Sunday 28^th March 2021 Passion Sunday (also called Palms): B

1. THE PROCESSION: MARK 11:1-10

• Read1SAM6 1-7:2  When Yahweh’s ark returns, who mourns, who rejoices?
• Read ZECH 9:1-17! Messianic songs! Jingoistic & hopeful! Side by side with ‘The Blood of the Covenant,’ aren’t these filled with all kinds of bloody fantasies!
• TheFirstDay of TheHolyWeek, how much enthusiasm and cooperation He gets! Why?

2. THE EUCHARIST : IS50: 4-7 (What about vv8-9?)

• Read The4ChantsOfYahweh’sSlave! 42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9, 52:13=53:12!
• Who Called Used Supported Betrayed Vindicated TheSlave? & all for what?
• Apart from Jesus, can I name 5Jews or Christians who have been inspired by this?
• ‘TheLord/I!’ : In a sense, the struggle is Yahweh’s, the struggle is TheDisciple’s!
• In CommonCovenant, what is my community doing for The Tortured & Molested?

3. THE PSALM : 21:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 (Another psalm shamelessly shredded!)

• Read aloud, with a friend, 21(22): 1-31 NecessaryBeginning to NecessaryEnding!
• What a great imagining, that Jesus chanted this preeminent prayer in HisDying!
• Perhaps this is another song of Yahewh’s Slave? Could I write one of my own?
• What of the impression, that Yahweh is strong-to-call, but weak to fulfil?
• So, unless  ‘YahwehPeople’  collaborate-for-power, what hope for ThePoor?

4. PHIL 2: 6-11

• Why is this one of the most quoted songs in the whole Bible? In contemporary, non-rhetorical language, what’s being claimed about Jesus?
• If  ‘part-of-God’ went-down-into-death! & was subsequently re-assumed into
• ‘ God’sWholeness!’  what difference does that make to Jesus?  Or to me?
• What other ancient mythologies of  ‘Going downward & ReturningUpward?’

5. THE PASSION OF O.L.J.C.ACCORDING TO MARK : 14: 1-15:47

• Note the behaviour of the disciples, female&male, individually&collectively!
• What ‘passover resonances’ can be detected right through this narrative?
• Among all the characters, who endured-with-Him in undiminished fidelity?
• Apart from myself, does anyone in this narrative ‘understand Him’ at all?
• What  GreatHint is offered to me in this story for the rest of TheHolyWeek?
• Granted Jesus! Who is by far the most significant character in this passion?

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

 I know you often wonder, at least when the anniversary of that unforgettable Pesach comes round the seasons once again, who the woman was, who anointed TheFriend with nard during the Meal! Was it Maryam or Salome? Or the other, maybe what you call a sinner, who wandered from the street into TheLeper’s house, on the make? Hear this now! This nard was greatest of all my gifts to TheFriend, whether before or during or after HisDying! If you value the holiness&beauty of TheSong of Shelomo&Shumammite, If you value the fragrant presences of TheBlessedOne, especially if you know and value the Intimacies of TheFriend, you will realise… I knew well the never-abated resentment, & the pious protestations, and the hardly-veiled rejection of theFriend! But what sustained me then and now in my undismayed fidelity was the great deepness of my passion-for-rightness! & in a still mysterious way, TheFriend’s speaking-forth on my behalf into that chaos of darker passion! Think of me again, &wonder, was TheFriend ever heard, let alone heeded?

7. Riddle:  From whom will I learn most? Jesus Donkey Yahweh Barabbas Pilate?

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

Sunday 21 March 2021 (’00): 5thSUN of LENT : B

1. JERJl:31-34

• Read 31:1-40! Yahweh’sLove will restore TheExiles into a NewCovenant!
• ‘Covenant!’ : Web of mterrelatedness charactensed by struggle to-be-for-the-other!
• ‘ByTheHand!’: ‘TheBride or TheBlind or TheChild or TheFriend or Tbe Loiterer!
• Where are the dynamisms of ‘covenant’ most clearly at work in myChurch?
• How have I been enabled to understand&experience that fundamental phrase in TheEucharisticPrayer, ‘new&everlastingCovenant’? Or is it-also dispensable!
• What if it is part of ‘Yahweh’ to be ‘Betrayed’, &so to yearn for a ‘NewCovenant’?
• How near is myCommumty to that ‘intmacy-with-Yahweh’ promised here?
• What makes Him think, indeed, that He’ll ever gain a totally-faithfull-People?
  
  

2 THE PSALM : 50:3-4, 12-15 (So little of this great psalm!)

• Read 50(51):1-19! Prayer of one conscious of having broken faith with covenant!
• What rituals of Cleansing or Restoration or Forgiveness are available to me?
• To what extent have ancient chores of purification now become hygienic&cosmetic?
• ‘Guilt!’: Where is this ancestral milestone nowadays? &How is it being dealt with?
• ‘PureHeart&SteadfastBreath!‘: A disposition that is focussed&singleminded!
• ‘Spirit!’: This reiterated evocation of ‘breath’, what is it whispering to me?
  
  

3 HEBS:7-9

• Read 4:14 – 5:14! The struggle, offered to all disciples, to become ‘HighPriest’!
• Where find the mitiatives&encouragements,so as to become a mature dicsciple-with-

others, who can negotiate the myriad enigmas of kinship&body&death?

• What constructive&effectual meditation-praxis am I faithfully bringing-forth?
• How could taking on a lifestyle like His produce ‘Perfection&Salvation?
• What biblical role-models did Jesus have, to understand&address ‘suffering’?
  
  

4 JN12:20-30

• Read 12:1-50! To walk His Path in ‘Life’! but hold-on, is it too costly? _

(‘Cos if I merely fall on the ground, &die, won’t pigs just trample this foolish acorn!1)

• In myChurch, which 5DifferentParadigms of ‘Jesus’ are being offered to me?
• In 25words, can I offer a hint of ‘MyGreatDestiny’?
• In IrishSociety, how is ‘TheCrucifix’ perceived by Artists, Media, &Market?
• If He ‘chose HisDeath’ in any sense, why ‘crucifixion’?
  
  

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

‘Gertie, I often wonder about our DivineLord, but I  hardly  never  mention  it  t’  no one…’ ‘God Cissie, is it somethin’ , y’ know, like ..’ ‘No, not that sorta thing at all!’ ‘Aw, wow! y’ mean just…’ ‘No, it’s this, was he right at all..’ ‘Oh…’ ‘No, wait til I get It out proper! I believe he was God, an’ all that! came down from heaven, died for us all on good friday…’ ‘Why’d they call it that?’  ‘…no sweat  about  that  side of  it,  game-ball!’ ‘So, what..’ ‘I mean, sorta, how’ll I say this, Sacred Heart  gimme  a  break,  I  mean, sorta, right in th’ bead! Y’ see what  I mean, who  can  y’ say it  nl?  Sacred  Heart gimme a  break!’  ‘OurLord?  not  right  in th’  head?  where’s  yer  marbles,  Cissie?’  ‘That’s what I knew y’d say!’ ‘Well, after all…’  ‘It  came  t’  me at  Mass  again las’ Sunday’  He said, “Y’ have t’ be like a seed o’ wheat  that  falls  onta  the  ground!  otherwise  nothin’ doin’!”‘  I see yer drift..’ ‘Isn’t that some spake  now,  Gerie?’  ‘It  surely is,  Cissie!  I think that calls for another measure o’ stimulation! My tum t’ order .’

6 RIDDLE Suffering! AvoidEmbraceEndureTransmuteDeny?

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

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

Sunday 14 March 2021 (’00) 4^th SUN of LENT: B

1. 2CHRON36:14-16,19-23 (Not forgetting vv17-18!)

• Chronicles!  An idealised saga from Adam to Cyrus, thus ending with hope!
• Read 36:1-23! The final destinies of the kingship, totally ‘ordained’ by Yahweh
• To what extent was Vat11 a purging analogous to the one described here?
• What bestows on ‘Christianity’ its apparent immunity to, or disdain of, the sorts of cultural predators (Words Messengers Prophets Enemies) hinted at here?
• Or is ‘Christianity’ being ravaged also by its own Complacencies?
• “What 5 Factors are currently threatening TheChristianEdifice’?  &What counter-measures (either worthy or futile) are being taken? &Bywhom?
  
  

2. THE PSALM: 136:1-6

• Read 136(137)1- 9! The fidelity&desperation&resentment&rage of exiles! “
• &How many yet wince at the sentiments in the omitted vv7-9!
• What if ancient feelings about Babylon survive in Western attitudes to Iraq&Syria? “
• ‘Tongue/Hand!’: Apt punishments to wish on oneself for ‘forgetting Jerusalem’?
• The (eventual) insight, that ‘Yahweh’ accompanied&suffered-with  TheExiles, in what ways may this be significant for the struggles of adultChristians?
• In 15words, ‘MyGreatestJoy’, that I’d loathe being exiled-from, or unfaithful-to?
• “What factors gave this psalm ‘success’ as a modern pop-song?
  
