Sunday 7 November 2021 (’00): 32ndSUNinORDINARY : B
1. 1Kl7:10-16
- Read 17.1-24! Some ‘benefits’ of ‘belonging-to-Yahweh” But, the ‘costs’?
- ‘Water&Bread&Oil!’. Basics of life, basics of ritual!
- ‘ JarOfMeal&JarOfOil!’ . Is this legendary motif an ancestor of ‘feeding stones’?
- ‘ Widow!.’ Poignant, perhaps undervalued ‘YahwisticArchetype’!
- What other significant ‘widow’-stories stand out in TheTotalBible?
- What attitudes&fantasies around ‘widows’ prevail in myChurch&Community?
- The relation of ‘prophet’ & ‘widow’, what’s the contemporary equivalent?
2. TIIE PSALM : 145:7-10
- Read 145(146): 1-10! Contrast-song’ Trust-in-‘TheKing’, or trust-in-‘Yahweh’?
- Why does myChurch refrain from encouraging&enabling all adultChristians to incarnate as-a-priority TheLifeStyle&Methods of JesusOfNazareth?
- Or isn’t ThePrimaryAim of myChurch ‘the active promotion of every justice’?
- Of course, if ‘Yahweh’ is superseded-by, or absorbed-into, ‘God’, sure all’s-well!
- Did the ‘re-discovery’ ofYahweh&Exodus&Pesach arrive just that bit too late?
3. HEB9:24-28
- ‘SanctuarySacrificeJudgmentSalvation!’ Those pivotal biblical images!
What Jewish narratives unfold them for me? (&myCommumty!)
What rituals actualise them, which role-models reflect them?
Are my mentors content with embedding them here&there in the rhetoric?
ScapeGoat&PassoverRam, what is their equivalent in my experience?
How is ‘suffering-on-behalf-of-others’ viewed&valued in my world?
In what ways is ‘freedom-from-guilt’ pursued&achieved nowadays?
4 MKll:38-44 (&A shorter form! why, in-sooth?)
- Read 12:1-44! Those dangerous controversies & terminal sentiments!
- Could any dignitary ignore Jesus’ stricture&diatribe on TheScribes in this excerpt?, Unless one lisped, ‘ Well, they’re Jewish, aren’t they’ not Christian!’
- Which is more significant? Jesus’ ‘explanation’ about the widow’s offering? Or the fact that only He, but not the disciples, seemed to have even noticed it?
- To what extent are people in myCommunity valued for irrelevant reasons?
- Why is there so much discussion&anxiety about ‘money’ in many local churches?
5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?
‘Wait ’til y’ hear, Gertie.. ‘ ‘God, tell us quick, Cissie Is it…’ ‘Y’r man above on Sunday, goin’ on about th’ widda’s mile!’ ‘Who?’ ‘Givin’ out about th’ scribes getting’ th’ widdas t’ lave them their legacies…’ ‘Like f’r masses! my fella has this oul’ corny thing, his idea of a joke…’ ‘Everythin’ he said about th’ scribes, I kept thinkin’, God forgimme,”Sonny y’re no better nor no worse yerself!” God forgimme, just change “scribes” t’ … ‘ ‘He’s a bee in ‘is bonnet about masses! “Stypins! the cheeka them! twenty fags or a pint f’r one mass, an’ they prob’ly jus’ pocket it!” He’s no respec’ f’r notbin’…!’ ‘Th’ las’ thing he said, this took th’ biscuit! “Th’ poor widda put inta th’ treasury ever’thin’ she had!” Imagine th’ … ‘ ‘Well, more fool she was! “widdas especially gotta learn who&what’s numero uno! early on m th’ game? otherwise y’r just walked-on by y’ know-who … !!’
6. RIDDLE What about widows? Support-them?
Keep them right? Avail of their wisdom?
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Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie