Category: ADBI

Sunday 17^th September 2023 (’05) : 24thSUNinORDINARY : A

1. SIRACH27:30 — 28:7!

Why are Christians actually so ravenous for ‘vengeance’ rather than ‘forgiveness’?

2. PS102:1-4, 9-12!

For me-as-AdultDisciple, who is TheGreatExemplar-of-Forgiveness?

3. ROM14:7-9! (But, what’s this enigmatic squeak all about? &No context?)

What’s preventing me becoming a TrueDisciple, amenable to life, or death? Lack-of-Conviction? Fear? Indifference? GreaterLove-for-Dionysus/Aphrodite/Cuchulainn?

4. MT18:21-35!

Spite of this, aren’t IrishChristians very reluctant to ‘forgive’, even themselves?

‘There’s one of the gospel parables & its appended ‘teaching’, as it were, I’m moved to take issue with…’ As ever, the tone&manner of ThePractisingSceptic was even, tentative, &only fleetingly ironic! ‘Stay right there, if you don’t mind…’ TheOfficial Believer was not impressed or appeased! ‘The parables are the inspired creations of TheWord-of-Truth, as are the blessed elucidations that flow from these dense mysterious oeuvres!’ ‘Nothing mysterious, nor forgiving, may I add, about the master, to whom TheHeavenlyFather is implicitly compared, who out of anger condemned his servant to be tortured until he rtestored the debt…’ ‘Not at all…’ ‘…nor is it edifying, to put it mildly, to suggest that DivineLove could ever act like that…’ ‘Don’t ever forget, He’s also just… &Hell is still infallibly taught in our neck of the woods…’ ‘So much the more are your tree-dwellers to be pitied! Proposing to yourself&others such an impossible divine master…!’ ‘Blasphemer…’ ‘So be it, I can live with that empty shibboleth! But can all you dryads face the possibility, that using these texts uncritically to speak of TheIneffableLove, is merely foisting a blatant caricature on the gullible multitude! Who will proceed to use that as an excuse for their own similar unforgiving pathetic life-style…’ ‘Ggggrrrhhh…!!!’

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

Sunday 10 September 2023 (’05) : 23rdSUNinORDINARY : A

1. EZEK33:7-9!

Who in my local church, &in IrishSociety, has the burden of being Prophet-of-Yahweh?

2. PS94:1-2, 6-9!

In what 5Ways is ‘TheVoice-of-Yahweh’ heard, heeded, ignored in TheModernWorld?

3. ROM13:8-10!

Yes, ‘Love’ is the answer, let’s agree! But, what’s ‘Love’? Especially, ‘Love-of-Self’?

4. MT18:15-20!

What hope that we can offer&receive ‘correction’, without rancour or resentment?

Journey Song of a 21stC Irish Disciple

Lord&Lady! If I'm a weirdo, I'm that for You!

Lord&Lady! Keep me focussed! Compassion-for-All!

Lord&Lady! No resource of mine be hidden!

Lord&Lady! Never let me stint, ever!

Lord&Lady! Grant me the gift of vivid ritual!

Lord&Lady! Ever mindful, ever awake!

Lord&Lady! Faithful to Truth, not Rhetoric!

Lord&Lady! I ask YourCompanioning, step-by-step!

Lord&Lady! I'm Yours, in life, in death, &forever.....

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

Sunday 3 September 2023 (’05) : 22ndSUNinORDINARY : A

1. JER20:7-9!

‘SeducedOverPoweredLaffingStockInsultFireWeariness’! Be a ‘Prophet-of-Yahweh’?!

2. PS62:2-6, 8-9!

This Song-of-Lover-for-Beloved! What makes TheTempleDivinity so alluring to some?

3. ROM12:1-2!

What are The5Characteristics of ‘TheNewMind-of-TheAdultDisciple’? Have I any?

4. MT16:21-27!

MyStruggle-for-Discipleship, how do I distinguish ‘God’sWay’ from ‘Man’s/Woman’s’?

More&more TheTime is being fulfilled, &I am surrendering into TheAll-Loving Embrace of TheFather’sBreath! I know I’m being carried on HerWings, not whither nor how I desire it, but as She creates each moment! I’ve had many premonitions of this Stream-of-Grace, from that day I steppt into Jordan, &submitted to being Drowned-in-TheBreath! Though even that was but TheBeginnings-of-TheGreatMetanoia! I knew that TheTester-of-TrueFaith would henceforth never leave me, not has He! His constant onslaught on my Fidelity-to-TheBreath has surely been the direst of burdens! yet, of a truth, this brief span of years has been a time for me of unmixt happiness! Praise&Thanks to TheFather-of-AllCompassion! I’ve been tested in every way, not only by Slanders-of-TheSpirits, &TheScheming-of-TheReligiousAuthorities, &Persecution by some of my own clan! But, more disappointingly, by opposition from my own closest circle of followers, TheTwelve! They too, I know, are coming to appreciate the radical nature of this Ministry-of-Wholeness-for-All! that it’s not just a set of doctrines or wisdom-sayings to interpret & argue-about, but that it’s inaugurating a Way-of-TheBreath that hasn’t been contemplated since TheBlessedOne RescuedTheWretched People-from-TheSlavery-of-Egypt! Any testing&burden is worth this Ministry! The cost is great in every way, nothing less than everything! As I said to Kephas in one of his regular moods-of-rejection, ‘The progress of this Ministry-of-TheBreath will demand the resolute substitution, once for all, of Heaven’sWay-of-Compassion for Human Reckoning…’ May it continue to be so, when I depart…!

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

Sunday 27 August 2023 (’05) : 21stSUNinORDINARY : A

1. IS22:19-23!

‘Yahweh-of-Armies’ dismisses&appoints! But who is actually making the ‘decisions’?

2. PS137:1, 3, 6-8! (&Whose interests are ‘dismissing&appointing’ this psalm?)

Experientially, what basis have I for Trust-in-Yahweh-of-TheWildernessCovenant?

3. ROM11:33-36!

‘Knowledge-of-God’! Ha! Do preachers&others-who-go-on-about-‘God’ ever read this?

4. MT16:13-20!

Is this story actually a ritual-of-initiation for ‘TheLeader-of-TheTwelve’?

‘At long last, begod! I hear somethin’ dacent above this mornin’…’ ‘Wha’? Don’ tell me th’ statcha appeared til her fav’rite man…’ ‘Watch i’…’ ‘On’y a wee slag…’ ‘Y’r man musta been inspired…’ ‘…I saw a duck swallyin’ a nelephint…’ ‘…right in th’ middle a’ th’ thing, what does ‘e say…?…”A’m told y’r oul’ Canon had a fav’rite sayin’, in connection wit’ th’ gospel t’day! Bridie Faherty tol’ me on th’ First Friday…”…’ ‘Hey, that’s me sister in th’ half-parish! She’s th’ on’y one of us that still goes anywhere…’ ‘…”…an’ pay attention now, it’s well worth rememberin’! OurDivineLord, comrades, handed it t’ Peter, not ‘cos ‘e was th’ Pope! but an ordin’ry Joe Soap leck you an’ me, who always did what ‘e could! Never howlin’ nothin’ against ‘im!!”…’ ‘Aw, I reely loved that man!’ ‘Well, y’r man sorta redeemed hisself there this mornin’…’ ‘An’ good f’r Bridie too! Let ‘er hang in there, feedin’ ‘im more a’ th’ oul’ Canon…’ ‘Begod, it’d make a great differ, too…!’

Sunday 20^th August 2023(’05) : 20thSUNinORDINARY : A

(Remember Maximilian Kolbe, who died Being-for-Others!)

1. IS56:1, 5-7!

In my local church, are ‘foreigners’ also finding a ‘house of prayer’?

2. PS66:2-3, 5-6, 8!

Speaking about&to God, is there a presumption, ‘He’s closer to us than to TheOthers’?

3. ROM11:13-15, 29-32!

Is it credible that ‘Rejection-of-TheJews’ is ‘Mercy-for-Us’? &What are TheJews doing, vis-a-vis God, in the meantime? Have nonJewishChristians ever read Paul carefully?

4. MT15:21-28!

Here, how did Jesus transcend traditional Jewish intolerance of Canaanites&Women?

NINE SHOUTS-IN-THE-BREATH OF A NON-JEWISH DISCIPLE!

Amen! Praise for TheBreath, that carried TheWord-of-Wholeness!

Amen! Chokmah, Yahweh, &Elohim!

Amen! TheGreatWomen, that bodied Suffering&Courage!

Amen! TheFolk’s insatiableYearning, an UnfailingCovenant!

Amen! TheStrongThreads, woven as Jesus-of-Nazareth!

Amen! TheImages-of-Grace, Water&Blood&Breath!

Amen! TheShepherds! Moses&David, Rachel&Esther!

Amen! TheBrightVoices! TheBlessedTimes&Festivals!

Amen! TheWord-ParExcellence! “Love-for-All!!”

4. God-is-Love!

Frequently quoted, usually out of context (So, what’s new then, pussycat, regarding TheBible?), rarely wondered about! What is the significance of each of the words, &how they are related, &is it as much a question or a riddle, as a declaration or factual statement? Sometimes too, it is reversed in a facile way, ‘Love-is-God’… But,

* What, experientially, is That-which-I-call-‘God’? Where does It palpably occur in my experience? Which ritual grounds It for me? As an adult, howdo I negotiate with It? What advantage is it, to say, ‘It’s really TheTrinity’? In what ways is its Presence&Action limited (or enhanced) by the ‘church mindset’ I’ve been given? Have I been encouraged&trained to dialogue, addressing&listening&responding, to ‘God’? Or, have I been vaccinated to babble mere platitudes about It?

* &That-which-I-call-‘Love’? Where do I imbibe the best understanding of ‘Love’? From Parents, Preaching, TheMedia, ThePoets, Saints’Lives, or Jesus? Is it self-interest, narcissism, sexual attraction? The best grasp of ‘Love’ is embodied in Jesus’ TotalLife : To seek the utmost Wholeness & Unfolding-of-all-TheGiftedness,

of oneself or another! What a tremendous focus for one’s life!

* That innocent word ‘is’, that connects ‘God’ & ‘Love’ in the English version! Does it represent ‘identity’? Or does it hint at a nuance, especially if both ‘God’ & ‘Love’ are taken more as verbs… Say,

It is TheNature&Desire

of TheUnimaginableCreationalOutsurge called ‘God’,

to Seek TheFullestWholeness&Emergence

of EveryOne & EveryThing!

5. The One True Church!

This, learned&repeated from the cradle! Is it a statement, a riddle, or a question? Or a programmatis aspiration?

* Remembering that in mental&literary context, ‘one’ can mean ‘only’, ‘unique’, ‘preeminent’… Yahweh (DEUT6) said, ‘Yahweh is your god, Yahweh alone…!’ But Yahweh also knew that TheOtherGods offered alternative, &often more attractive, ways-of-being-in-TheWorld! So, what would render Yahweh’s ‘uniqueness’ normative? ‘Fear’? Or ‘deeper meaningfulness’? Or ‘better evidence’? Or the sheer ‘weight of Temple authority’?

* ‘True?’, someone said, ‘What’s-that?’

The Greek understanding of ‘true’ was, ‘factual’!

The Hebrew understanding of ‘true’ was, ‘worth living one’s life within’!

So, is it something to do with the intellect? Or, something more to do with the heart?

* ‘Church’ seems (like the Irish term ‘Domhnach’) to be from a Greek word meaning ‘Lord’! Proximately, then, it refers to Jesus-as-Lord, but through this, it evokes the OT way, ‘TheLord’, of referring to ‘Yahweh’!

Biblically then, is ‘TheOneTrueChurch’ more realistically heard as a programmatic aspiration?

We are a unique kind of society!

We see ourselves as pledged to embodying in every situation

The Blessed Way-of-Life of ‘Yahweh-in-Jesus’,

Namely, Compassion&HealingLove for All Humans, &All-that-Lives!

Come you too, &with-us be part of

This SelfGiving-for-TheLife-of-TheWorld!

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

Sunday 13 August 2023 (’05): 19thSUNinORDINARY : A

1. 1K19:9, 10-13a! (What about v10? &Especially vv13b-18?)

In what ways is ‘Yahweh’ active in the politico-religious aspects of IrishSociety?

2. PS84:9-14!

‘MercyWholenessFaithfulnessJustice’! How actively embodied in my local church?

3. ROM9:1-15!

Down the centuries, has TheChurch been eager or reluctant to ‘help’ TheJewishPeople?

4. MT14:22-33!

What 5Circumstances in IrishSociety unnerve me, &drag me down?

‘Man of little faith’, He said to me, out on the waves, as wind howled like a roaring lion about us! &Whatever pinch of faith I did have, in all my days&nights on TheLake in the worst of conditions, I had never been tested&found-wanting as on that evening! I loved&respected the sea, even its moody turns, but always I was very wary of the wind : very capricious&cunning, rather like that lion stalking me with implacable&ghastly intent! I know TheTeacher often compares Heaven’sBreath to the marvellous freedom&everywhereness of the wind, but this just serves to make me wonder… Is it Heaven’sBreath itself I’m really wary of? Did it seduce me to step out of the safety of the boat onto the waves, only to make it clear to all, how flimsy in a real crisis my trust was? &To whisper urgently, ‘Kephas! What will you do to increase&deepen your meagre pinch of faith? In case one day TheTeacher is not there to reach out & hold you safe, &you founder in the waves beyond recovery?’ Humbly I must admit this likelihood, but what can I do? who can I share my dilemma with? Perhaps HeHimself will mention it privately, &give me a special blessing! I really haven’t the courage to say it for myself! Oh, am I just doomed to be a failure? But the other day, when we landed safely, Madgalene said this, ‘Remember, Kephas! Not the wind! Trust your own breath, &’twill bring you safe through every dark…!’

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

Sunday 6 August 2023 (’02): THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD : A

1. DAN7:9-10, 13-14

* Read 7:1-28! TwoVisions! TheTwoBeasts&TheSon-of-Man! intertwined&linked!

* ‘Daniel’sDreamsVisions!’: Simultaneously religious&political! Look at 7:18, 27!

* What do I know about the struggles to unite (or to separate) ‘church’ & ‘state’?

* ‘One-of-GreatAge!’: Who&what does this description remind me of?

* ‘One-like-a-Son-of-Man!’: Like a human being! unlike the BeastVisions!

* What is the relevance of this ‘night vision’ to my local church?

* ‘Empire!’: How different this one, from the others that arose, peaked, &foundered?

* ‘ThroneWheelsFire!’: Read EZEK1:1-28, his ‘Vision-of-TheChariot’!

2. THE PSALM : 96:1-2, 5-6, 9

* Read 96(97):1-12! Hymn of ‘wishful thinking’ for the cosmic éclat of KingYahweh!

* In calling Yahweh ‘king’ (or ‘reigning’), what role-models did TheHebrews have?

* How ‘user-friendly’ is this imagery in my local church?

* Are there similar images of ‘TheStormGod’ in Celtic&Norse mythology?

* If ‘cloud&darkness’ are His’Raiment’, will this make them more ‘acceptable’?

* &If ‘justice&right’ are His’Throne’, will this ensure that they’re actually achieved?

* In my local church, is ‘justice’ more a question of ‘deed’ or ‘word’ or ‘aspiration’?

* &It must be asked whether this ‘gothic’ imagery isn’t being done better in the videos?

3. 2PET1:16-19

* Read 1:1 – 2:22! This writer, not ‘Peter’, in very colourful language, is writing to

a community whose ‘faith’ is at risk from ‘false prophets’, around the end of the 1stC!

* ‘Myths!’: Here, the word refers to the stories&images, that others (‘pagans’& the-like)

fraudulently&meretriciously ‘varnished their faith’ with! But ‘our faith is truth…’

* But this writer knew he himself wasn’t present on Thabor (tho’ he held it as ‘factual’)!

* ‘Prophet!: One who speaks&acts in an ‘inspired’ fashion on behalf of a divinity!

* Who are the outstanding ‘prophets’ in my local church? &Whom do they ‘speak-for’?

* What criteria have I, for discerning whether someone is a ‘true’ or ‘false’ prophet?

4. MT17:1-9

* Read 16:13 – 17:22! The ‘Son-of-Man-Setting’ for the ‘ThaborNarrative’!

* This very male-specific story! but perhaps the feminine, even TheShekinah, lurks…

* What interpretations have I been given for ‘TheTransfiguration of TheLord’?

* ‘HisFace!’: Read EX34:1-35! The intimacy of Yahweh&Moses, reflected in the ‘Face’!

* ‘Moses&Elijah!’: Intimates of Yahweh! Pious&violent! But, ‘absorbed’ by-Jesus?

* ‘BrightCloud/Shadow/Voice!’: Ambiguous trinity of the representation of ‘presence’!

* ‘StandUp!’: Seeing, hearing, tasting ‘God’, they’d ‘died’, &needed to be ‘raised-again’!

* How&for-whom&with-what-fruit is He being ‘transfigured’ in my local church?

* ‘OnlyJesus!’: But how adequately, relevantly, or deeply-seen is He being offered-out?