  

3. EPH2:4-10                                                    ·

• “Read 1:15- 2:22! A necessary context for this densely-conceived excerpt!
• “Imagine living in lstC Ephesus! Imagine deserting Artemis for Christ!
• “What is the equivalent, for a ‘cradle-Catholic’, of converting as-an-adult to Christ?
• In 35words, what differences would ‘ total commitment to Christ’ entail?
• In 35words, imagine how Paul would explain the links between ‘grace’ & ‘faith’?
  
  

4. JNJ:14-21

• “Read 31-21! An exploration of the dynamics of ‘adult conversion’!
• “Which 3Christians are witnessing to me the origin&impication of ‘AdultFaith’?
• ‘TheWorld!’: Whoever is embodying (whatever about the rhetoric!) Priorities
    &Values hostile to those embodied by Jesus! LipService v DangerousEngagement!
• ‘TheSerpent Lifted Up!’ Read NUM21:1-9! A primitive ‘homoeopathy’!
• What does ‘salvation’ consist in, according to this excerpt? &Where is it happening?
  
  
• The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?

‘Master!’ ‘Yes, Kephas, my friend!’ ‘Forgive me, but it seems right to my soul to
 mention.. ‘ ‘Kephas, speak freely!‘ ‘...a visit lately to your lodging by one of the enemy! shifty&cunning he looked, like our Ancient Enemy! I fear Satan may be devising...’
 ‘Kepha , whoever is with me cannot be against me!’ ‘But, Master, those I speak of… ‘ ‘Ifsomeone comes to you seeking truth, will you immediately suspect a ruse of Beelzebul? How will you test that one‘s good intent? &your own besides?’ ‘Well, I  might open a holy scroll, to see if the demon will roll about on the ground, growling &foaming.. ‘ ‘Kephas! May our company never be of such a mind! rather engage each person, whether these be on thrones like Pharao, or in the fields like TheBlessedOne, with openness&sincerity!’ ‘But Master, TheSerpent moves in so…‘ ‘Kephas! Look to the purifying of your own heart, &TheBlessedOne, amen, will look to all the others!!‘

• RIDDLE                Which1s best? LoveTheTemple, SingTheSongs,

LookOnTheCrucified, LiveTheGoodLife!

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

Sunday 7 March 2021 (’00): 3rdSUN of LENT: B

 1.EXOD20:l-l7

• Apart from ‘Yahweh’. which other ‘gods’ does TheBible refer to, or hint at?
• Why Yahweh, tho’ a ‘divinity’, so ‘jealous’ as to pursue ‘the father’s fault’ down
• the generations! &Apparently so affected by the existence&attitudes of  ‘Others’?
• What, the equivalent nowadays of the ‘misuse’ of ‘TheNameOfYahweh’?
• Especially if the term ‘name’ in TheBible can mean something like ‘power’!
• Is ‘power-of-Yahweh’ still being ‘misused’, by not being used, or even admitted?
• Why is ‘HonourFather&Mother’ emphasised, &linked with possession of TheLand?

 2.THE PSALM : 18:8-11

• Read 8(9) 1-6, 7-14! TwoHymns! One for Nature, One for Yahweh’sCommands!
• ‘TheLawRulePreceptsCommandFearDecreesOfYahweh!’: Where are they now?
• Aren’t the pious sentiments of this excerpt doomed by their uncritical assurance?
• Does the tendency to flatter ‘God/TheLord’ leave us vulnerable in other contexts?
• The ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ style&language here, what is the equivalent in my world?

3. lCORl:22-25

• Read 1:10 – 2:15! Paul explores the wise-foolishness of a ‘CrucifiedMessiah’!
• ‘Jews&Greeks all wrong, &Christians all right’? Or must truth be more nuanced?
• What convinces me that I’ve been ‘called’, &have embraced a ‘crucifiedChrist’?
• How could I distinguish between God’s ‘Foolishness&Wisdom, Weakness&Power’?
• In my world, is ‘Christ’ foolishness or weakness or power or wisdom or what?

4. JN2:13-15

• His ‘prophetic gesture’ in TheTemple precincts, what would be the equivalent now?
• What of the claim that it was His attack on TempleServices that led to HisDeath?
• In whose interest is the maintenance of ‘temple services’ in myCommunity?
• ‘House!’: What if ‘TheFather’sHouse’ is really TheDisciples or ThePoor?
• How intimate with TheBible are contemporary disciples?

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

‘By behest of HisBlessedness Caiaphas, HighPriest of TheLord’sTemple in Jerusalem! Report for HisExcellency Pontius Pilatus, Roman Procurator of Judea! Delivered by Shime’on The Levite! Approaching TheFullMoon of Nisan!The peasant Yeshua from Nazareth in Galilee, leader of a small dissident group of itinerant preachers, has doubtless never come to your Excellency’s notice before now! Nor indeed, to the notice of my own honoured Superiors! except the word that he was for a brief time a follower of the troublemaker Yochanaan, nicknamed Baptiser… Since you are currently in residence in TheHolyCity, in order to secure TheTemple & its Outposts, from disorder during TheFestival of TheLamb-of-Freedom, my honoured Superiors have deemed 1t appropriate to acquaint you of the affray involving the said Yeshua, which he perpetrated in ThePrecincts of TheLord’sTemple in Jerusalem! He raised his voice, he bared his arm, he scattered the animals destined for TheLord’s Service, &the offerings destined for TheLord’sTreasury, speaking words of unacceptable defiance! Humbly, my honoured Superiors suggest to YourDignity that You&They should take a common stand on this, &summarily destroy such abomination in our Land! We await your word on this! In confidence!!’

6. RIDDLE The basis of my life? LawTempleWisdomChrist or ‘CulturedPhilistinism’?

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

Sunday 28 February 2021 (’00): 2ndSUNofLENT : B

1. GEN22:1-2,9-13,15-18

• Read 22:1-19! Exploring ‘faith&progeny&sacrifice&God’! their interrelatedness!
• Out of ‘conflicting priorities’, which ‘priority’ is presented as supreme?
• Why did ‘God’ want to put Abraham ‘to the test’? (Read JOBl.1-22!)
• Why should ‘willingness to sacrifice his own son’ lead to a ‘shower of blessings’?
• In myChurch, how important are ‘The3Blessings’ promised to Abraham?
• What in my experience equals the patterns-of-choice represented in this story?
• Apart from ‘brevity’, why were bits cut from this important story (TheAqedah)?

2. THE PSALM: 115:10, 15-19 (A most grievous mutilation)

• Read 115(116):1-19! The varying moods&presentiments of a Lover-of-Yahweh!
• What 3Motivations do I have, for ‘t rust-in-Yahweh’?
• What is myCommunity providing for the many who are ‘sorely-afflicted’?
• Why was ‘your slave-girl’s son’ (NEB) omitted from v16?
• Isaac’s escape from death, how important in ‘understanding’ Jesus’ death?

3. ROMS:31-34        .

• Read 8:1-39! Explorative compendium of Paul’s ‘dilemma of opposites’!
• Why is Paul so sure that ‘God is on our side’?
• Where did he learn all this? &especially the link between Jesus, &Isaac’sBinding?
• How am I affected by this kind of ‘surely-not’ argumentation?
• But,  factual&statemental ‘talk-about-God’, is it any more sufficient nowadays?

4. MK.9:2-10!

• Wherein my world do I above-all encounter ‘Yahweh’? How do I know, &cope?
• Which OT characters are ‘transfigured&dazzling&white’? (Read 2COR3!)
• Why do Brides, &Others-in-context, manifest these 3TranscendentalQualities?
• How have TheMedia exploited the hint of ‘divinity’ associated with these ‘qualities’?
• If Jesus truly absorbed&embodied ‘TheInitiativeOfYahweh’, What’s the use of worshipping&expounding Him in a detached&mimimalist way?

What’s the dangerous implication for disciples, in a christophobic milieu?

&Aren’t we ourselves safe, as long as we keep TheBible on a drip in the nursing home!

5. The presence&act1on of the BlessedOne, is it like this?

‘Sir! I would be thankful to hear you talk about the mountain!’ ‘Friend, I am most gratified myself to meet you like this! For there is the mountain, wherever we are together, &at-one!’ ‘Do not be affronted, sir, if I recall that it is not our encounter, but the mountain, that I would hear your discourse of!’ ‘Friend, for me the mountain is nothing else than the meeting! Whatever the meeting, wherever it takes place, the mountain gathers there! &nowhere else!’ ‘But sir, you see MountOphel&Sion, blessings upon them! &MountCarmel, &Thabor! &We’ve all heard of Horeb; &especially Sinai, Mount of TheCovenant!’ ‘Friend, if the covenant is not there between&within us, all our boasting of Sinai, &the many other HolyMountains, is truly a vanity-of-vanities! &blinds us to our need to see, not what is far-above or far-away, but very close at-hand! that is the mountain in every respect! Take the first steps there in favour of TheCovenant, &Sinai will truly disappear…!’ ‘Sir, by your words, in truth, the mountain is now ourselves !!’

6. RIDDLE Who was most ‘transformed’ by the ‘mountain’?

Peter or Moses or Jesus?

