Category: ADBI

Sunday Mar 6th  2022(2001) 1stSUNinLent C

1. DEUT26:4-10

• Read 26:1-19! Within this semi-paranoid, semi-jingoistic, ‘CultureCreed’, largely dictated by TempleInterests, can I yet glimpse a genuine ‘Yahwism’?
• Or is it acceptable to trample others’ Land&Culture, if ‘God’ says ‘OK! Do-it’!!?
• How did He end up in ‘The Temple’, rather than persevere in ‘TheWilderness’?
• ‘ThisLand’! ‘Canaan’ So, is this ‘creed’ an anachronistic re-reading of ‘history?
• Namely, ‘We subjugated these people, so how can we retroactively legitimate it?’
• What! Is ‘Yahweh’ so susceptible to the manipulations of storytellers?

2. THE PSALM: 90:1=2, 10-15

• Read 90(91) 1- 16! But how can the weak Yahweh so marvellously protect?
• What, in my experience of Yahweh, makes Him worthy of such trust?
• Isn’t this psalm mostly the tendentious wishful-thinking of a court-poet?
• ‘TheLion&TheGreatSerpent!’: What power can trample these? (Read GEN 3!)
• ‘I-am-with-you!’ Yahweh’s-own-mantra! &CanI carry such-weakness?

3. ROM10:8-13

• ‘NoDistinction!’ This dangerous incredible ‘word’! What? not only to be on-my-lips for devotion, but in-my-heart for valuation&embodiment!
• Wow! Who knows what risquéités Paul’s proclaiming in ROM as-a-whole!
• But then, isn’t ‘the true church’ safe! ‘cos who reads him anyway, except to carp!
• ‘CallOnTheName!’: Could access to ‘TheDynamicsThatMakesWhole’ be so simple?
• If my ‘christian formation’ predisposes me to ‘avoid wholeness’ Just prattle&dither!

4. LK4:1-13

• Read 1:5 – 4:44! Christian re-telling of ‘exodus narratives’!
• ‘Temptation’!Strenuous experiential testing of the realness of ‘faith-n-Yahweh’!
• However what if ‘YahwehFaith’ is importantly different from ‘ChurchFaith’?
• What 20 situations&Exemplars are testing either my ‘Yahweh-‘ or my ‘ChurchFaith?
• These 3Moments-of-YahwisticTesting’!

Which ‘exodus’ narratives are reflected in each?

What scenarios in my-own struggle-for-integrity are evoked?

Can I release this narrative from it pietistic shackles?

• ‘TheDevil’! Which other divinity wouldn’t enjoy subverting Yahweh? (DT6:4-25)

5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?

‘Sir’ Your time in the wilderness, wasn’t it really about TheWorld, TheFlesh,&TheDevil? A retreat, before you began your true work! Preaching TheGoodNews!’ ‘Friend, you speak in specious, but faded&empty words!’ ‘Your pardon sir! but how could… ‘ ‘Always, friend, from myDeath-in-Jordan to myDeath-by-Temple’s Resentment, I was always in TheWilderness! I was filled-with-TheBreath! I was tested in every way, to embrace TheOtherGods!’ ‘Surely, sir, that’s what I meant…’ ‘TheTruth, friend, is not the seemingly meaningful words beloved of TempleScrutiny! Truth is my costly embrace of TheEnslaved! how I might free them from TheSilkenShackles of Ignorance*Fear&Contagion!’ ‘Ah, sir! Such temerity, the cost…’  ‘Friend! Be filled with TheBreath! &then, what you call Temerity will be TheNewExodus-from-Egypt!!’

6. RIDDLE

            Which is preferred? Live ‘faith’ vicariously through biblical ‘cherrypicking’?

            Or step into our contemporary wilderness, ‘Filled-with-TheHolyBreath’?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

Sunday Feb 27^th 2022(1995) 8^th  SUNinORDINARY C

1. SIR27:4-7

Sirach: An exaltation of traditional Hebrew wisdom that is, distilled Biblical knowledge about the handling of one’s life and different affairs.  As in this extract the Book offers clusters of proverbs this one being about tests of ‘character’. Much of this is not particularly ‘religious’ and while opinions are often linked with Yahweh, yet they can betray quite narrow views (like hatred or mistrust of women)                                                                                                                              In my Community

            How is the effectiveness/fruitfulness of the various Ministries assisted?