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

It was just like He was, all times&places, but more squeezed-together! the way with a fine net you’d get lots of very small fishes & put a heavy weight on them in a weelmade basket to push all the water out, leaving a solid shining glory in the basket, like a talent of silver! That day on the mountain, with James&John, burning silver He seemed, not gold or bronze, silver! The summit was totally of white flame, I found myself within the silver bush, &accompanied, how could I an untaught fisherman have recognised them, with TheMaster in the white silver furnace, all of us being purified in the fire, Moses &Elijah, peace-be-upon-them! Always about Him there was a glimmer & a whisper & a flower-unfolding! But that day on the mountain it was all soaring &reaching-to-the-horizon&squeezed-together, a burning talent of silver that engulfed us all! &glimmer became light-of-the-sun, &whisper became Heaven’s voice-from-the-cloud, &the flower unfolded such that no one remained there but TheMaster alone! Or was it all nothing but a dream?

6. RIDDLE Which Son-of-Man?

One with universal indestructible empire?

One who enshadows women’s special genius?

One who enthuses all adult disciples?

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

Sunday 30 July 2023 (’08) : 17thSUNinORDINARY : A

(&Look! Martha, Ignatius, &Alphonsus, all in one week!)

1. 1K3:5, 7-12!

If I got a similar as Solomon, what Gift-above-all would I ask?

2. PS118:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130! (Utter chicken-feed!)

What is YAHWEH’s-Word-to-Me, conveyed through TheJesusBehaviours?

3. ROM8:28-30!

Imagine! If-I-LoveGod, He’ll-Turn-Everything-to-MyGood!!

4,MT13:44-52!

TheKingdom-of-Heaven? A Set-of-LivedPriorities, &Only-TheBest-is-Acceptable!!

RIDDLE

What is preventing me from Seeking&Attaining-only-What-is-Best?

* Maybe it’s Safer&Easier to Settle-for-Second-or-ThirdBest?

* I’ve been taught only to Worship-Jesus,

not to Embody-HisCompassion-for-Now!

* I haven’t yet Realised-TheSignificance-of-

TheFirstCommandment-of-YAHWEH!

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

Sunday 23 July 2023 (’08) : 16thSUNinORDINARY : A

(Watch out also for Anne&Joachim, GrandParents-of-Jesus!)

Also, Camineros! For James-of-Compostela!)

1. WIS12:13, 16-19!

How would I identify this ruler, whether it’s divine or human, feminine or masculine…?

2. PS85:5-6, 9-10, 15-16!

‘You-Alone-are-God’! What underlies the English term ‘God’ in this instance?

&Is the declaration being made to YAHWEH-TheCompassionate?

3. ROM8:26-27!

Is there a reference to what’s called ‘glossolalia’ (‘speaking-in-tongues’)?

Or more likely, that strong emotion in the heart is ultimately the best prayer?

4. MT13:24-43!

The key moment in these stories is the glimpses received, when listening to their telling, into what’s called-in-English ‘TheKingdom-of-Heaven’: rather than later ‘explanations’! &Probably, some important circumstances that gave-birth to the story, are lost forever!

RIDDLE

What is the most important Parable-of-Jesus, for TheEdification-of-MyLocalChurch?

* TheSheep&TheGoats, ‘cos it motivates ‘true discipleship’?

* TheTrueVine, ‘cos it hints a deep&demanding Spirituality?

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

Sunday 16 July 2023 (’08) : 15thSUNinORDINARY : A

1. IS55:10-11!

Challenging analogy between FruitfulRain, &SimilarExpectations-from-YAHWEH’s Word! But ‘TheEarth’ that Word falls-on, may not as receptive as ‘ground-is-to-water’…

2. PS64:10-14!

To produce its meat&wheat, even TheEarth needs the co-presence of many factors!

3. ROM8:18-23!

At present, what is TheCreation actually ‘Giving-Birth’ to? Good, bad, or indifferent?

Paul himself is quite guarded&tentative, it seems, in relation to how it’s proceeding…

4. MT13:1-23!

Are Jesus’ remarks about the ‘dullness’ of the crowds a little elitist? Even the disciples need ‘explanation’! Is this paving the way towards TheDisciples’-Knowing-It-All?

RIDDLE

How can we ensure, in the local church,

that TheChristSeed-Falls-on-TheAptestGround?

Let all bathe alertly in the biblical stories!

Ensure that there are sufficient Exemplars-of-TheGoodSoil!

Realise that ‘Being-TheTrueChurch’ is only TheBeginnings-of-TheStruggle’!

Watch-out for CarelessSowers! TheBirds&TheThorns&TheWeeds!

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