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

 Sunday 21 Feb 2021(’00) 1^st Sun of Lent: B

1   GEN9:8-15

• Read 6:1-9:29! how Noah carried out the Agenda of both ‘God’ & ‘TheLord’!
• What was the true outcome of all the stage-management of Ark&Flood&Covenant?
• Sure, how can I be affected-now, by an agreement-then between ‘God’ & ‘Noah’?
• Where are Noah’sWife&3DaughtersInLaw, throughout all the argy-bargy?
• Why would ‘God’ have wanted to destroy everything because of ‘human sin’?
• Are we any better off in regard to, or any better informed concerning, various ecological catastrophes (say, earthquakes!) than this storyteller is?
• &Will his ‘wishful thinking’ reassure, in face of current ‘natural disasters’?
• &What of the countless species being destroyed by ‘man’ each year?

2    THE PSALM: 24:4-9

• READ 24(25):1-22! A stringent scrutiny of Yahweh’s commitment to ‘covenant’?
• Currently, who knows-about, let alone cares-about, or keeps, His’Covenant’?
• ‘TheWays/Paths/Truths of Yahweh!’: Read MT25:31-46(wow) carefully!
• If He ‘teaches HisWay to ThePoor’, why are these not running TheShow?
• Compared with the gutsiness of the whole psalm, is this excerpt a bit flaccid?

3    1PET3:18-22

• Read 1:1-5:14! Imagine if this was read aloud at every Baptism!
• Why is there so much emphasis in early writings that ‘Christ died for sins’?
• Rather than, say, because He was embodying a new dangerous way-of-life?
• In my Baptism, what is the equivalent of ‘TheArk’ when I go into ‘TheWaters’?
• ‘Water’!: What 25Aspects of my web-of-experience are imbued with&by ‘water’?
• Why is the nurture of MatureChristianConscience being so reprehensibly spurned?

4     MK112-15

• Read1:1-15! Resumé of the foundational ‘EndTimeUpSurgeOfYahwehBreath’?
• ‘DroveHimOut!’: As TheScapegoat(LEV16), &ThePaschalRam (EXOD12)!
• What is ‘testing’ the YahwisticCommitment of myChurch&Community?
• With so much ‘GodRhetoric’, would we even recognise or value ‘Yahweh’, the half-suppressed half-resurgent WildernessDivinity with the unacceptableAgenda?
• If He preached the ‘theologicalGod’ or the ‘biblicalYahweh’, does anybody care?

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

‘Well?’ ‘Well! He was on about Lent above this mornin’! That’ll be the shpeel now for…’ ‘I won’t even ask about the…’ ‘No, he didn’t mention th’ oul’ Canon!  Sure he wasn’t even born….’ ‘OK I said I wouldn’t ask…’ ‘But he did say somethin’ that perked me in the middle o’ th’ dronin’! Didja know th’ Ark, with Noah an’ all them in it, come down in Turkey!’ ‘Y’mean, like a space ship?’ ‘It was an ordinary ship, he said! Like a canal barge’ an’ all th’ animals two-be-two..’ ‘An’ how’d they all fit in a barge? especially th’ dinosores!’ ‘It was a miracle, he said! An’ what’s more, wait for it! Some o’ them animals, probably camels an’ desert dogs, came t’ accompany  OurLord on his retreat in th’ wilderness for Lent! from Turkey, mind you!’ ‘I think he’s pullin’ yer leg! there was no Lent then!’ ‘Ha-ha! He anticipated y’ there! He said it was called the exodus then!’ ‘Well. I’ll say one thing for ‘im! he’s one that can think ’em up real good, God bless ‘is wit!’

6       RIDDLE  Which? My fully-conscious Baptism as an infant?

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

Sunday 14^th Feb 2021(’00)  6th Sun Ordinary Time: B

1   LEV 13.1-2, 44-46

• Read 13:1-14:57! OurSkin! ItsAilments, &Rituals-of-Purification!
• Why is there such fascination in my world with care&treatment of the skin?
• In what ways is the skin of woman & man differently seen&valued?
• In myCommunity, what ‘conditions’ could banish someone ‘outside TheCamp’?
• Read Numbers 12:1-15! the highly-questionable treatment of Miriam by ‘Yahweh’?
• Why was the diagnosis&treatment of ‘leprosy’ alotted to the priesthood?

2     THE PSALM: 31.1-2, 5.11

• Read 31(32) 1-11! SinDiseasePrayerForgivenessJoy! Perhaps a necessary journey?
• Why has ‘ConfessionOfSin’ always been deemed to be healing and salvific?
• Those who don’t ‘go to confession’ any more, how are they dealing with ‘sin’?
• How can I explore the huge difference between ‘RealSin’ & ‘ImaginarySin’?
• Will myChurch encourage the availability of m,ore effective ‘Healin&Forgiveness’?
• How do I ascertain whether ‘Yahweh’ is disposed to ‘forgive’ me, or not?
• What if women’s experience of ‘sin&guilt’ is very different from men?

3      1COR10:31- 11:1

• ‘TheGloryOfGod!’: In 20words, my understanding of this inspirational abstraction!
• ‘Offensive’!: If Paul or myself were to ImitateChrist how could we avoid offending?
• What was the source of Paul’s dynamic enthusiasm? What’s the source of mine?
• Can I name 5 in myCommunity who could well offer themselves to be ‘imitated’?
• Have I been taught, as-a-Christian, to be-for-others?

4     MK1:40-45

• This injunction of silence(futile in the event!), what is hidden within it?
• What is the function of Silence&Secrecy&Dissimulation in myCommunity?
• Why is Jesus depicted as being so compliant with temple leprosy-regulation?
• Is he hinting some difference between the man’s ‘cure’, & his ‘healing’?

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

 ‘Gran!’ ‘Yes, a mhilis?’ Effie was a little concerned about Samantha’ even though she shouted a lot, &laffed like tractor, she was Mam’s best girlfriend, &recently Effie mished-about that Sam, &her boyfriend PeteyPie, weren’t great with each other since TheBigParty after Christmas! ‘Gran, Sam blew her tears everywhere, “PeteyPie’s treatin’ me like a lepper, Madge!”, an’ Mam said “that boy’s some lepper hisself,  as I’m always tellin’ ya Y’re as well of without that moutha snots!” “Oh Effie,  Sam an’ your Mam use such language!”Gran, lepper! Did Sam start leppin’ about at ThBigParty after Christmas! ‘I’m sure they were all leppin’ an’ buckleppin’….Mam too”But treatin’ Sam like a lepper is this, PeteyPie’s keepin’away from Sam as if she’s really dirty an’ sick, an’ he might get it off her himself!’ ‘He’d have to be like a nurse or a doctor!’ ‘Or Jesus, Effie…” Effie opened her eyes wide, &thoughtfully smoothed her nice blue dress, &listened quietly to the chickies sayin’ their lessons… Jesus, now…she’d never thought of PeteyPie an’ Jesus… an’ didn’t know if Sam like Jesus say like Gran did… She clappt her wee hands, &kissed Gran’s flour-smudged cheek, ‘Gran, you helped me make a new picture! Let’s ask Jesus yo make sam alright again..’ ‘so that she’ll not be a lepper!’ ‘An’ also to be her pretend-boyfriend till someone better than PeteyPie comes, who’ll never treat her like a lepper! Oh Gran, great, great, great!’

6. RIDDLE Who to ‘imitate’ Paul, Jesus, TheLeper, or Miriam?

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

Sunday 7^th February 2021 (’00)  5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time:  B

1       Job7  1-4,  6-7   (But why did Job want v 5?)

• Read 6.1  –  7. 21 “Job the innocent sufferer”  His indignation with Yahweh!
• What are the 15 Kinds –of- Suffering that I or others are currently enduring?
• What is my best statement of the Origin&Nature&Purpose of “suffering”?
• What are the 10 Principal Ways of dealing with “suffering in Irish society?
• What if real intimacy with The Book Of Job is essential for all “sufferers”?

2    The Psalm   146  1 – 6

• Read 146(147) 1 – 20  Praise for “Yahweh-of-many-Impressive Portfolios”
• From my experience as adult Christian, what assures that “Yahweh is good” ?
• In 20 words, what is Yahweh’s “Wisdom that can never be measured” ?
• Yahweh was responsible for Job’s Wounds’ but who was it healed them ?

3    1Cor9  16 – 19,  22 – 23

• Read 9  1 – 27 “He explores the Costs&Benefits&Outcomes of his Apostleship”
• To what extent has “The Good News” risked becoming a restricted commodity?
• Can I name 5 “Apostles” or “Disciples” who think and behave like Paul here ?
• How seriously is the remuneration of “non- clerical” ministries being addressed ?
• In 35 words, my imagination of how Paul actually “preached the gospel” ?
• Slave-for The Slave! Weak-for The Weak! : What sort of subversive ministry is this ?
• What’d he say if I challenged him, “Paul, that’s all mere rhetorical flourishes!” ?

