Category: ADBI

SUN 26TH  DEC 2021(‘00): THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY & JOSEPH C

1. 1SAM1:20-22,24-28 (why omit v. 23?)

• Read 1:1-20! Celebration of the Misery&Triumph of Hannah-the-Mother!
• Why is ‘Yahweh” regularly associated with ‘infertility’ in women?
• In spite of modern knowledge, are women still thought of as ‘fields or ovens’?
• Why is it presumed in TheBible that men don’t contribute to ‘childlessness’?
• Who are The3GreatBiblicalRoleModels for ‘ChristianMothers’?
• What of the claim, that contemporary women as they struggle against the odds to create their ‘mother-ministry’, have to take ‘pot-luck’, like Hannah?

2. THE PSALM: 83:2-3, 5-6, 9-10

• Read 83(84) 1-12! The reassuring beauty of Yahweh’s DwellingPlace!
• Where is ‘Yahweh’s dwelling place’ in our local church?
• Would not Yahweh’s dynamic presence utterly threaten our church’s-resource?
• Is this excerpt designed to induce in us a sentimental mindlessness?
• Since it is at least hinted in TheBible that ‘Yahweh-lives-in-ThePoor’?
• ‘TheyAreHappy!’: Is this psalm really in praise of ‘priests&levites’?

3. 1JN3:1-2, 21-24

• In what ways is being (called) ‘God’sChildren’ a privilege, or a burden, or…?
• 45words! TheNature&Advantage&Cost&Ambivalence of being ‘Adult Christian’!
• How am I being initiated&trained into the Demands&Procedures of ‘SeeingGod’?
• If I were ‘rooted fully’ in ‘ThePowerOfJesus’, where would the flatterers be?
• What will to ‘mutual love’, if ‘will-to-truth’ rears its beautiful head?
• ‘Cos ‘TheSpiritOfWisdom’ may include&embrace ‘modern thought’ also!

4. LK2:41-52

• What ‘interpretations’ have I been given for this narrative, with its nuances of Passover&Temple&ThirdDay&Twelve&Father&Mother! & Samuel-the-Oblate!
• How are parents being enabled to discern&value their child’s ‘peculiar destiny’?
• When did ‘HisMother’ bring back to the light what She’d ‘stored up’?
• Why does Joseph-His-Father never speak in this ‘gospel’?

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

The previous weekend, Samantha was calling Mam on  the mobile during a cruise on the Shannon! But if she was, didn’t the thing leave her hand an’ fall straight into the water! That night, Effie heard the lot from her bedroom, Sam’s tractor voice an’ Mam saying ‘Sam, as well it was only that an’ not yerself!  Didja say ‘Jesus-lost, Jesus-found!’ To which Sam shouted, “O for cryin’ out loud wi’ th’ pigs! It wasn’t lost, it was gone!” On Thursday, Effie was prepared! ‘Gran!’ ‘Yes, a sthore?’ ‘Effie recounted the mishap, &Mam’s give-out, ‘Jesus-lost, Jesus-found!’ ‘Well it’ll leave Sam in a bit of a…’ ‘Gran!’ ‘Yes, my dear! It’s an old prayer we usedta say if we lost somethin’, that Jesus ‘d help us t’ find it again!’ ‘an’ what did Jesus lose, Gran? Was it his mobile?’ ‘Worse than that, Effie! When he was a child, he was lost for a whole day on his Mammy  an’ Daddy in th’ big city! ‘Like Listowel?’ ‘Bigger even! So  they had a real hard time lookin’ for him! An’ guess where they found him?’ ‘ The Guards barracks?’ ‘Better! The school beside the chapel!’ ‘If he’d a mobile they coulda phoned him! But I’ll tell Sam about Jesus, she’ll be pleased! An’ I hope I lose somethin’ soon, so that I can say the prayer! Great!!’

6.  RIDDLE

Biblically, which is of more value? Mother of Father or Daughter or Son?

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

SAT 25^th DEC 2021(‘03): THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD

1. IS9:1-7

• Read the shocking story NUM31:1:1-54 (Also NUM25:1-17)
• ‘A Child’ Read IS7:1-8:22! The male heir of King Ahaz!  on whom are bestowed flattering ‘divine’ titles! is a sign of Yahweh’s ‘favour’!
• What hints in this excerpt about the possibility of a non-violent sovereignty?
• Or indeed, of ‘foreigners’ accepting someone else’s ‘wide dominion’ over them?
• & Have Christians asserted ‘peace’ rhetorically, & something else pragmatically?
• Is my local church living&walking in Darkness or Light? &How I’d know?

2. THE PSALM: 95:1-3, 11-13

• Read95(96):1-13! A ShoutLitany for Yahweh-ehe-King!
• What signs are there that Yahweh is willing or able to create ‘Justice&Truth’?
• Why flatter Yahweh, when DionysiusAphroditeHermesHades rule OK?
• Surely the ‘NewSongToYahweh’ should emphasise&celebrate

            His extreme weakness as regards ‘freeing the oppressed’

            The unacceptable cost of embodying HisPriority!

            The unlikelihood that He can go-it-alone (without Wisdom, that-is)!

            The attractiveness of TheOtherGods!

            The enervating ‘theology’ that stifles Jesus, Yahweh’sEmbodiment!

3. TIT2:11-14

• Really, what ‘salvation’ is ‘possible for the whole human race’?
• ‘Everything that doesn’t lead to God!’: What’s left, in that case?
• ‘WordlyAmbitions!’: We must be ambitious for our world & its species!
• The ambition of ‘doing good’, how can it be explored & grounded-in-reality?
• How much of our current ‘world-denial’ is born out of massive&erroneous conviction that ‘HisImminentAppearing’ rendered ‘this-world’ irrelevant?

4. LK2:1-14

• ‘Census’: To estimate (colonial) resources relative to taxation & military service!
• Why does Joseph in LK have no ‘problem’ about the child, but Mary does?
• How does ‘TheCrib’ function as a ‘hint-to-relevance’ in chapel&home&supermarket?
• Which is more important in this excerpt? ‘TheDavidicDynasty’ or ‘TheShepherds’?
• ‘Sign’!: ‘Cos the birth of babies in the open was unusual? Or is it the ‘manger’?
• In what ways is ‘Jesus’Life’ food&nutrition for an ‘adult disciple’?

5.The Presence&Action of the Blessed One, is it like this?

‘I was at midnight Mass there…’ ‘Did he say an’thin’? ‘He did!’ ‘What?!’ ‘Well, t’ be honest withya, I wasn’t in great shape, God forgimme! But I remember one thing…’Was it the one about Santa & Rudolph?’ ‘Wouldya mind, even if y’ are an atheist..’ ‘OK peace at Christmas! What’d he say?’ ‘He mentioned th’ oul’ Canon!’ “th’ oul’ Canon?’ ‘Th’ oul’ Canon!’ He says he heard from someone or other what th’ oul’ Canon ‘d say during midnight Mass, after The Consecration, mind-you!’ ‘Begod, I..’ ‘He’d step forward &proclaim it.’ ‘God, I remember it!’ ‘…in that great voice,

“He’s-here! He’s-always-here! He-always-will-be-here!

But what of yous an’ me? But what of yous an’ me?” We’d be waitin’ for it with a lump in our throats! That was the real Christmas then!’ ‘Aw y’re right! A lump in our throats! No frills or flounces! Straight from th’ heart! ‘Ah, boys a’ boys! ‘But what of yous an’ me!’ Ah that’s th’ way.’

6.RIDDLE: His most nourishing ‘title’? Saviour Christ Lord God Son …..or?

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

                  Sunday 19^th December 2021 (’00): 4^thSunday of Advent C MIC 5:1-4

1. Read 4:1-5:15 Yahweh in gentle&ironic&aggressive moods!

• How important in my world is geneology&lineage&tribal systems?
• What are the 25ConstitutiveAspects of my life? & Who ‘rules over’ each of them?
• How impressed are ‘christian adults’ now, to hear Yahweh’s Threats&Promises?
• What are the ten factors that potentially threaten or subvert my ‘security?
• On the threshold of ‘Christmas,’ which divinities am I most-beholden-to?

2. THE PSALM : 79: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19

• Read 79(80): 1-19 Yahweh’s ever-ambivalent relations with ‘ThisVine!’
• How-understand the cry-for-help of a ‘weakPeople’ to a weak divinity?
• ‘Cherubim Throne!’ : Why they’d imagine Yahweh ‘throned on cherubim?’ (1K6ff)
• But will TheShepherd come down from His ‘CherubinThrone’ among TheSheep?
• And Will TheVintner come out of Hiddenness to protect TheVineyard?
• And will TheWarrior burst through TheVeil to enthuse-with-power TheAnointed?

3. HEB 10: 5-10

• Read PS 39(40) 1-17 One of Patricius Filius Calpornin’s favourite psalms! Why?
• Is there a hint here the ‘ Yahweh’ manifests in ‘HisGoodTime,’ but not in ours?
• How could a Jew determine that ‘obedience’ was more excellent than ‘sacrifice?’
• What about ‘JesusChrist’sBody’  made its ‘offering’ so efficacious?

4. LK 1:39-44

• What are the great MeetingOfMothers’ stories in biblical and other mythology?
• Why as it seems, did only Elizabeth’s fetus leap? {More developed?)
• What interpretations, doctrinal&devotional, have I been given for this story?
• Why did Mary take this initiative alone without Joseph?
• Is there a hint here that Mary too, as well as Elizabeth, had been ‘barren?’ (Especially the repeated reference to ‘womb,’ & TheLord’sPromise…’) How would the storyteller know this very intimate story?

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

‘It seems to me a very secure opinion, amounting to a truth of faith, that TheBaptist by the preemptive graciousness of TheCreator-of-All, was definitively sanctified in his mother’s womb by the salvific approach…’‘Woah there, Peter Lombard! Have-pity & speak English! But more importantly, speak-truth!’ThePractisingSceptic addressed TheOfficialBeliever with more spark than usual! ‘How can you continue to fob us off with these pious fatasies? Do you ever question the relevance of this mythical raimeis?’

‘How dare you articulate such scurrilities in my presence?’

‘…Considering the intractable problems that beset not only your church, but our planet!’

‘That is of no consequence, I can assure your naive nihilism! Nothing is more important than to defend the truths of tradition by all means! Veritas praevaleat, ruat coelum!

‘Your sacrifizio dell intelletto amazes&saddens me!’

‘Nothing could be further…’

‘I could almost pray in moments like this, that someone like TheBaptist, sanctified in the womb or not, would appear & shout the truth!’

‘Not al all! No praying, it’s against your Modernist creed! Anyway, we don’t need him! The Word-of-Truth speaks in TheChurch&HerMinisters! That’s the long & the short of it! e basta cosi!

6. RIDDLE Is our current understanding-of & relation-to the biblical divinities rich complex poor patchy intermittent non-existent or deep?

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

Sunday 12 December 2021(’00) : 3^rdSunday of Advent C

1. Zeph 3: 14-18

• Read 1:1-3:20! Threats of punishment for all, with a sort of eventual conversion!
• Who is speaking as violently&promisingly as Zephaniah into my time&space?
• How understand the Anger&Disgust&Tenderness of ‘Yahweh’s Prophets?’
• Can I visualise Yahweh-The-Warrior, exulting&renewing&dancing –for-Her?
• ‘In-Your-Midst’: How is Yahweh’s ‘Presence’ perceived&actualised?
• How significant is it that all these sentiments are expressed to a female?
• What are the pros&cons of presenting Yahweh as a ‘CharismaticWarrior?’

2. The Psalm Is 12: 2-6

• Read 9:2-12:6! Fruit of attributing to Yahweh a LordshipOverHistory?
• In what ways do I experience ‘Yahweh’ as ‘MyStrength&Song&Saviour?
• But then, what empathy or understanding or desire is evident in my Church, to comprehend the biblical mythology, in a deep dynamic dangerous way?
• Has our inexorable torrent of ‘GodTalk’ eclipsed the different reality of ‘Yahweh?
• Wishful thinking aside, what ‘glorious deeds’ has ‘Yahweh’ performed?
• In all honesty, is any divinity ‘greater-in-our-midst’ than Dionysus?
• Is this psalm compatible with the assertion, ‘Yahweh is the weakest of the gods?

3. Phil 4: 4-7

• In my understanding & experience of it, what are the 5 IngredientsOfHappiness?
• What distinguishes being ‘happy’ and being ‘happy-in-the-Lord’?
• How can I say to anyone else, ‘There is no need to worry!’?
• What are the 20PrincipalWorries that are gnawing contemporary ‘christians’
• Why is ‘a radical Christian discipleship ’not being seriously commended to all?
• What are the ‘ingredients’ of ‘a radical Christian discipleship’ for here&now?

4. Luke 3:10-18

• The WellOff & Taxcollectors&Soldiers!’ What is the equivalent in my community?
• Who is addressing these with the (apparent) straightforwardness of The Baptist?
• What fruit can be reasonably expected from the cut & dried maxims?
• How are ‘adult christians’ with ‘roles-in-society’ being deepened-in-faith?
• Or are they left to boggle-on , with Sunday ‘homilies’ that don’t ‘rock-the-boat?’
• What ‘boat’ did John&Jesus&Paul rock, that got them so quickly ‘dispatched?

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

Listen, Gertie, there’s one man I’ve always wondered about…’God, Cissie, tell- us! Is it y’ know like…’The way he be in the pictures, up til ‘is oxthers in water, halfdressed in an oul sheepskin…’ ‘…Tarzan, like? ‘…baptism’ OurDivineLord! ‘Oh…’Say, was he a sorta priest, or was he married, or what…’ ‘I always thought he was nunna them…’ ‘Above at mass, he didn’t seem too sure!’ ‘What’s new?’ ‘Whether he gave it all up for God, or maybe had married Mary Magdalene, then run away & done penance with th’ animals…’ ‘Th’ animals?’ ‘The main thing he said, an’ I think he mighta got this right, was that he told them all what was what! An’ warned them, “ If yez think a’m a dose wait’ll OurDivineLord comes! An’ that’s official!” ‘So…’ ‘A’m not so sure about th’ animals! I read somewhere in school, they can’t commit sin ‘cos they’ve no soul!’ ‘Well, there’s one thing, he’s left me real worried about yer man! God, wasn’t life simple before they started reading this Vatican counsel…’

6. Riddle: Which is best? To be Happy or Free or Pure or Loved or honest?

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

Sunday 5 December 2021 (‘00) : 2ndSUN of ADVENT : C

1. BARS:1-9

• Read J •9 – 5 ·9 ! In Praise of Wisdom & Jerusalem & Torah !
• ‘Jerusalem!’: Place of David & The Temple & The Return From Exile!
• Assembly-of-The Children, Return-like-Princes, Flattening-of-The Hills, Filling-of­ the Valleys, Shade-of-Trees, Walking-in-Light! Where are these in my Church?

2. THE PSALM: 125:1-6

• ‘Sow’-in-Tears!’: To mourn The Death-of-The Seed! To irrigate it ritually!

To deceive and ward off the Envious Spirits! To merit in advance TheHoped for Fruit!

• ‘Sheaves!’: What ‘harvest-rituals’ are still important in my world?
• Is the plentiful availability of food increasingly taken-for-granted? Or is there a concomitant fear & ignorance around GM&superpests&crypto-illnesses like CJD?
• What other ecological ‘Cassandras’ are we just too blasé about? Like

                         Widespread pollution of the water table  
                         Overuse of fertilisers and suspect animal feed
                         Short term conveniences that accelerate global warming 

Collusion with policies that destroy species we actually depend on? 
& if these and other fatal incidences are ‘supported’ by ‘otherworldly’ theologies?

 
    3.   PHIL l :3-6, 8-11 (What of the important v7?)

• Who wouldn’t  straightway go & read the whole letter aloud, with a friend!
• How is this prayer (that mutual-love’ may increase, improve their knowledge, deepen their perception, to recognise the best!) happening now?
• ‘The Day Of-Christ”:   Sleepers-awake! Who said it’s not this Eucharist!

4. LK3:1-6

• Read 3: 1-38! This dense complex one-chapter epitome-of-the-bible!
• Can I imagine the process by which John emerged as a ‘yahwistic prophet’?

• The power represented by Caesar & Co, is it not still triumphant, in spite of all!
• So many ‘Christians”’, baptized and preached-to, yet The Other Gods thrive! Why?
• Has our preoccupation with authority&obedience&devotion, &our mutual encouragement  to be passive&minimalist, frustrated  ‘The Way-of-Yahweh’?