            What weight is given to the perceptions expressed by the ‘FootSoldiers’?

            Which are the ‘important offices’? How and to whom are they acceptable?

            How stringent or how lax are we, about ‘standards of excellence’?

            How are these ‘standards’ drawn up, and made known to all?

            What is being done about unfruitful or unzealous Ministries?

2. 1COR15:54-58

• Read 1COR15 again aloud&slowly&listening for the images
• ‘My physical nature’ In what ways is it ‘perishable”?

In what ways does ‘Death” invade or affect it?

• What sort of Animal is Paul imagining Death to be with a ‘Sting and a “Victory’? And what Animal could in turn, ‘swallow Death up’?
• If ‘Sin’ is ‘Death’sSting’, how does it get ‘Power’ from the ‘law’?
• And why is Paul continually in contention with the ‘Law’?
• How does this amazing Victory come ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ’?
• What are the Signs of this Victory in my Community?
• What factors are persuading me to give up ‘working at the Lord’sWork’?
• Who in my Community is supporting me ‘in the Lord’?
• How are we all negotiating between different ‘versions’ of the Lord’sWork?

3. LK6:39-45

• In this extract the Nazarene is portrayed like a ‘WisdomTeacher’ exploring the experiential arenas of ‘mutual relations’ and ‘fruitfulness’
• In my Community to what extent are ‘Disciples’ being ‘fully trained’?
• What else needs to happen, to better equip ‘Disciples’ for a hostile world?
• What is the Nazarene is seriously addressing my Community, thus

• Who are the ‘BlindGuides’ among you? And how is this judged?
• Why are the most excellent training methods not being provided for all disciples

(that is, all the Baptised who embrace Me!)?

• What can you do about the suspicion&resentment&complacency&sheer waste of
• talent that is rife among you?
• What will you point to, as concrete witness to your fruitfulness?
• What are you do lackadaisical about the thorns&brambles that are growing plentifully

among you?

• What needs&schemes occupy your imagination most of the time?
• How do you imagine Me, and what I really expect?

OVERALL QUESTION

            Lord! Of course I tend to think Your Words

            Are clever Ferrets at someone else’s throat!

            For their own Good! Why should I change?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

            Sunday 20 February 2022 (’01): 7thSUNinORDINARY     C

 1. 1SAM26.2, 7-9,12-13, 22-23

• Read 26·1-25! Exploration of TheDignty&Prerogative of ‘Yahweh’sAnointed”
• How did this numinous understanding of ‘TheLord’sAnointed’ come to invest Jesus-of-Nazareth on the one hand, &Christian clergy on the other?
• In what sense was Saul ‘Yahweh’sAnointed’? (Read 1SAM8:1-12 25!)
• &OldSc1muelTbeAnointer!  Where is his like in ThelrishChristian Churches!
• &Who is initiating Women&Men who are truly ‘anointed-by-Yahweh’?

2. THE PSALM : 102:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13

• Read 102(103).1-22! Celebration of the ‘Fruits’ of Yahweh’s ‘SteadfastLove”
• What 10 Benefits do I consider myself ‘lndebted ToYahweh’ for?
• Nowadays, how apt is the ‘Father/Son’ relationship  as an image for the disposition     of Yahweh toward those who struggle to embody HisPriority?
• ‘Compassion&Love, SlowToAnger, RlchlnMercy!’ Who is this, in my local church?

3. 1COR15·45-49

• In 35words of contemorary language, what does he seem to be saying here?
• Where did Paul get these variations on TheFirstMan&TheLastMan”
• In what way are ‘TheSpiritual&Heavenly’ superior to ‘TheSoulful&Earthly’?
• How will an alert ecologically-engaged woman hear all of this ‘man-talk”?
• ‘Cos after all, ‘Eve’ is ‘MotherOfAllThatLives’!

4. LK6:27-38

• Are women-disciples also envisaged as active-agents in these challenging options?
• The exaggerated & somewhat perverse ‘morality’ of this ‘sermon’, does it matter that few if any Christians actually behave like this?
• Which will it be?  Measure-for-Measure? Or Measure-without-Regard?

5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?

Confidential  memorandum to TheMostExcellentHighPriest Caiaphas!

Dispatched by trusted messenger from BarShemayâ’, Stalker of TheNazarene! Greetings! May Heaven’sBlessings adorn YourExcellency!

Excellency, at YourBidding &for Yourlnfortmation, I am priveledged to be YourEyes&Ear, for You in respect of TheNazarene! Recently, on the third day of NewMoon, he brought his followers to a place in the wilderness, &there he solemnly named twelve men from the group! These are to be called TheTwelve, for TheTwelve of Jacob, peace be upon him! I’ve heard whispers too, that they are to be TheSeed, as it were, of a NewIsraeI! Thus far, I’ve seen no evidence of weapons collected, or special training but I remain alert tor any word of treasonable intentions! After TheTwelve were presented, TheNazarene began to preach the basics of his ethical program. I must admit I was very confused as I listened to what seemed the  ravings of a  madman! But let YourExcellency judge! ‘ThePoor will rule’ TheEnemy is to be embraced’ Never retaliate when robbed or injured! No Judgments, no condemnation ‘ Woe to TheRich!’ By Your leave, YourExcellency, I offer my impression of all this! The movement iniatated by TheNazarene is like a mall running sore! which, if ignored &neglected, will rapidly consume the entire body! Fare You Well!’

6. RIDDLE Which is the yearnable essential? Getting the pious rhetoric right?

Maintaining a discreet personal spirituality?

Risking a scandalous public discipleship?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

Sunday 13^th February 2022 (’01) · 6thSUNinORDINARY : C

1. JER 17 5-8

• Read 16 1 – 17·27! The strange shape-changingSymbiosis of Jeremiah’s own febrile experience & the continually-encroaching’Imperative-of-Yahweh”
• Listening carefully, who can be sure where ‘Yahweh’ ends, &’Jeremiah’ begins!
• ‘Curse&Blessing!’: How be critical, &yet empathic, in regard to this outburst!

• Read PSl·l-6! The traditional ‘TwoWays’! Also JOB3·l-26! What-curse?

• ‘Trust–in-Yahweh!’·  Living to the full ‘TheStruggleToFreeTheOppressed’!

2. THE PSALM. 11-4, 6 (&What ofv5?)

• TheGoodProsper, TheWickedPerish’ Is this my experience of TheWheelOfFortune?

• Read Job21:1-34; 23 1-24·25! What? Is Job        controverting  ‘tradition’?

• ‘Trust/Me!’  Incresingly deceptive cliche in advertisements & the like
• Being so weak, in what sense can Yahweh be deemed to ‘ProtectTheJust’?

3 lCORl5:12, 16–20

• Read15 12-20! Exploring the complex relationship of God&Christ&Death!
• What evidence does he give, that God&Christ have truly ‘OverComeDeath’?
• In my world, apart from constant reiteration in teaching&homily, what are the indictations ThcOptions&Behaviours of Christians that ‘HeHasBeenRaised’?
• If my ‘Life-after-Baptism‘  is the same as ‘Christ’sLife-beyond-Death’, how am  I   being encouraged to embrace this, in my concrete ‘struggle-for-faith’?

4 LK6.l7, 20-26

• Read 6 12-49! For-Diciples  ‘Blessings&Woes’ &A selection of Wisdoms

• Seriously though! Who in my local church takes these as any more than a posy of pretty flowers to be snifft occasionally, &waved about in  ferverinos!

• In what sense are disciples being called&formed according to these ‘Guidelines’?
• Or what if all this is intended to be proclaimed&heard sorta ironically?
• What about the formation of AdultChnstianDisciples in Northern Ireland?
• But  ssshh’ Will ‘Catholic’ & ‘Protestant’ Disciples differ in value&quality?
• Is anything more urgent than to transcend ‘EcclesialParticularisms’?

5.The presence and action of the BlessedOne is it like this?

‘Gertie, wait till I tell ya ‘ ‘Cissie, didja hear something’..?’ ‘Above this mornin’, .he was goin’ on about the sermon on th’ plane..’ ‘What…’ ‘..an’ me sittin’ there like an eejitt, thinkin’  the-man–above had  worked  another  miracle…’  ‘Oh ..’  ‘But he was nearly finished when it dawned, he meant a sorta flat place ..’ ‘What, no nuracle?’  ‘The

 miracle was, that I got an’thin’ at all out of his oul’ rantin’!‘ ‘Well, my fella’s worse when he  ‘ ‘Just one thing I pulled outa feedin’ time at th’  azoo! Y’re better off hungry an ‘ poor an‘ weepin’, an’  people hatin’ ya for  bein’ a catholic..‘ ‘Well, my fella usedta hate me when I was a ..’ ‘But if y’re rich an’ fat-an’-full an’ laffin’, an’ everyone lovin’ ya, forget-it’ no-joy’ throw-it-in-now” ‘Of course, bein’ such a perverse, he still hates

me,  no, w that  I’m  no  longer  a..’  ‘So,  I  Just  looked  round,_  startin‘  with  head-a-wit himself, an’ all th’ other fat–cats! an’ sorta glanced at me own rags an’ so-on an’ so­ forth! I says, Cissie, me dearie, there’s for-ya! put that m yer pipe an’ smoke-it!!’ ‘Yeah, there’s still hope for us all!’ ‘Right, Gertie! I Just hope he wasn’t makin’ it up!’ ‘Ha’ That’d be one for th’ books OK!’

6.RIDDLE       What does TheAdultDisciple need most of all?

            Curse or Blessing? Preaching or Teaching? Or Example?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

                                                Sunday 6^thFebruary 2022 (’01) 5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

1. IS6: 1-8 (Tho’ what about ThePairsOf Wings?)

• Read 6:1-13! TempleVision! Impurity! Word-of-Destruction! & Hope?
• Familiar scenario? DivineService, AntiphonalChant, ArchitecturalVibrations, StrongThickStupifyingIncense! & a tremor perhaps, of collective guilt…
• Are we being enabled to Recognise&Purge hypocritical elements in our religion?
• ‘UncleanLips!’ What ways is one thing being ‘Professed,’ another being ‘Behaved?’
• Currently, who are ‘Yahweh’sMessengersToTheIrish?’
• What will be the cost of anything more than sentimental-dalliance-with-Yahweh?

2. THE PSALM  137: 1-5, 7-8

• Is this just another setpiece of YahwisticDevotionalRhetoric?
• What if this prayer was accompanied by Visualisations&BreathWork? So as to lead-to & produce the sort of ‘AngelicVision’ hinted-at in IS6:1-13!
• What important ‘attributes’ of Yahweh can I discern in this song?
• ‘DiscardNotTheWork!’ The risk of imagining a divinity as Potter or Weaver!

3. 1COR15. 1-11 (What’s the sense of a shorter form?)

• Read 15. 1-58! How is ‘TheBody’ transformed by ‘Death?’ & How is ‘Death’ transformed by ‘Christ’ & ‘TheBody-of-Christ?’ But does Paul know all this?
• In 20words, can I express ‘TheGoodNews,’ &how Christ revealed it to me?
• Why does he seem to be exclusively interested in ‘TheDeath&Resurrection?’
• The ‘ListOfApparitions!’ what would an analogous list be, for my local church, of significant individuals&groups, to whom, ‘ChristHasShownHimself?’
• What care is there nowadays, for ‘TruthOfPreaching?’

4. LK5 1-11

• Isaiah-in-TheTemple & Peter-among-TheFish! Similar intuition of Guilt!
• What was it about TheHugeCatch that triggered Peter’s ‘Glimpse-of-Darkness?’
• Read JON1. 1-3:11! Fish swallows Man, Man swallows Fish!
• ‘Deep Water!’ What’s TheRisk? What’s TheCatch? What’s TheConsequence?
• How does the image of ‘CatchingMen’ sit with current sensibilities?

5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?

Thursday afternoon, her legs tucked under her on the kitchen sofa, Gran fryin’ two herrins for their tea, the blue&green scent of fried herrins waftin’ into her, great! The only other sound, the chickies’-chat through the open window, something about the names they’d give their next crowd-a-chickies! But Effie herself found it strange, she’d no give-out to explore with Gran as usual. She let her bones go watery, & her face go loose, & crept her breath long&thin&snakey back over the week-end, Sam’s Saturday night shouts, Mam’s laugh when Sam talked about her auntie Babs , ‘Them’s bla-bla if  y’ask me!’ ‘Gran!’ ‘Yes, luveen?’ & moved the herrin-pan over on the thing! Fishers of men, Gran! Babs & Gracie’s fishers of men!’ ‘Was it Mam or…oh, yes! Well, what’ll we say? ‘Maybe they smell nice, like herrins?’

‘I’m not sure, Effie! But I think it means they like men!’ ‘Who, Babs & Gracie?’ ‘An men looks at them with fishy eyes!’ ‘Like the herrins lookin’ at me?’ ‘Sure!’ ‘But I’m not a fisher of men, am I?’ ‘You’re a fisher of herrins, Effie! Cos you really love them!’ ‘Yes, Gran! I’m a fisher of herrins an’ chickies an’Jesus an’ you! Jesus an’ you!  great, great, great!’

6. RIDDLE  Which is more powerful? Homilies&Exhortations&SpiritualReading? Or AdultInsight into the MoralRamifications of each new Personal or SocialScenario?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

                                               Sunday 30^thJanuary 2022 (’01) 4^thSunday in Ordinary Time C

1. Jer1 4-5, 17-19

• Read 1: 4-4:31 Collections of hisVisionsOraclesPreoccupations!
• Who is Thinking&Speaking&SelfPresenting like Jeremiah in my world?
• Who is publicly agonising about TheChurch&Society&OurPlanet? ( Granted, of course, we’re convinced that our plight’s nothing like that of ‘Jerusalem!’
• What if that image ‘Yahweh CallingMeInThe Womb’ is no longer available to us?
• Or has been theologised&spiritualised&neutered by MyMinders&Mentors?
• Read it aloud slowly & carefully! How exciting &dangerous&treasonous!
• I-am-with-You! Sure, but can He deliver, not just me, but ThePromise-itself!

2. The Psalm, 70 1-6, 15, 17

• Read 70(71): 1-24! A gritty feisty song of the experience of life-long protection!
• What if the intimacy of such psalms underlay Jesus’ expression ‘Abba!’
• What are The20PrincipalAreasOfRisk in my experience as an adult?
• In what ways do I enjoy ‘divine protection’ in any or all of these?
• How would I know if it was ‘Yahweh,’ or some other divinity was involved?
• Is all ‘divine protection’ the one? Or is the presence of certain ‘divinities’ iffy?
• In what ways has my ‘childhood faith’ transformed as I grew up?

3. 1Cor 12:31-13:13

• Why is this excerpt so popular in WeddingMasses? & What of its implications?
• What convinces Paul that ‘love’ is greater than ‘faith’ or ‘hope?’
• How can he make these ‘cool statements’ about ‘love?’
• Especially that ‘love’ delights in the ‘truth?’ & That ‘it does not come to an end?’
• Read this ‘lyric’ aloud, slowly&carefully! Is there really no negative side to ‘love?’

4. Luke 4: 21-30

• Read again 4: 16-30! Another of these one-story versions of TheGoodNews!
• Did He push them somewhat, quoting about ThePhysician & TheProphet?
• & What if ‘ThePeopleOfYahweh’ can’t demand to keep Him to themselves?
• Does this erode the fantasy of being ‘TheChosenPeople’ (in an exclusive sense!)?
• If Yahweh wishes to act graciously towards others, will our ‘love’ equally extend?
• Perhaps the religious authorities were rejecting not just Him, in the abstract, but his struggle for inclusive AttitudesValuesRituals! Even nowadays…

5. The presence&action of the blessedOne, is it like this?

      ‘Sir, why did the religious men of Nazareth refuse to accept you in their synogague,  & in their hearts? Was it Heaven’sWill as some claim?’     ‘Friend! The spurning of grace by HisOwnPeople was never the intention of TheOneWhoSentMe! Rather, to be open in every way to the initiatives of HisBeloved!’ ‘Sir! It both pleases&saddens me to hear you speak-thus! So, how did those religious men mistake TheFreeingAngel & rush to trampleThePearl?’

‘It grieves me deeply, friend, to say! They were seduced by their Teachers to expect a Messenger & a Salvation that would make no demands! Rather would flatter their own fantasies of being ‘TheChosenPeople!’

‘Sir! Will ThePeople ever be immune to such erroneous expectations&fantasies?’

