John 15:1-8

5th Sunday in Easter, year B.

Questions

1) What are your initial reactions: Emotional, rational, spiritual and physical?

2) What are your experiences of being loved? How do you react to being loved? Is it comforting? Challenging? Frightening? Inspiring? Etc?

3) How have you experienced God's love? Have your experienced God's love? How do you know (if you do?) that God loves you?

4) What does it mean "to abide in me as I abide in you"?

5) In human terms love is often framed in exclusivist terms "I love your more than anyone else"; whereas God's love is universal. How does this aspect of the universal change the experience of Love? How does it challenge you/us?

6) In this reading there are images of being pruned, cut back; what are our experiences of being pruned? How have you/we reacted to "tough love" in our life.