The Apostles is a collection of the catecheses Pope Benedict XVI gave during his weekly General Audiences in 2006 and 2007. The talks were given in either St. Peter’s Square or, in less favorable weather, the Paul VI Hall next to St. Peter’s Basilica.
Below are excerpts from a study guide written by Amy Welborn and available for free download here.
Below are some of questions for the first session on the Apostle Peter.
Questions for Reflection
1. Pope Benedict describes what Peter was answering as a call to be involved in a “great adventure.” How have you experienced the Christian life as a “great adventure”? How can you better convey this experience of the Christian life to others?
2. What does it mean to answer the call of Jesus, with a “courageous and generous ‘yes’”? In what ways has your “yes” been courageous and generous? It what ways has it not?
3. Peter discovered that Jesus’ way of being the Messiah was not what he expected. What temptations to “go before Jesus” rather than follow him have you expected? How has God surprised you in defying your expectations?
4. “The school of faith is not a triumphal march but a journey marked daily by suffering and love, trials and faithfulness” (page 52). How have you experienced this in your own life?
5. What happens to us in our faith lives if we do not learn from Peter and accept our own fragility and weakness?
6. In what way is Peter’s role among the Apostles a gift to us today? What does it protect?