‘Friend! I fear they will not! At least until they realise that all the ancient stories are truly&only about themselves! Possibly then…’

6. Riddle  Which is more challenging? To-be-called-by-Yahweh, in TheWomb, in Youth, in Adulthood, or atDeath?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

23 Jan2022(2001) 3^rd SUN in ORDINARY: C

1.NEH8:2-6,8-19

• Read 8:1-12! Ceremonial public listening to TheLaw! including a ministry of hermeneutic! leading into a celebration of The-Festival-of-Sukkoth!
• Does any such sustained reading of TheBible occur in my local church?
• Is there a danger that the current pick ‘n’ mix approach is undermining TheBible?
• As well as the pretence that large tracts of it are ‘covered’ in ‘TheLiturgy’!
• Do we need a ritual of ‘Sustained-Reading-of-Total-BibleBooks’?
• Not least to counter the practically-overwhelming impact of TV&TheMassMedia!
• What about the strong link in this extract, ‘The sharing of “food” with TheNeedy’?

2. THE PSALM 18:8-10,15

• Read 18(19):1-14! TheSpeaking-of-CelestialTime&Space! &TheAthleteTheSun!                  with a Song-of-Yahweh’sLaw itsRightnessClarityTruth! & Prayer-of-Fulfilment!
• What if the real Law-of-Yahweh is Earth’s billions of PoorHungryIgnorantLost?
• Is the rhetoric of ‘justice’ only a figleaf for the Churchs’Negligence in this matter?
• Sure, Yahweh’sWords are ‘breath’, but Breath-for-what’ Humns? Homilies?
• Why are sentimental ‘YahwehSongs’ so popular both in Liturgy&pararliturgy?

3. 1Cor12:12-30

• How convincing&thorough&accurate is his account of ‘the human body’?
• How does it resonate, say, with evolutionary biology&anatomy?
• Has he male or female in mind? &What about the many ‘inner organs’?
• ‘Tongues’? What about crucial ‘gifts’ like ChristianMother, Healer-of-AllConflict, SpeakerOfTheSigns-of-TheTimes, Flailer-of-TheOtherGods, Critic-of-TheTemple…
• so, what is a modern local church needs to declare a whole new range of ‘gifts’?

4. LK1:1-4; 4:14-21

• Read 4:1-44! TheUnfolding-in-Power of HisBaptismal-HolyBreath!
• Why is the important 4:16-30 split between two SundayEucharists?
• ‘TheBreath-of-Yahweh!’. This ‘anointment’ is more subversive than Hymnsinging!
• Read 61:1-11! Listen carefully to the faith-expectation of a true-yahwist!
• How harmless, or how dangerous, would such a one be, in one’s ownCommunity?
• Did Jesus intend to incite the violent reaction that ensued?
• Insofar as he delivered a ‘homily’, what if all ‘homilies’ were as provocative?

5. The presence&action of TheBlessedOne, is it like this?

‘TheMan-from-Nazareth…’  ThePractisingSceptic’s tone was appropriately irenic!

‘I’m always puzzled at the vehemence of the reaction He seemed to provoke in His religious contemporaries.’ ‘Quite simple really…’. TheOfficialBeliever felt this was home-ground, &that the points could be easily chalked-up! ‘All part of the DivineSalvificForeknowledge & UngainsayableDispensation!’  ‘You’re saying those enraged worshippers in the NazarethSynagogue were mere pawns in some divine &ecclesial arr…’ ‘How dare you presume to…’ ‘I’ll tell you! Jesus claimed to be anointed by Yahweh’sBreath….’  ‘So He was, as TheWordIncarn….’ &Wouldn’t you think they’d welcome&embrace such a Messiah…? ‘Their unChristian minds were darkened! God blinded&deafened them, so that…’ ‘With your own unJewish mind, are you serious…? ‘Look, I sp;eak with&from Authority, ThePillar&Ground-of-Truth! You merely prattle rationalisms! Need anything further be said by either of us?’

RIDDLE  TheHolyBreath! Which? TalkAbout, Suppress, Dissapate, Cultivate?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

 16^th Jan2022(2001) 2^nd SUNinORDINARY C

1. IS62:1-5

• Read 62:1-12! ReNaming&ReAssurance&ReEspousal by Yahweh, of City&People!
• ‘Integrity!’ Total reconciliation of ThePeople with Yahweh’sPriority, concomitantly His’Victory’Over’&TheirRejectionOf TheOtherGods’Priorities! wow!
• Again, it must be seriously asked whether ‘Yahweh’sPriority’ (The commitment of all resource to the freeing of the poor&ignorant!) isn’t essentially a non-starter!
• Since TheChristianChurches as a whole seem to have other fish to fry.
• Great new names! ‘MyDelight’, ‘TheWedded’! But can Yahweh sustain it?
• Why is Yahweh so impotent in regard to having His ‘Priority’ adopted&embodied?

