Small Group Discussion Questions
Here are some questions to guide our discussion. We’ll start with the “head” (understanding the chapter’s core principles) and then move to the “heart” (growing in intimacy with Jesus).
Part 1: Understanding Core Principles (The “Head”)
- Opening Thoughts: As you read this chapter, what was the most surprising, new, or challenging idea you encountered about the Holy Spirit?
- A Person, Not a Force: Barron challenges the common idea of the Spirit as just an impersonal “force.” How do the Creed’s titles for the Spirit—”the Lord” and “the Giver of Life”—help us understand him as a divine Person we can have a relationship with?
- The Bond of Love: The chapter describes the Holy Spirit as the “bond of love” (vinculum amoris) between the Father and the Son. How does this image change or deepen your understanding of who God is (the Trinity)?
- The Soul of the Church: Barron argues that the Holy Spirit is the source of the Church’s four “marks” (One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic). Which of these four connections did you find most interesting, and why?
- A Church “Sent”: The chapter calls the Spirit the “centrifugal force” (pushing out) that makes the Church “apostolic” (sent). In your view, what does a church community that is living by the Spirit’s “apostolic” mission look like in practice?
Part 2: Growing in Intimacy with Jesus (The “Heart”)
- The Giver of Life: The Spirit is the Ruach, the “breath of God” who gives life. Where do you see the Holy Spirit breathing new life into your own faith, your family, or our small group right now?
- The Great Connector: The Holy Spirit’s mission is to draw us into the Body of Christ and connect us to the Father. When in your life have you most strongly felt “drawn” to Jesus? Looking back, how can you see that as the quiet work of the Spirit?
- Holiness as Love: The chapter defines holiness as love (“willing the good of the other”). This is the Spirit’s work in us. Where in your daily life do you find it hardest to let the Spirit’s love (rather than your own feelings) guide your actions and words?
- Listening to the Spirit: The Spirit “spoke through the prophets” and guides the Church “into all truth.” How can we, as individuals and as a small group, get better at listening for the “still, small voice” of the Holy Spirit in our own lives?
Being “Sent”: If the Spirit is “apostolic” (sending us out), where is he “sending” you this week? Where is one place, person, or situation that needs the love and “light” (the Spirit) that you have received from Jesus?
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post