5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?
    Many suns&moons like Elijah I crouched in the caves watching for TheBlessedOne to pass! Like Jonah, I contemplated the sinful city from a distance, what word would leap from my burning throat! Like Moses on ThePisgah, and Joshua on TheFurtherBank, I waited patiently, yet the hunger for the great destiny I knew was mine! Always TheWhisperer “Yochanaan”  You, The-One-Who-Prepares-TheWay!  The ancient oracles flowed tumultuously in the cavern of my heart! Where food&clothing were scarce, those blessed songs were nourishment, warmth, and shelter! Then time was fulfilled, and TheWhisperer thundered,  “Up Yochanaan!” Go to that people once myBride, who have become Canaanites in my sight! Spare them not high&low! Be not seduced by their threats and blandishments!  Carry TheFlail-of-Judgement in one hand, but carry too in the other TheBlessingCup!  Stand finally in TheRiver-of-Life&Death and offer the bitter gifts to all who come near! &There at last both you&they will embrace TheTruth-of-Truths!

6. RIDDLE  Which is more urgent to be embodied in our present crisis?

Paul or TheBaptist or Jesus?

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

Sunday 28 December 2021 (’00)  lstSUNofADVENT : C

1. JER33 14-16

• Read 32:1 – 33:26! Yahweh’s&ThePeople’s Struggle, for Fidelity-inCovenant!
• What are TheFiveCriteria by which to discern ‘Yahweh ‘sPresence’?
• ‘Covenent!’: The effectual-embrace of Yahweh&People that makes Him freeingly- actual in&from&towards-all! But, who’d want such a dangerous lover?       
• ‘YahwehOurIntegrity!’: &What ‘name’ for our own local church?
• What is analogous in my world,to TheDavidicDynasty & itsDauphins?

2. THE PSALM 24:4-5, 8-9, 14

• Read 2-1(25):l-221 But will embodying Yahweh’s ethical priorities enhance me?
• In TheCelticTiger, what Resources&Needs&Behaviours represent Yahweh?
• ‘Way&Path&Truth!’: Yahweh’s imperative, to free those enslaved by ‘OtherGods!’
• What are TheOthcrGods if not TheResoucesNeedsBehaviours that oppress me!
• How, if at all, is Yahweh  (as distinct, say, from  Dionysus&Hermes&Elohim &Aphrodite&Hades etc) impinging on me? &What’s the cost of warding Him off?

3. 1THESS3:12 – 4:2

• Read 2:17 – 5-28! Paul addresses the confusion&concern&pessimism of GreekChristians in face of the imminently-expected ‘SecondComingOfJesus’!
• How effective is Exhortation&Threat, for the faithful embodiment of ‘discipleship?
• How do contemporary  ‘letters to the church’ (which’!) compare with 1THESS?
• Write a100word letter to ‘the adult christians’ of Northern Ireland!

4. LK21:25-28, 34-36 (Why is ‘TheFigTree’ omitted?)

• Read 21 :5-36! Imaginings of Persecution, EndTime, SecondComing, TheDay’
• In this ‘apocalypse’ what is being ‘unveiled’ about the state of my local church?
• What are we doing about

The alurming ecological crisis?

The distress of millions from hunger&depredation?

The pullulating violence, substance-abuse, &greed?

The unabated credulity&flattery&selfdeception?

The collusive refusal to pay the high cost of freedom?

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

‘Well .. ‘ ‘Well is-right! y’  shoulda been above there this mornin’.  ”What.. ” .. t’ hear  ‘im tryin’ t’put th’ wind up us! pretendin’ t’  be spakes from th’  man-above  . ‘ ‘All in dubble-dutch I suppose .. ‘ ‘Signs up in th’  sky, things here things there, floods

An’ th’ enda’ th’  world! makin’ out it could be soon, for  th’  joobily” ‘More o’ that global warnin’ , all millarkey for what’s ,worth!’ ‘I  just let ‘im flow gently  sweet afton, what could I do!  when a spake o’ th’ oul’ Canon came t’ me as clear as day, his great musical voice, no mike nor nothin’!’ ‘Nowadays begod, even with dessibels,  y’ can’t hear .. ,, ‘He usedta stand there, comin’ up t’ Christmas,  “Th’Time  t’Remember Th’Poor!’  he called  it, an’  he’d let it out like an orchestra, “It’s always Advent, He’s ahalways close by, don’t be put off be threats nor nothin’… !!! ‘Aw I loved that man…’ ‘…”One thin above all… “‘  ‘Aw say it for   ‘im!’ ‘… “Don’t be fooled  be all  th’  oul’ talk, just watch out for ‘Im, comin’ there a  natural as babies an’ beggars an’  birds !'”

‘Aw it still brins a tear! But, boys a’ boys, it’s a quare changed world!’

6. RIDDLE

Which is preferable? Comfort without freedom? Or freedom without comfort?

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