2. THE PSALM 95:1-3,7-10

• Read 95(96): 1-13! A flattery-chant for Yahweh, by all except TheUnderworld!
• ‘Name!’ What ‘Power-of-Yahweh’ is evident in my world? &What is not?
• If TheWretched of this Earth received their ‘fair’ share, how’d that affect me?
• What ‘new’ song can be sung to Yahweh, that won’t cost us dearly?

3. 1Cor12:4-11

• Read 12:1-14:40! He evaluates the Variety&nature&relativeImportance of TheCharismaticGifts in TheCorinthianChurch, attributed to TheHolyBreath!
• What ‘spiritual gifts’ are acknowledged in my local church?
• To what extent is TheHolyBreath’ excluded in practice from my local Church?
• How might AdultChristians&HolyBreath&Magisterium collaborate?
• To what extent is Paul disposed to admit ‘spiritual gifts’ in Women?
• Why has the ‘gift’ of ‘speaking-in-tongues’ become so notorious, yet so ‘coveted’?
• &What if it is more ambivalent than those ‘endowed-with-it’ will admit?
• Why is Paul so anxious to assert, ‘All are work of one&same Spirit?’

4. Jn3:1-11

• What interpretations have I been given for this ‘familiar’ story?
• What is this story is an evocation of Dionysius stories of ‘ProvidingWine’?
• Why is TheMother seemingly never ‘named’ in TheFourthGospel?
• ‘TheHour!’: TheAcceptance by Jesus of TheBurden of being ThePassoverRam!
• ‘Wine!’ ‘Blood-of-TheRam (EXOD12)! Fruit-of-TheVineyard (IS5)!
• But what are ‘transformation stories’ very rare in TheJewishBible?

5. The Presence&Action of TheBlessedOne, is it like this?

Yes, He was even darker that I! I always reckoned it was the weight of Heaven’s Breath, like an unperceived storm! From TheTemple, from Joseph’sParting, &especially from Jochanaan’sPlunging, I could see the outline, though not the extent, of TheBreath! Even before HeHimself did! Only gradually, only circumspectly, He opened Eyes&Lips&Arms! I remember, it was at a wedding festival, not far from home, a small village, Cana I think it was! I was there looking after the food, Himself&4 or 5 followers were invited by TheBride (whose mother was a followere! Though not-herself)! Well, the usual, the wine runs out! I mention it to Him, He darkens in my regard, I nod here&there! &listen! He opened Eyes&Lips&Arms! & Heaven spilled into the needy celebrations of the blessed Bride&Groom! I can’t pretend to know the blood&marrow of it, but from that day at Cana, TheBreath incresingly surged&smiled in Him, a manifesting Storm! Such gracious stratagems of Heaven!!

6.RIDDLE    Which? TheMother   TheEarth   TheCity   TheBreath  TheHour   ThePeople?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

Sunday 9 January 2022 (’00): THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD: C

1.1S40:1-5, 9-11 (What about ‘YahwehBreath’ & ‘GrassPeople’?)

• Read 40:1-31! The beginnings of an agonised&complex exploration of the always-ambivalent ‘Yahweh-of-Sinai’! during the traumatic Exile-in-Babylon!
• Who are TheConsolers in my local church? Who are the inevitably-consoled?
• Who are The-Not-Being-Consoled? but whose need is all the deeper!
• To what extent are people being given mere ‘consolation prizes’?
• What if the genuinest consolation is the dynamic ‘Arrival-of-Yahweh’!
• In what significant way is ‘Yahweh’sConsolation’ different from that of TheOtherGods (including HermesZeusAphroditeArtemis)? But also that of ‘God’!

2 THE PSALM 103:1-2, 3-4, 24-25

• Read 103(104) 1-35! ‘Yahweh’, eco-cosmological divinity! But is this Him, really?
• How do I understand the use of exaggeration&flattery in this Yahweh-extract?
• Can I imagine ‘Yahweh’ as a sheikh, in cloth-of-gold, lolling in HisTent?
• Why is Yahweh often imagined as a ‘StormGod’? (Say, EXOD19:16-25; PS28(29)!)
• Doesn’t the rhetoric hide the true Weakness&Priority of Yahweh, ‘TheHungry’?

