Sunday 31st January 2021 (‘00) 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time: B
1. DEUT 18: 15-20 (& what about vv21-22!)
- Read 18: 1-22! But who is speaking nowadays in place of ‘Yahweh’?
- ’LikeMyself!’ Briefly, what are the 20 ‘RecognitionalCharacteristics’ of Moses?
- How might I recognise a ‘Speaking&DoingChannelOf Yahweh’ in myCommunity?
- Or trust someone who drones out, ‘This is TheWord ofTheLord!’
- In whose interest is it, that ThePeople should fear Yahweh’s ‘Thunder & Lightning?’
2. The Psalm 94: 1-2, 6-9
- Read 94(95) 1-11! A flatteringShout, followed by a threateningWhisper!
- How might ‘YahwehtheRock’ bring about my ‘Salvation’ or ‘Victory’?
- ’ SingKneelBendLow! : But does He demand or benefit from, such ‘Worship?’
- Meribah=Quarrel! Read Num 20 1-13! But who was really listening to whom?
- Why was Yahweh so sensitive& averse to being ‘Tempted/Tested?
3. 1Cor 7 : 32-35
- In 30words, what is my own understanding of Paul’s phrase, ‘TheLord’sAffairs?’
- Why does he think that ‘being married’ prevents ‘devotion to TheLord’sAffairs?’
- If he hadn’t thought ‘TheEnd’ was near, would he have written like this?
- In myCommunity is ‘Marriage’ still regarded as an obstacle to ‘Holiness?’
- To what extent, & how, was the understanding of ‘marriage’ transformed by VAT II?
- Is it possible, or desirable, to give my ‘undivided attention to the Lord’?
4. Mark 1: 21-28
- What’s the equivalent now, of someone ‘Teaching in the Synagogue on TheSabbath’?
- By what means was Jesus able to calm the distraught man?
- What images and stories from TheJewishBible are evoked by ThisHealingNarrative?
- Unclean Spirit! : Biblical personification of factors that contribute to illness!
- Can I name 5 who embody ‘authority’ in the sense suggested by this narrative?
- By what means, & for what purposes, are adults being ‘taught’ in myChurch?
- Where did Jesus learn the skills&techniques of ‘Healing&Teaching&Praying’?
5. The Presence & Action of TheBlessedOne, is it like this?
Cissie: Gertie, d’ya know something?
Gertie: No, Cissie, tell us!
Cissie: The way you’d be hearin’ a thing for years’ but not hearin’ it at all…Like a dummy! Well, at Saturda’ Mass las’night, I gotta ‘nawful shock.
Gertie: God, Cissie, I was there meself, but I never…
Cissie: Gertie, I musta heard that thing a million times…but it never registered, did it? When Our DivineLord talked-ruff to the man in the synagogue, he went inta convulsions…
Gertie: Who?
Cissie: an started shoutin’ like a poor nutcase!
Gertie: Cissie, didja hear right? wasn’t it the devil did it, not OurLord! Sure, He was on’y tryin’ to be of assistance! May the divine assistance…
Cissie: No Gertie! I beg t’differ! He musta been a sinner really, an’ when he heard the voice of OurLord, his conscience was thrown inta convulsions!
THERE WAS A LONG SILENCE IN THE SNUG AS THE WOMEN SIPPT PORT AND CONSIDERED. FINALLY GERTIE SUMMED IT UP:
Gertie: Y’re right about one thing, Cissie! F y’want t’be meetin’ OurLord, there must be no sin on y’r sowl! Otherwise, y’re much better off with his DivineMother! She def’nitely never sent no one inta convulsions!
CISSIE NODS VIGOROUSLY
Cissie: God, Gertie, that’s th’ best ever! Oratre-fratres! The whole caboodle in one eggshell! Ah, boys a’ boys!!
6. RIDDLE: Listening! But to what? The Gospel? Conscience? TheMagesterium? TheOppressed? TheMedia? Or?
Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie