, coffee and biscuits will be sufficient. (Remember that, in Lent, many will have given up chocolate, biscuits etc!) Decide whether to have the refreshments available before the meeting or at the end. This may depend on the time of day of your meeting. If you serve them at the beginning, ensure that you start the meeting on time. Serving the refreshments at the end allows those who need to get away to do so but offers those who wish to stay an opportunity to chat. Again, ensure that you stick to the time given for the end of the meeting. Keeping to time The meetings should last an hour to an hour and a half. Always start and finish on time. Remember that some people will have to get back for babysitters or catch buses. You might find it useful to jot down the time you intend to start each section of the meeting. For example: 7.30pm Opening Prayer and sharing of reflections during the past week 7.45pm To listen (Scripture Reading) To think about To reflect on 8.00pm To discuss 8.30pm Closing Prayer Sent to serve: some suggestions for the coming week (your group may be able to come up with more) 8.45pm Refreshments Creating a prayerful atmosphere If you are meeting in your home or in a parish room, it can be helpful to create a setting so that those coming know that this is not a purely social event or business meeting. In Lent you might use a purple cloth with an open Bible and a candle. In Eastertime, replace the purple cloth with a white, yellow or gold one. If time and inclination permit, you might like to add various items appropriate to each week. This is not essential but ideas are offered below. Consider having quiet music playing as people gather. Some of the songs of Taizé would be appropriate or Gregorian chant or mood music. 2
Leading the meeting However experienced we may be in leading meetings, it is natural to be a little apprehensive in setting up a new group and helping people to feel at ease and able to contribute. The great advantage you have in leading meetings such as these is that you are not doing it on your own the Holy Spirit is also present and the people coming have chosen to be there! Do not be tempted to feel that you have to do everything. Remember that a key part of our lives as disciples and stewards is the recognition of God given gifts being grateful for them and using them. Giving people an opportunity to recognise that they have a gift for welcoming or reading or serving tea with a smile or creating a setting that enables people to pray is part of building up their sense of being stewards of the gifts they have been given. Don t be afraid of silence. You are leading meetings that are encouraging people to be reflective and thoughtful silence gives them the space to do that. Try to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to speak some may not wish to but should feel that they could. If a member of the group seems to dominate, be firm in thanking them for their contribution and invite others to offer their thoughts for the discussion. Week by week Read through the notes and Scripture readings ahead of time. Use spare moments to reflect on them (supermarket queues and waiting for kettles to boil are good opportunities for this!) If you have time, look into the background of the Readings. Websites such as www.textweek.com and www.wellsprings.org.uk offer information and reflection material. There are also books available that could help you to gain useful insights (e.g. commentaries on the Gospels). Reflect on your own responses to the questions. What other thoughts come to mind that might help you to extend the discussions? Lent 1 The gospel for the First Sunday of Lent is always the Temptation of Jesus. Why do you think the people who compiled the Lectionary chose to follow this pattern? Hospitality At this first meeting, make sure that people in your group know each other s names definitely make sure that you know everyone s name! Name labels might be an option if the group is reasonably large (more than 10). If you know that someone in the group has a 3
particular gift for welcoming, ask them to be alert to people who have come alone or who don t often come to church y things. Consider using large stones or something else that might speak of desert or wilderness. You might also have a loaf of bread and a bible to pick up on the theme of Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Lent 2 The gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent is always the Transfiguration. Why might this be an important theme during Lent? How does it help to illustrate our theme of Called transformed sent to serve? Pictures of mountains particularly mystical ones with cloud or striking colouring where the rocks are somehow transformed. Lent 3 The gospel we hear this Sunday, the meeting of Jesus and a Samaritan Woman at a well, has been used as a reading for those preparing for Baptism since the fourth century. Why do you think this is? How might it be used to remind those already baptised of what their own Baptism means? As it is a long gospel, choose pausing points that could highlight our theme of Called Transformed Sent to serve A bowl of water would be a good addition or, even better, a terracotta jar or jug. This is a long Gospel think about sharing out the reading between a narrator, the Samaritan Woman and Jesus. Lent 4 This gospel, the story of Jesus and the Man Born Blind, has also been used since the fourth century. Why? What does it remind us about our Baptism? It is another long gospel, so choose pausing points that could be used to highlight our theme of Called Transformed Sent to serve 4
