Mark 16:15-20
Lead in: “Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” That is easy for Superman because he has the superhuman powers of a superhero. In Mark 16:15-20, Jesus mentions some of the superhuman feats that his disciples will do. They will drive out demons, pick up deadly serpents in their own hands, etc. These superhero feats might give one the impression that to be a disciple of Jesus, one needs to be a superhero. But all that Jesus wants is our heart.
Prompt: Where is it in your life that you feel like anything but a superhero?
Lead in: Our power as a disciple of Jesus is not the power of a superhero. It’s the power that comes from reliance on God and the Spirit at work in our lives.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when the odds against you were so great that you had no choice but to rely on God?
Lead in: When Jesus ascends into heaven a voice was heard, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing looking up at the sky?” With Jesus now gone and fearful at what lay ahead, the disciples may have been in a panic about what to do next.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you struggled not to let fear lead you into a panic about what to do next. What got you through and what did you learn?
Lead in: Faith calls us not to let our lives be driven by fear but by love.
Prompt: Where is it that you need to let love, not fear, be what drives you?
Lead in: God has created each of us for a special purpose with a special work in mind that only you and you alone can do.
Prompt: As you think about your life, what do you believe is the special work that you alone are being called to do?
Lead in: The Book of Acts is an account of how the Holy Spirit fueled the early church into action. Evidence of this is the fact that the Holy Spirit is mentioned 57 times in the Book of Acts.
Prompt: What evidence do you see of the Holy Spirit at work in the church today and in the lives of those who follow as his disciples?
Lead in: When speaking of the Holy Spirit, St. Ignatius used the image of water dropping into a sponge as opposed to water dropping onto a stone. Water soaks in the sponge. Water rolls off a stone. When our heart is open, the Holy Spirit feels like gentle drops of water soaking into a sponge as opposed to water dropping onto a stone.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when your heart felt like a sponge soaking up the gentle drops of the Holy Spirt.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when your heart was so fearful or closed that the gentle drops of the Holy Spirit were like drops of water rolling off a stone.
