Welcome to this week’s Living Word!

Our Word of the Week is Faith.

Welcome back! During the break, Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday and we are now in the liturgical season of Eastertide. Eastertide is the most celebratory and important liturgical season in the Church’s year. Following the 40 days and nights of preparation in Lent, Eastertide is focused on the Resurrection of Jesus, and reflects on the themes of new life, victory over death, and the fulfilment of scriptural prophecies. The season is visually marked by the use of white and gold liturgical colours to signify joy.

Section 1: The Mystery of Faith

We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.

Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

R./ Glory to you O Lord. +

While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognising him…

And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

The Gospel of the Lord

R./ Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

The men on the road were simply two depressed friends walking away from a traumatic experience and a great loss. They had lost all hope. They didn’t recognise Jesus at first because he just looked like a regular traveller. His identity was a mystery to them.

At every Mass, we hear the priest say the words, “The Mystery of Faith.” Usually, a ‘mystery’ is a puzzle we solve in order to find the answer and put our minds at rest. But in the Church, a mystery is something so big that we can never get to the bottom of it.

How does this link to our Word of the Week? Faith isn’t about seeing miracles; it’s about noticing the “burning in your heart” when someone says something true, or when you feel a sense of peace you can’t quite explain.

Discussion Questions:

• The disciples felt their “hearts burning” before they actually realised who Jesus was. Have you ever had a gut feeling or a sense of peace that you couldn’t explain with logic alone? What happened?
• If God is everywhere, why do you think it is often so hard to recognise Him in the middle of a normal school day? What are the distractions that prevent our eyes from seeing?
• Our previous pope, Pope Francis, often said that “the heart has reasons that the mind does not understand.” Do you think it is possible to know something is true even if you can’t prove it in a science lab?

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Section 2: Faith Quiz

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