A single candle and, perhaps, a tee light for each person. If you decide to use tee lights, think about your group and decide when to have people light them. You might choose after the Opening Prayer or as a response to the gospel or after the section on transformation as people prepare for personal reflection. Lent 5 Again, this gospel, the raising of Lazarus, has been used with people preparing for baptism for over 1500 years! Why? What is its message for us thinking in terms of Called Transformed Sent to serve? You may like to look at the background to Jesus I am sayings in a commentary and refer to Exodus 3:14 where God tells Moses to say to the Israelites I AM has sent me to you. You might like to use partly unrolled bandages or a stone to speak of the stone that was rolled away. You might like to split the reading between several readers. Decide on suitable pausing places for reflection on the Lent theme. Passion Sunday The gospel for this Sunday is the Passion according to St Matthew. It is long and powerful, so try to allow yourself time for reflection on it in advance of the meeting. Which words or phrases seem to speak to you? Use them as a mantra for the day, allowing the words and their meaning to seep deeper into your soul. Today s gospel is usually printed in parts in Sunday Missals. Ask people to take these parts (in advance so that they can prepare). A crucifix or a cross. Give space for people to reflect on the Passion and their responses to it. 5
Easter Triduum Will you be able to have a meeting in Holy Week? How could you make it possible for people to attend? Bowl of water to represent the Washing of Feet Bread and wine for the institution of the Eucharist Cross for Good Friday Candle for Easter Each of the three days of the Triduum has a different feel but each is part of a whole the Liturgy starts on Holy Thursday evening and, in fact, ends in the evening of Easter Sunday. How could the group support each other in attending the different parts of the Liturgy in your community? Easter 2 The reading about Thomas and his doubts about the Resurrection of Jesus is always read on the Second Sunday of Easter. Why might the people who put the Lectionary together have chosen to do this? How does this Gospel help to illustrate our theme of Called Transformed Sent to serve? Create something that speaks of the change of Season with a different coloured cloth candles perhaps a bowl of water with floating candles (to remind us of Baptism) flowers etc. How might you incorporate a little Easter celebration into the meeting? Easter 3 The account of the disciples on the road to Emmaus offers some helpful illustrations into the theme. How are they called? How are they transformed? How are they sent out to serve? A selection of pictures of the Road to Emmaus. Searching the internet for them could be a task you ask a member of the group to undertake. 6
Identify pausing points in the reading of the Gospel to allow people to reflect on what they have heard. Remind them of the theme and invite them to consider the story in the light of that. Easter 4 This Sunday is often called Good Shepherd Sunday and is a day of special prayer for vocations. What does the word vocation mean to you? How does our theme of Called Transformed Sent to serve reflect the call of Baptism and the specific calls to priesthood, diaconate and religious life? You might use pictures of the Good Shepherd but it would be worth exploring http://www.ukvocation.org/ and seeing what resources are available. Easter 5 This Gospel is a part of The Last Discourse which takes up Chapters 14 17 of John s Gospel where John shows us that the disciples, represented by Thomas and Philip, have not grasped the enormity of what Jesus has been trying to teach them. Which words of Jesus help you to glimpse what Jesus offers his disciples? A map or picture of a road, a Bible and a bowl of water could be used to represent the Way, the Truth and the Life. Easter 6 The Last Discourse is, in a way, Jesus last will and testament. If you can, read it through and reflect on how it illustrates our theme. How does it speak of the call of disciples? Their transformation? Their being sent to serve? It would be appropriate to use an image of the Trinity today perhaps Rublev s icon. Refer to the Trinity that here we have an example of what the relationship of the Trinity is like and how it inspires and strengthens our discipleship and love for others. 7
Feast of the Ascension The Gospel gives us an account of one of the last times Jesus called his disciples together What did he call them for? How were they transformed? How were they sent to serve? You might like to use a map of the world. If your group is made up of people from different countries, invite them to light a tee light and place it on their country of origin or that of their families. Pentecost This is perhaps one of the most wonderful examples of our theme: in the Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples are called, transformed and sent to serve. If time permits, read the account again and spend time allowing it to play out in your imagination. The liturgical colour for Pentecost is red so you may like to use a red cloth for this meeting. Flames cut out of red or gold card would also be appropriate. Reflect together on your own experiences of being called transformed and sent to serve during the time of your meetings together. Celebrate particularly significant moments. 8