4   MK1 29 – 39

• In this excerpt, what elements of a “pattern of ministry” for an adult disciple ?
• Why did He seem to suppress the “devils, their knowledge of Him” ?
• What if the storyteller reckoned, only some knowledge of Jesus is “kosher” ?
• Is any similar “veto” on “knowledge of Jesus” being applied in my church ?
• “Why I came”. When and how does He come to my Community? & What-perform ?
• If I wanted Jesus, where would I search for Him, nowadays? &Recognise Him then!

5  The presence and action of the Blessed One, is it like this ?
“Listen, above this morning”  “Aw, y’needn’t tell me! Feedin’ the ducks as usual, I suppose”  “ .. I was down atSt Jude’s shrine, me favourite place, sorta half there.” “Sure I know! Waiting for the messiah”!”  “.. when suddenly, I nearly fell outa me stannin”  “Someone winked atcha?”  “nothing like that! Listen, he mentioned th’oul’ Canon” “What.?” “The first time in 12 years, someone said” “Aw look’a!” “An’ listen t’ what he said, I have it word from word” ‘cos I knew it’d be like manna from Heaven fo’ ya!  “Today’s readings move me to recall the late Canon Raphael, aptly named,, & of pious memory, & a legend in his day for prayer and healing& fasting” He would be 100 years ordained today! Apart from his onerous priestly duties, he devoted all his time and energy to healing, by God’s concomitant grace, all the sick, man woman child & beast, in all the 5 parishes!”  “Y’did well now, t’remember all that so good!” “I was always a dab at me po’try” “But tell us, did he say that th’oul’ Canon was a socialist too? & never took a brass penny, just like the-man-above, for any of his therapeutic labours?” “Nah” “Well, credit where credit is due” but he left out the most important thing” “Why’s that?” “God howdya imagine else he done what he done? “cos he done it all for free! Bein’ a socialist, he done it all for love!”

6 Riddle   Whose suffering is most vital? Mine, Yours, Jesus’,
                 The Friend’s, The Enemy’s, or what?

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

            Sunday 31^st January 2021 (‘00)  4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: B  

1. DEUT 18: 15-20 (& what about vv21-22!)

• Read 18: 1-22! But who is speaking nowadays in place of ‘Yahweh’?
• ’LikeMyself!’ Briefly,  what are the 20 ‘RecognitionalCharacteristics’ of Moses?
• How might I recognise a ‘Speaking&DoingChannelOf Yahweh’ in myCommunity?
• Or trust someone who drones out, ‘This is TheWord ofTheLord!’
• In whose interest is it, that ThePeople should fear Yahweh’s ‘Thunder & Lightning?’

2. The Psalm 94: 1-2, 6-9

• Read 94(95) 1-11! A flatteringShout, followed by a threateningWhisper!
• How might  ‘YahwehtheRock’ bring about my ‘Salvation’ or ‘Victory’?
• ’ SingKneelBendLow! : But does He demand or benefit from, such ‘Worship?’
• Meribah=Quarrel! Read Num 20 1-13! But who was really listening to whom?
• Why was Yahweh so sensitive& averse to being ‘Tempted/Tested?

3. 1Cor 7 : 32-35

• In 30words, what is my own understanding of Paul’s phrase, ‘TheLord’sAffairs?’
• Why does he think that ‘being married’ prevents ‘devotion to TheLord’sAffairs?’
• If he hadn’t thought ‘TheEnd’ was near, would he have written like this?
• In myCommunity is ‘Marriage’ still regarded as an obstacle to ‘Holiness?’
• To what extent, & how, was the understanding of ‘marriage’ transformed by VAT II?
• Is it possible, or desirable, to give my ‘undivided attention to the Lord’?

4. Mark 1: 21-28

• What’s the equivalent now, of someone ‘Teaching in the Synagogue on TheSabbath’?
• By what means was Jesus able to calm the distraught man?
• What images and stories from TheJewishBible are evoked by ThisHealingNarrative?
• Unclean Spirit! : Biblical personification of factors that contribute to illness!
• Can I name 5 who embody ‘authority’ in the sense suggested by this narrative?
• By what means, & for what purposes, are adults being ‘taught’ in myChurch?
• Where did Jesus learn the skills&techniques of ‘Healing&Teaching&Praying’?

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

Cissie:  Gertie, d’ya know something?

Gertie:  No, Cissie, tell us!

Cissie:  The way you’d be hearin’ a thing for years’ but not hearin’ it at all…Like a dummy! Well, at Saturda’ Mass las’night, I gotta ‘nawful shock.

Gertie:  God, Cissie, I was there meself, but I never…

Cissie:  Gertie, I musta heard that thing a million times…but it never registered, did it? When Our DivineLord talked-ruff to the man in the synagogue, he went inta convulsions…

Gertie:  Who?

Cissie:   an started shoutin’ like a poor nutcase!

Gertie:  Cissie, didja hear right?  wasn’t it the devil did it, not OurLord! Sure, He was on’y tryin’ to be of assistance! May the divine assistance…

Cissie:  No Gertie! I beg t’differ! He musta been a sinner really, an’ when he heard the voice of OurLord, his conscience was thrown inta convulsions!

THERE WAS A LONG SILENCE IN THE SNUG AS THE WOMEN SIPPT PORT AND CONSIDERED. FINALLY GERTIE SUMMED IT UP:

Gertie:  Y’re right about one thing, Cissie! F y’want t’be meetin’ OurLord, there must be no sin on y’r  sowl! Otherwise, y’re much better off with his DivineMother! She def’nitely never sent no one inta convulsions!

CISSIE NODS VIGOROUSLY

Cissie:  God, Gertie, that’s th’  best ever! Oratre-fratres! The whole caboodle in one eggshell! Ah, boys a’ boys!!

6. RIDDLE: Listening! But to what? The Gospel? Conscience? TheMagesterium? TheOppressed? TheMedia? Or?

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

Sunday 24^th Jan 2021(’00)  3^rd Sun Ordinary Time: B

1    JON3:1-5, 10 (what about verses6-9?)

• Read 1:1 – 3:11! What if Yahweh orders me to offer ‘conversion’ to my Enemies?
• &If ‘Justice’ must take precedence even over what were regarded as ‘Absolutes’?
• What connections between this story, &TheExodusNarratives?
• ‘Niniveh’ Assyrian royal city! Hated&cursed&feared! (Read NAHUM 1 -3)
• what is the equivalent of ‘Niniveh’ in IrishSociety? Or in the contemporary world?
• To what extent is myChurch still infected by exclusivism&narrowness in spite of the intention of John23&VastII to embrace ‘aggiornamento’!

2    THE PSALM  24: 4-9

• Read 24(25):1-22! Desideratum! be ‘yahwistically’ moral, no matter what!
• ‘Paths/Ways/Truths!’  The behaviouralPriorities of Yahweh!
• ‘Stray/Humble/Poor!’ Who are these? &How is ‘Yahweh’ accompanying them?
• How are we actualising the rather vague ‘wishful thinking’ of this poem?
• But what if ‘Yahweh’ is an insatiable ‘Lover’?

3    1Cor7:29 -31

• Read 7:1-40! whence did he derive these opinions concerning ‘sexuality’?
• ‘Brothers’!: What would the ‘Sisters’ have to say to Paul’s dispositions?
• Did he write with the (mistaken) conviction that the ‘world’ would soon end?
• How valid are the gnomic sentiments of this possible misleading excerpt?
• Especially the prescription about ‘wives’ in our increasingly-lax ‘sexual climate’?
• ‘TheWorldAsWeKnowIt’!: who gives even a yawn about our ecological supercrisis?

4    MK1:14 -20

• What exactly is ‘TheGoodNews’ in this initial proclamation of Jesus?
• If an itinerant preacher came into town shouting this, how would I respond?
• In 35 words, can I re-cast Jesus’ proclamation in ‘contemporary language’?
• Why’d even biblical fishermen be interested  in ‘catching’ anything apart from fish?
• Why does he appear to have ‘called’ no women in the beginnings of ministry?

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

The lake,  Kinnereth, I both loved&hated her! Sure, she offered me fish, though probably unwillingly, &as a trap to lull me into becoming careless! I know she intended to gather me in her arms, maybe on my 40^th birthday, & drag me a limp frog into the realm of Sheol, which was spread wide like the dragon’s jaws not too far beneath the placid  but frighteningly moody surface of Kinnereth! The fish & the  placid I loved , but the jaws & the moody I hated&feared! but listen, Heaven suddenly snatched me away from it all, its messenger Jeshua from Nazareth, walking urgently back&forth along the skirts of the land,  shouting&persuading&appealing to the fishermen! ‘Leave all this futile combing the waves, children! The time of decision is surely upon us! Come now with me! Comb the horrid places of the land for Heaven’s lost ones!’ All the men on our stretch laffed, & threw rotten weed at the stranger! But something moved in me, was it Kinnereth daring me, or me her? Anyway, I still remember it with amaze, I leapt out of the boat with its entangled nets, nodded to my brother, &we both followed Yeshua, quickly learning &repeating his shouting goodnews! &Did I finally escape the dragon? Well, that’s another story….

RIDDLE. Whose priority in these excerpts is nearer mine?

                                                 Jonah’s or Paul’s or Jesus’?

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