Take some time at dinner one night this week to read this fun fact and then discuss some of the questions.
Did you know...
…that the story from this week's gospel is not the first story in Luke where Jesus sends out disciples into the surrounding towns and villages. Just one chapter earlier Jesus sent out the 12 disciples to proclaim the good news and heal the sick, and gives them a few instructions on how to do that. This time though he sends 72 disciples and tells them a few more things to keep in mind as they go.
He tells them that they are like sheep among wolves, that they should proclaim peace when they arrive in a new place, and that they should protest when they are rejected. Why does Jesus add these instructions to this second group of people? Because this second time the disciples are going into the region of Samaria, where more people will disagree with them, and where they will be meeting people who are from a different culture, have different ideas about God, and have a different ethnic heritage than them. Jesus knows that to talk to people who are different or who disagree with us we must first proclaim peace, and know that we might not agree in the end.
Questions for Discussion:
1) When was a time that you had a strong disagreement with someone? What was that like?
2) What is hard about disagreeing with people? What does it feel like in your body?
3) Why do you think it is important to start conversations with people that are different from us with peace?