The Imitation of Christ book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Chapters 1 to 1

1. When does honest self-judgment become more useful than comparing yourself with others?
2. How can loving everyone fit with choosing close companions carefully?
3. How would you distinguish conversation that strengthens fellowship from idle conversation?
4. Is it fair to value a good work less when its giver hopes for something in return?
5. What makes patience with another person's faults difficult when we also need patience ourselves?

Meeting 2: Chapters 2 to 46

6. What does asking for insight beyond human teaching suggest about the limits of learning?
7. How can someone test their motives without becoming trapped in constant self-doubt?
8. Is patience still patience if we choose which injuries we are willing to bear?
9. How persuasive is the call to feel grateful rather than envious when gifts are unequal?
10. When might silence before people who speak badly bring peace, and when might it fail to do so?

Meeting 3: Chapters 47 to 18

11. How does the invitation to Communion change the meaning of the Disciple's sense of unworthiness?
12. Is it fair that priestly dignity brings stricter duties rather than greater freedom?
13. What might complete personal surrender offer that gifts and works alone cannot?
14. Where would you draw the line between careful preparation for Communion and anxious excuses for delaying it?
15. How can humble trust and honest inquiry coexist when doubts about the Sacrament arise?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.