Tag: ADBI

Sunday 17^th Jan 2021(’00)  2^nd Sun Ordinary Time: B

1    1Sam3:3-10, 19

• Read 1:1-3:21! The Birth&Presentation&Call ofSamuel-the-Anointer-ofKings!
• Where or what or who is ‘TheSanctuaryOfYaweh’ in my world?
• When I’m ‘called’, how do I distinguish ‘Yahweh’sCall’ from ‘HighPriest’sCall’?
• How does ‘TheHighPriest’ separate ‘Yahweh’sWord’ & his-own’Word’?
• Imagine, he lived in ‘Yahweh’sSanctuary’, but was ignorant of Yahweh!
• What indications have I, that ‘Yahweh is with-me, &upholds my behaviours!?
• Boy&ManInReligiousIntimacy! But no hint of Scandal or Deprecation! Why is this?

2    THE PSALM: 39:2,4, 7-10

• READ 39(40).1-17!Passionate manifesto of a disciple of Yahweh!
• &Will a woman experience these dark&bright sentiments differently from a man?
• Patrick makes this image hi-won at a crucial juncture of TheConfession! (#12&20)
• could the ‘rituals of worship’ possibly be a cheap&futile substitute (understood byYahweh!) for a radical listening-to-Yahweh that ‘becomes-flesh’ as me-myself?
• What if adultChristians are either encouraged or constrained to be mealymouthed?
• &enable either as mnisters or disciples to speak-out in ‘TheGreatAssembly’?

3    1Cor6:13-15, 17-20

• Read 6:1-20! Can I glimpse the problematics that incite such religious indignation?
• &How would this language strike our soi-disant unbuttoned&uninhibited society?
• What ways do I poerceive myself sharing ‘OneBody&OneBreath’ with ‘TheChrist’?
• How pervasive his arguments about ‘Fornication&Body&Breath&God’sProperty’?

4    Jn1:25-42

• How did they understand John’s phrase, TheLambOfGod? (EXOD12:43-13.16!)
• Why would someone want to ‘follow’ anyone referred to as ‘TheLambOfGod’?
• What are the 5BestTitles for Jesus of Nazareth in myChurch&Community?
• Look! Which 3People effectually enabled me-as-adult to encounter Jesus?
• How did Andrew decide that Jesus was ‘TheMessiah”?
• Since he ‘recognised’ Him, why did TheBaptisr himself not ‘follow’ Jesus?

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

‘Sir’! Those many titles they bestowed on you, &that I’m sure you’re proud to bear..’

‘Friend! Titles or other honours I’ve never sought! Nor do I even now as we speak! even as would-be-unassuming as ‘sir’! They are a burden on me, &more so on those who use them towards me!’ ‘Sir! With respect! You have once again surprised &disturbed me! How can the honour that is your due, &your eternal significance for your followers, be emblazoned apart from those thrilling celebratory titles! LambOfGod, AnointedShepherd,  LaffterOfTheStars,

GathererOfThePresence, MirrorerOfTheGreatWisdom , HeavenlyMan, Lightning&ThunderOfTheFace, FeederOfMessengers,  InnerBreathOfCovenant, TheNameAmongstUs…’  ‘Friend! Pleased I am to have surprised&disturbed you’ So, I repeat, titles are are a burden that is without fruit! Unless the puffiness of rancid myrrh be counted as fruit!’ ‘Sir…’ ‘Friend, always I sought to temper the intemperate ardour of my followers, &I continue to do so! Meantime, between you&me let the honourable word ‘friend’ suffice! All of Heaven’s richness hides there, if you are wise enough to see it!’  ‘Sit, you have enabled me to see! henceforth it is ‘friend’! Friend-forever…!!’

6  RIDDLE Which is more necessary? Listening or looking or alerting?

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

Sunday 10 Jan 2021 (’00). The Baptism Of The Lord : B

1. Is55 1-11

• Read 55 1-13! Strong sell of the kaleidoscopic & dynamic allure of Yahweh-of-Sinai!
• Who in IrishSociety would find this “Yahweh” credible, or his “promises” satisfying?
• Granted the prevailing rhetoric about (& laudable, some struggle for) “Justice”, why am I still being assured that Christianity is about “getting to heaven when I die!”?
• If I were baptized as an adult, which phrase from excerpt would be my motto?
• “Listen” Is the listening the “rich food”? Or is rich food the reward for “obedience”
• Why is “Yahweh” so sure that “His Mouth’s Word” will eventually be fruitful?