3 TIT2 11-14;3·4-7

• Read 1:1- 3:15! But will such hortational, somewhat-selfhrighteous, tending-to-belittle-others, using-nudge-nudge, language really achieve ‘change-of-behaviour’?
• What are my 20PrincipalOptionsHobbiesRelationships that do not ‘LeadToGod’?
• &Did Jesus at TheJordan renounce all that didn’t ‘LeadToGod’ (including ‘Fear’)?
• Can I name 5AdultChristians with ‘NoAmbition except ToDoGood’?
• In 15word , what is my Understanding&Experience of ‘DoingGood’?

4. LK3 15-16, 21-22 (What of TheWinnower&Chaff&Fire?)

• Read 3·l – 4:15! The richly-narrative ramifications of Jesus’RitualDeath-in-Jordan!  recapitulating the arduousDestiny of Yahweh’sReluctantPeople!
• ‘TheChrist!’. By what ‘signs’ would I recognise ‘TheMessiah’ in my local church?
• Especially the portentous&frightening ‘Someone’ delineated by TheBaptist!
• Why do Catholics assume that a ‘ReturningChrist’ would be ‘on our side’?
• In what terms did a ‘HeavenlyVoice’ address me, after or since my ‘baptism’?
• What are the7Ways in which ‘TheHolyBreath’ physically-manifests in my world?

5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?

‘Gertie! A’m still wonderin’ about that man!’ ‘God, Cissie, is it   y’ know who.. ‘ ‘He keep comin’ back inta th’ readin’s’ Y’d think it was him bein’ born-again.’ ‘Oh, that fella  goin’ round th’  doors prayin’, wit’ ‘is oul’ leaflets!’ ‘…instead of OurDivineLord” ‘Oh ..’ ‘Listenin’ above this morin’, chicken-chest was up on th’ altar, one rale squawker if y’ ask me ‘ ‘True ‘s God, Cissie! I’d t’ tell my fella t’ keep ‘is eyes til himself! “She’s nothin’ ‘d intrestya'” But he’s such a little ..’ ‘Gertie! Y’ shoulda heard all the talk about fire, &some twist-me-corset about SomeoneComin’ .’ ‘Aw, a’m well usedta that sorta chat, duck’s water is all it’s.. ‘ ‘I just said t’ meself, “John The Baptist, a’m supprised atcha!”, this talk ‘a fire an’ stuff.. ‘ ‘Puttin’ th’ fools further!’ ‘Haven’t we enuff a’ threats an’ fire this time a’ year, God bless th’   mark’ without yon.,’ ‘God knows y’re right, Cisssie’ I always thought he was just too innocent-lookin’ in ‘is sheep-fleece…!  ‘Yeah, too sweet t’ be wholesome!!’ ‘Yeah ..’

6. RIDDLE    ThroughBaptism, was I initiated into Eden Egypt Sinai Sion Gethsemane Golgotha Rome or my local church?

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

Sunday 2 January 2022 (’10) . 2ndSUN of CHRISTMAS : C

 1. SIRACH24.1-2, 8-12!

Who is this DivineFemmine, ‘Wisdom/Chokmah’? Where is She in my local church? All the dignified rhetoric, &yet women have so long been treated as second-class...

2.PS147:12-15, 19-20!

‘Peace/Wheat‘! Was this Prosperity&Food available to all, or only the privileged? Why is this pious Wishful-thinking so prevalent in ThePsalms, &passed on to us?

3. EPHl:3-6, 15-18!

How inspiring, Paul’s prayer for TheEphesians! Is such a prayer being offered for us? ‘AdoptedSons’! Does he mean to exclude Women? Or is it just ‘stylistic’?

4. JNI:1-18!

‘TheWord’! The story ofYahweh’sInitiative, to Bring-ThePeople-out-of-Enslavement! This-Deed-became-Flesh-in-TheLife-of-Jesus! Always, He-Aimed-to-Free-from-Slavery!

RIDDLE! ‘Why is Yahweh’s-Initiative-in-TheExodus basically unacknowledged?’

• We prefer to remain in TheSlavery-of-Obedience-to-TheChurch’!
• It all sounds a bit foreign! &Isn’t really dealt-with inTheCaddykissim!
• It’s not politically-correct, ID either Temple or Church, to be mentioing ‘Yahweh’!
• Essentially, it’s just a trifle too Jewish for RomanCatholics!

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie