Sunday 27th December 2020 (’99): The Holy Family of Jesus&Mary&Joseph: B
1.ECCLUS/SIRACH3:2-6, 12-14
- Read 3 1-16! Yahweh&Blessings&Curse! ThreeFoundations of Parents’Status!
- Father&Mother&Son! Is this the quintessential ‘trinity’? (GEN 27!!)
- & Wouldn’t every raunchy son remember Noah’s Curse! (GEN19:18-27)
- Between & behind the lines, what can I glimpse about ‘Daughters’ in TheBible?
- HonourFather&Mother! Does anything nowadays promise such blessing!
AtonementFortuneFertilityHeardPrayerLongevity&Heaven’sAppreciation!
- How are ‘FamilyRelationships&Dynamics’ affected by ‘TheCelticTiger’?
2. THE PSALM : 127. 1-5 (Why is the last verse omitted?)
- Read 127(128) 1-6! Blessing for one who embodies Yahweh’sPriority!
- ‘Fear TheLord!’ Is this purely rhetorical? Especially if we concede that
Yahweh’sPriority might subvert even TheTemple! (Read JER7: 8-3!!)
- The idyllic scenario of this psalm, might I be sceptical about it?
more so when I consider that grapes were trampled, & olives crushed
- To what extent is it at all feasible to inculcate in families ‘Yahweh’sPriority’?
- In myChurch, can I name 5 who are Walking in The ways of Yahweh?
3 COL 3. 12-21
- Read 1:1-4.18! Listening in a totally-focused way, perhaps I hear a very
contemporary resonance in this initially alien struggle-with-error?
- Again, mindful of the Crisis-of-Family, what nitty-gritty can I pretend?
- Can I name 5 Initiatives in favour of FamilyRealisation in my Community?
- How have TheMassMedia totally relativised the ‘absolutism’ of this excerpt?
4LK2: 22-40
- Read LEV 12! Familiar outrageous poignant affrontative challenging!
- FirstBornMales, yes! But what about FirstBornFemales?
- Can I glimpse ‘Yahweh’s’ general or particular attitude to ‘Women’?
- ‘The/Holy/Spirit!’: The Ways of TheBreath with Simeon, (and probably Anna!), how much of this variety-of-influence do I find-powerful in my own life?
- Can I enter&exit TheSacredSpace, & support TheNeedyFamily that is there?
- ’TheTemple!’: What, in myChurch, both Oppresses and Frees, both Adults&Children?
5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?
O the marvels of the ways of fulfilment! Like this little story my grandfather told me 60 years ago! 2 old people, Simeon&Anna, spent all their time in the precincts of TheTemple searching diligently for a sign of TheLord’s Consolation to HisPaople. Even so, they never met nor spoke nor looked at each other, because of their purity-of-heart! One day in Hanukkah, a very poor couple brought their first born son for the sign of TheCovenant (Great ourGrace!).. Both Simeon& Anna pointed to the child as TheConsolation! & afterwards for the first time they met&spoke&looked at each other! When the blessed family departed to fulfil their destiny, the two old people sat together at evening on the Mount of Olives, holding hands for joy! ‘Yes!’ they spoke-as-one, ‘It is fulfilled’!’ Next morning they were found by my grandfather, the caretaker of the old olive orchard! In death, their faces were bright with smiles, & their hands lightly joined (Peace-be-uponThem)…
6. RIDDLE Which is more potent? MyChildhoodFamily, AdultFamily, or TheHolyFamily?
Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie