Luke 23: 35 - 43

34th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Christ the King

Questions:

1) Which words or phrases from the text struck me? What did I find challenging, encouraging, confusing?

2) Have we ever been surprised by who we have found stayed by our side in our darkest (or brightest) moments? Did the company you found yourselves keeping please you, or challenge you, or … ?

3) Does my understanding of the text change depending on whether I imagine the other people being crucified to be every day criminals or political dissidents? Why or why not?

4) In situations of oppression, can violence ever be justified? What are the limits on what is right and wrong to challenge the oppressor? Can the means justify the ends if the ends are good?

5) Can we recognise situations (from history, from current global or national politics, from our personal lives and experiences) where we can see people whose “ends” we admire but whose “means” we could not condone? Or even in our own lives are there choices we made where we still agree with the aims we had but think we chose the wrong actions to get there?

6) Where is paradise?