Sunday 3rd April 2022 (’01) : 5thSUNinLENT : C
1. Is43·16-21
- Read IS42:5 – 44.8! Selfpresentation of Yahweh-of-Sinai to TbeExiles in Babylon! prommising a ‘NewExodus’ (modeled on ‘TheFirstExodus-fromEgypt’)!
- ‘ANewDeed!‘: Has OldRoncalli’s call for ‘Aggiornamento‘ achieved anything?
- Other than increased authoritarianism, medievalism, rhetoric, &apathy?
- If the essential ‘Weakness of Yahweh’ is concealed by bullish ‘god-talk‘?
- &If boastful ‘YahwehOracles’ are taken as ‘factual’ rather than ‘wishful thinking’?
2. THE PSALM: 125:1-6
- Read 1IS44 21– 45.17! What? Yahweh called CyrusTheMede as a ‘NewMoses’?
- What would equal nowadays, TheRestoration ofYahweh’sPeople from Exile, by the Yahweh-inspired Initative of a ‘pagan’?
- What if Yahweh’sContemporaryPeople don’t perceive themselves ‘InExile‘?
- Which Individuals&Groups in my local church are ‘SufferingExile’?
- Especially by being denied access to important resources (Which ones, I pray you?)!
- What rituals are we creating, so as to restore ‘exiles’ to ‘fullness-of–presence’?
3. PHIL3·8-14
- ‘KnowingChristJesusMyLord‘ (Compare Archbishop Brady’s Motto)’!
What sorts of ‘knowledge’ do I have, of ‘ChristJesus”‘
Would I regard all else as ‘Loss, Dung, &Refuse’, by comparison?
How am I being encouraged&enabled to ‘ShareHisDeath’?
Am I content that Paul here be understood ‘devotionally’?
‘Knowmg&BeinginChrist’! I mean, mightn’t that be sorta risky?
4 JN8·1-ll
- What ‘interpretations’ have I been given for this ambivalent narrative?
- Apart from ‘the woman’, are all the others in the story, men?
- What other biblical stories are evoked? (Read GEN38! DAN13/Susanna)
- What is the radical question being posed in this narrative?
- Why is there such appetite in our world for all kinds of ‘condemnation’?
- ‘Adultery!‘: Read DT22! EZEK16! Why 1s ‘TheLawOfMoses’ so harsh?
- ‘Test!’: How is this happening nowadays? &To whom? &With what effect?
- In 100 words, how will ‘the woman’ describe ‘the inner&outer’ of it all?
5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?
‘Yeah, I was above this morinin’! the usual givin’-out.’ ‘Drink drugs an’ sex, I s’pose” ‘No, the woman taken in adult’ry!’ ‘What’d he mean be...’ ‘Seems this woman was caught, well, like…’ ‘Like Lady-Somethin’-or-other, I pizzoom!’ ‘Anyway, they put on their crowns an’ gowns, dragged her along th’ side a’ th’ temple t‘ Jesus.. ‘ ‘Annoyin’ Him as-per–usual!’ ‘An’ said, bold-as-brass, “No shillyshally! Shouldn’t she be crushed wit’ heavy stones...!”..‘ ‘God, them’s some tulips t’ be..‘ ‘Accordin’ t’ Moses?” ‘ ‘Nowadays, if y’ go be what y’ hear, th‘ heavy–stone-brigade ‘d be kep’ busy!’ ‘But that’s what the-man-above said, “Any of yous in th’ gowns, or me-own crowd either, who thinks they’re without sin, take this stone here, an‘ crush her skull!'” ‘Begod! A great showstopper! like somethin’ th’ oul’ Canon ‘d come up with” ‘Aw y’re right! He was taken from us, but! Just as things was really goin‘ t‘ th’ dogs!!‘
6 RIDDLE The best prize of all! Heaven? Selfrealisation?
Preferment? Justification?
Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie