1. The God-focused Face of Mercy 1 Week 1

2. 2 ReaderWe gather in the name of the Father AllWho looks on the whole of Creation with love - and on his human children with mercy.

3. 3 ReaderWe gather in the name of the Son AllThe face of the mercy of God who did not cling to his divinity but chose to live humbly the fullness of humanity.

4. 4 ReaderWe gather in the name of the Holy Spirit All Who filled Jesus with joy and power and who led him to places of temptation and weakness so that he should understand the challenges facing God’s people.

5. 5 ReaderWe gather… All(making the Sign of the Cross) in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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7. 7  What does someone who is famished look like when faced with food… especially if they know they are not allowed to eat it?  What does someone hungry for power look like?  What does someone anxious to prove how great they are look like?  How easy do you find imagining Jesus looking like these people?

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9. 9  Which do you find easier—to imagine Jesus finding it easy to overcome temptation—or as someone who “lived the temptation” and worked out how to respond to it?  How might Jesus’ facing temptation help us when we face our own?  Why do you think Jesus told his disciples about the temptations? (Remember he was alone and could simply have never mentioned them).

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11.  What aspects of God’s mercy do you think Jesus’ temptation show us?  What words and actions of Jesus have helped you to think about God’s mercy?  Why do you think Pope Francis has called this a “Jubilee Year? 11

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13.  What are my “favourite” temptations? The things that crop up in my life over and over again?  What could I do to balance the temptation? (A word of scripture—or an activity to help to take my mind off it until it passes). 13

14. 14 Lord Jesus Christ, we trust your words that you did not come to search for the good and righteous but to walk alongside us as we struggle with temptation and sin. We ask you to walk with us this Lent. Help us to see your tempted face so that we can look into it and see your own focus on God. Teach us to make this our own focus so that we can overcome the temptations that come our way. We ask this in your name. Amen.

15. 15 © 2016 Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Image: Contributor Nicku © 123rf.com Department for Spirituality Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, St Vincent’s Offices, St Cuthbert’s House, West Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE15 7PY Telephone: 0191 243 3302 Email: spirituality@diocesehn.org.uk