The center

From the teaching of Vatican II, a challenging thought concerning Hebrews 13:8...

[The Church] likewise holds that in her most benign Lord and Master can be found the key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human history.
- Pastoral Constitution on the Curch in the Modern World, 10

Questions for the race

The 12th chapter of Hebrews uses several metaphors for Christian life. Let's use these questions to gaze into the meaning of those words.

1. Endurance is mentioned several times in the context of a race or combat. What is it that we must endure in our race, our combat?
2. Jesus, Author and Perfecter of Faith. A lovely title. In what way can the faith be perfected?
3. Jesus endured opposition from sinners. What did sinners do to generate this opposition?
4. What scourged Jesus?
5. What scourged Israel?
6. What scourges us?
7. Jesus had disciples, Peter, James and all the rest. But what disciplined Jesus?
8. What forms discipline in a military unit?
9. Verse 12 exhorts us to strengthen weary hands and paralyzed knees. What? Why not strengthen spine or some big muscle? In this race of endurance, why strengthen hands?
10. In this epistle, Jesus gets the name, Author and Finisher. What is the famous name of Him in the heavenly Jerusalem that has a similar ring to it?
11. From Revelation, what do you recall as the main activity of all the creatures in heaven, men and angels, strange looking beasts and powerful Cherubim?

Now we have a set of questions to guide us through chapter 12 to its last verse! It is a good morning to gaze into the Perfect Law of Freedom.

Hebrews 12 questions

We will study a bit of chapter 11 and then dip into chapter 12 this morning. Here are a few questions.

1. From chapter 11, what kind of miracle did the writer keep mentioning in the lives of so many of the old testament saints? There was one kind that was mentioned several times.
2. The cloud of witnesses: does anything about it change with the passage of years?
3. Name the top two witnesses in the cloud of witnesses, in your opinion. Why did you focus on those two?
4. How does the cloud of witnesses affect our conduct at prayer?
5. How does the cloud of witnesses affect our actions as we go about our day?
6. At Sunday Mass, how do our prayers and actions reflect the presence of the cloud of witnesses?
7. If someone works one of the ordinary works of mercy, even evangelization by hospitalization, does that action exist in isolation, unconnected with anyone else?

WHAT!? Those questions only cover verse 1! We might not get very far into chapter 12 this morning. :)