        2.  The Psalm.   Is 12:2-6

• Read 11.1 – 12:6  “Yahweh’s” Restoration of David’s Kinship, & XII Tribes from
                   Exile!
• In 30 words, what are the contents of “The Wells Of Salvation” in my church?
• Who “controls” them?  Has “access” to them?  What competing “salvations” are there ?
• Whatever about “God”, can I depend on “Yahweh” to “deliver the goods”?
• To what extent can a “nonJew” understand& value& incarnate “Yahweh”?
• Is it preferable to flatter or avoid or wrestle-with or embody or deny “Yahweh”

         3.  1 JN 5  1-9

• Read 5 1-21! Faith in Jesus as “Son of God” is the highway to real “Love”!
• Why is the title “Son Of God” so essential, & so powerful, & so obscure?
• 45 words! The OriginNatureResourceBehaviourSelfImageDestiny of a “child of God”?
• Can I glimpse in this excerpt, references to the “Sacraments of Christian Initiation”?
• Apart from Jesus of Nazareth, what other 5 “Role- Models” do I have for Love?

         4.  MK 1   7-11

• Read 1  1-39! His story-depiction of TheOneWhoFreesThePeopleFromOppression!
• Which characters from the Jewish Bible is the Baptist modeled on?
• Jordan, Jos 3-4! Heavens, Gen28! Breath, Gen1! Voice, Is42!
• What is the difference between being “plunged” in the Water, & in the Breath?
• What brought Jesus from Nazareth to Jordan?
• How seriously is “baptism” regarded in my Community? (&By whom?) 
• As an adult, how am I seeking to unfold my “baptism”? 

        5. The presence and action of the Blessed One, is it like this? 
            “That totally-gratuitous self-revelation of mystery at the moment of our Divine Lord’s Kenosis in the Jordan, when The Most Holy & undivided Trinity manifested in all Its…” “Whoa, Bousset, keep it within the speed limit for our New Year cuppa!”. The Practising Sceptic’s lightly ironic response to The Official Beliver’s exordium was a reminder that they’d agreed not to meet or correspond over the period of the celebrations, dubbed by the Practising Sceptic “Mule-mania” & Giblet-tea”! “Never! & by no means! Especially in this new Jubilee of Trinitarian Grace!”  “O.K! Let’s agree. “Ha” gotcha! …. For the sake of the argument, that all his baptism was all your flowery rhetoric claims…”  “Not so! The divinely inspired Magisteri..”  “Why then, to put it at its simplest, why don’t you as an aspiring adult disciple, go and get-done in the Jordan, for your douche of a mystery?  Not as an infant, when it’s all gone over your head!”  “Oh such…”  “Or your clients too, who think it’s all signed and sealed with a sprinkle at the font!”  “Oh…” “Get with it!  Adult Baptism! Urgently!  Before the Jordan’s totally disappeared!!  “Oh…”

    6.   Riddle   Which “Saviour”? Aphrodite  Zeus  Yahweh
                        Dionysus  Hermes  Mars or Artemis ?

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

Sunday 3 Jan 2021 (’00). 2ndSUNafterCHRISTMAS

1. ECCLUS/SIRACH24:1-2, 8-12

• Read 24:1-34! slowly aloud suspiciously, with a friend!

What layers voices anacoloutha U-turns contradictions can we hear?

What hints that Wisdom is subordinated to Yahweh, &both to TheTemple?

But then, what concern is there for ‘Wisdom’, in any shape or form?

What about the identification of ‘Wisdom’ with ‘ThePentateuch’?

&Is every occurrence of ‘I’ & ‘Her’ actually a reference to ‘Wisdom’?

• For what purpose does the excerpt seem to have been tailored?
• ‘Created”: How do I visualise this admittedly vague relationship?
• Is there any hint here that Wisdom&Yahweh are ‘married’?

2. THE PSALM. 147:12-15, 19-20

• Read 147·1-20! Savour Yahweh’s varied&impressive CV!
• But is He overqualified? Or could we just pick ‘n’ mix the bits that flatter us?
• In the excerpt doesn’t He sound like a ‘BenevolentDespot’?
• Whose interests are served by projecting such imaginings of ‘God’?
• The ‘Yahweh’ of this psalm, where is He found, outside TheTempleRitual?
• What is the purpose of patching shreds of Jewish Psalms onto a Christian  Liturgy?

3. EPHl :3-6, 15-18 (Why omit vv7-14, the ‘In-Him’?)

• Does Paul show any awareness of Ephesus’ cultural richness?
• In 25words, what am I hoping for, as a Christian adult?
• Can I name 5Women or Men I know, who have undergone ‘Conversion’ as adults?

4. JNl:1-18

• Can I see why this song was once believed to have healing power over the sick?
• TheWord/Logos!

Since it can mean ‘Action/Event’, what if it is ‘TheExodus’?

&What is potentially-more-revolutionary! Yet more-talked-about&-rejected!

Jesus, sure! but what if ‘Exodus’ wanted to be ‘MadeFlesh’ inb me?

(Wa-wa! Isn’t it enuff to worship Him, without having to beHim, too’)

But how will it heal us, if we don’t listen&chew like hawks?

Why is it implied that ‘Grace&Truth’ are superior to ‘TheLaw’?

What if ‘world’ is a state-of-affairs, or tapestry-of-values?

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

one of our wise women had a dream which she brought according to custom to the assembly it seems that moses in his heavenly mansion sent for john baptist greetings be said from one man of the wilderness to another john baptist nodded yes the patriarch said what about the nazarene whom you initiated through water the other replied he has long departed on urgent business and now I’m following and left then moses laffed very loudly and limped after john slowly but with determination the assembly pondered the dream in silence for three days in honour of the three then with one voice we all chanted if three rivals such as they have gone on urgent business this assembly will do no less since that moment a hundred years ago all have travelled as-one sometimes behind sometimes with sometimes ahead-of that blessed triad always-at-one always-at-peace

6. RIDDLE But which nourishes? Wisdom, Yahweh, TheFather, TheChrist, TheSon TheBeloved, TheWord,? Or where is TheMother in this roster?

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

Sunday 27^th December 2020 (’99): The Holy Family of Jesus&Mary&Joseph: B

1.ECCLUS/SIRACH3:2-6, 12-14

• Read 3  1-16! Yahweh&Blessings&Curse! ThreeFoundations of Parents’Status!
• Father&Mother&Son! Is this the quintessential ‘trinity’? (GEN 27!!)
• & Wouldn’t every raunchy son remember Noah’s Curse! (GEN19:18-27)
• Between & behind the lines, what can I glimpse about ‘Daughters’ in TheBible?
• HonourFather&Mother! Does anything nowadays promise such blessing!

AtonementFortuneFertilityHeardPrayerLongevity&Heaven’sAppreciation!

• How are ‘FamilyRelationships&Dynamics’ affected by ‘TheCelticTiger’?

2. THE PSALM : 127. 1-5 (Why is the last verse omitted?)

• Read 127(128) 1-6! Blessing for one who embodies Yahweh’sPriority!
• ‘Fear TheLord!’ Is this purely rhetorical? Especially if we concede that

Yahweh’sPriority might subvert even TheTemple! (Read JER7: 8-3!!)

• The idyllic scenario of this psalm, might I be sceptical about it?

more so when I consider that grapes were trampled, & olives crushed

• To what extent is it at all feasible to inculcate in families ‘Yahweh’sPriority’?
• In myChurch, can I name 5 who are Walking in The ways of Yahweh?

3 COL 3. 12-21

• Read 1:1-4.18! Listening in a totally-focused way, perhaps I hear a very

contemporary resonance in this initially alien struggle-with-error?

• Again, mindful of the Crisis-of-Family, what nitty-gritty can I pretend?
• Can I name 5 Initiatives in favour of FamilyRealisation in my Community?
• How have TheMassMedia totally relativised the ‘absolutism’ of this excerpt?

4LK2: 22-40

• Read LEV 12! Familiar outrageous poignant affrontative challenging!
• FirstBornMales, yes! But what about FirstBornFemales?
• Can I glimpse ‘Yahweh’s’ general or particular attitude to ‘Women’?
• ‘The/Holy/Spirit!’: The Ways of TheBreath with Simeon, (and probably Anna!), how much of this variety-of-influence do I find-powerful in my own life?
• Can I enter&exit  TheSacredSpace, & support  TheNeedyFamily that is there?
• ’TheTemple!’: What, in myChurch, both Oppresses and Frees, both Adults&Children?

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

O the marvels of the ways of fulfilment! Like this little story my grandfather told me 60 years ago! 2 old people, Simeon&Anna, spent all their time in the precincts of TheTemple searching diligently for a sign of TheLord’s Consolation to HisPaople. Even so, they never met nor spoke nor looked at each other, because of their purity-of-heart! One day in Hanukkah, a very poor couple brought their first born son for the sign of TheCovenant (Great ourGrace!).. Both Simeon& Anna pointed to the child as TheConsolation! & afterwards for the first time they met&spoke&looked at each other! When the blessed family departed to fulfil their destiny, the two old people sat together at evening on the Mount of Olives, holding hands for joy! ‘Yes!’ they spoke-as-one, ‘It is fulfilled’!’ Next morning they were found by my grandfather, the caretaker of the old olive orchard! In death, their faces were bright with smiles, & their hands lightly joined (Peace-be-uponThem)…

6. RIDDLE Which is more potent? MyChildhoodFamily, AdultFamily, or TheHolyFamily?

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

25 December 2020 (’99) : THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD MASS DURING THE DAY: B

1. 1S52:7-10

• Read 52:1-12! Celebrating the greatExodus fromBabylon to re-inhabit Jerusalem!
• ‘TheLord”: Yahweh as Companion&Consoler&Champion of ThePeople’
• Why is this (edited!) excerpt of TheShoutSong offered for ChristmasDay?

                   What could possibly compete with Santa for our interest?

                   How disconcerting  won’t  it be seeing ‘Yahweh’ Face-to-Face!

                   Especially if Yahweh’s ‘TheNeedy&Oppressed&Desperate’!

                   If Yahweh ‘BaresHisArm’, isn’t that for ViolentRetnbutionon’?

                   Within TheChristmasTinsel, what’s the h1dden Rage-of-ThePoor?

• THE PSALM : 97:1-6
• Read 97(98):1-9! A flattery-song, more fitting for CanaaniteBaal!
• What hints in this psalm, of the essential ‘Wonders&Salvation&Justice’ of Yahweh?
• Its apparent fit to ‘Christmas’, will it blind me to the endemic  problematics?
• Especially, the collusive cover-up > of  ‘truth’ by convulsive  ‘celebration’!
• HEBl ·1-6
• How does this writer know that Jesus is ‘TheSon’, not merely a ‘prophet’?
• His images,  PatternLightCommandDefilementHeavenTitleFirstBorn   etc’
• Where did he  find these? &How do  they give me a glimpse of his mind?
• In 20 words, how do I express what is the ‘Origin&Essence&Work’ of  myself?
• The current ‘promotion’ of ‘Angels’! Good, bad, or indifferent?
• In 16words, myUnderstandang&Experience of what are called ‘angels’?
• Which is more elusive&morc valuable? Self-, Jesus-, or Universe-Knowledge?

4. JNl:1-18                                       I

• The most significant Word/Event/Iniative is ‘Yahweh’s’ inevitable faltering attempt/s to be born. not only into the language but the behaviours of ThePeople!
• If this premiss is accepted, then how will I hear each word in this  excerpt?
• As adultChristian, how are the JesusNarratives ‘enlightening’ me?
• At the crunch,  which do I find more ‘acceptable’, Yahweh or God or Jesus?
• ‘Rank!’: TheJohn-Jesus comparison, where is this  in myChurch&Commun1ty?
• In what , ways are ‘Grace&Truth’ superior to ‘TheLaw’?
• How could anyone else  in TheBible be superior to Moses?
• The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?

‘I saw y’ above this morning!’ ‘Yeah, Christmas’ When I took the step, I promised  th’ oul’ Canon I’d always go at Christmas! “For TheWord!”, he said! “It lepps down into the dark of our winter, lookin’ for a home!” An’ listen, he whispered this, “That’s why I’m a sorta socialist’ The poor people, they’re TheWordMadeFlesh!!” His own words, they’re engraved on me, better nor a sermon!’  ‘Begod  y’re  right!  I  can  see why y’ loved that man! sure he was like tonic for us in them hard tames!’ ‘An’ look how he knew about Christmas! tho’ I had t’ drag meself past th’ door, an’ could hardly hear word,  y’  might  as well a’had sparras! yet I came away filled up for another year!’  ‘Y’re very eloquent indeed!’ ‘An’ even they never mention ‘im, he’s there by hisself every Christmas, leppin’ int  our darkness! Aw, what more can I  say…’

• RIDDLE  Where was   He  born? Bethlehem, Jordan, Golgotha, or myConversion?

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

 Sunday 20th Dec 2020(’99)  4^th SundayofAdvent: B

1.  2Sam7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16 (What about vv7, 13, 15!!)

• Read 7:1-29! This crucial realistic-flattering-cryptic David/Yahweh nexus!
• ‘Cedar!’: AromaticEnviedPaganDivineVersatileHolyTree in TheNearEast!           (Read EZEK17! JER22! PS92! IS2!)
• Between the lines, can I glimpse why David didn’t get to build TheTemple?
• Is it really ‘Yahweh’ speaking to Nathan? Or a ‘TheoPoliticalExpediency’?
• Also, what can I glimpse about the Priorities&Constraints of ‘CourtProphets’?
• Currently, who are TheGreatProphets?  &What are their PsychicParaphenalia?

2.  THE PSALM: 88:2-5, 27, 29!!

• Read carefully&critically 88(89):1-52! O theCunning of Yahweh-the-Distant!
• In modern terms, what arte Yahweh’s ‘Love&Truth’?
• ‘Dynasty!’: Did ‘David’ have to choose between ‘HisLineage & ‘Yahweh’sTemple’?
• ‘AllAges!’: what power-conscious institution hasn’t claimed an ‘Immortality’?
• Is any biblical relationshipmore valued than that of ‘Father&Son’? &Why is this?

3.   ROM16:25-27

• In the very end of Romans, Paul distils the essence of his GoodNews!
• In 40words, how would I express my essential creed?
• What was it about Jesus that so enthused Paul &even turned his whole life around?
• Has anything comparable occurred in my adukt experience?

4.    LK1:26-38   

• Arguably, the most complex&dense&dogmatically-sensitive of all the gospel stories!

                             Two literary-theological threads, ‘God & ‘TheLord’ combined!

                             Does ‘this’ in Mary’s question refer to ‘TheSon’ or ‘TheSon’sGreatness’?

                             Was an earlier simpler story plumped up for this new context?

• What was it in Gabriel’sGreeting that disturbed&puzzled Mary?
• What assures me that ‘Yahweh is with’ my Community? Or am I happy He’s not?
• ‘Cos what’d have to change if we were ‘Pregnant-with-Yahweh’? (Shucks&Wow!)

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

‘Gran’ ‘Yes Effie?’ Thursday again, Effie’s lovely wideawake afternoon with Gran!  Making homemade bread, listening to the chickies, watching Gran’s movements&gestures, exploring the give-outs&roll-arounds harvested from the conversations of Mam &Samantha, Mam’s girlfriend!Last week it was TheMission, she imagined it mishin’ about inside her, like a teenyteeny angel!  One night Sam called around after it, as she’d promised, ‘Gran, I heard Mam say to Sam. “Well did he give you the three hailmarys?”, an’ Sam laffed, “No, he gave me somethin’ else!!”, an’ made big-eyes at Mam!’ ‘It’s three somethin’ else, then?’ ‘Gran, “the three hailmarys”?’ ‘Well, a mhilis, let’s see! This priest came to the village to help people to pray better…’ ‘Mam tells me, eyes down now, hands together!’ ‘…an’ the three hailmarys are for when you want to be really good!’ ‘Did Sam niot want to be really good, then?’  ‘Maybe she’s really good already..’ ‘ ‘Oh..’ Effie thought she could feel somethin’ mishin-about inside her, maybe the priest gave Sam a prize or.. ‘So let’s say three hailmarys for Mam&Samantha, Effie, an’ then get down to business!’ ‘Yes, Gran, let’s!’ &secretly decided to find out another time, what was the prize for being really good….

6. RIDDLE:  Whose preoccupations are nearer mine?

                       David’sYahweh’sPaul’s or Mary’s?

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

  Sunday13 Dec 2020(’99)  3^rd SundayofAdvent: B

1.IS61:1-2, 10-11

• Read 61:1-11! Is there a chauvinistic double-think in this Yahweh Anthem? While ‘Yahweh’sOppressed’ are freed, ‘Strangers&Foreigners’ will be their servants?
• ‘Breath-ofYahweh’ is ‘Anointing-of-Yahweh’ is a ‘Life-of-Struggle-for-Freedpm’!
• ‘PoorBrokenheartedCaptivesPrisonersDebtors!’: What of these, in myCommunity?
• The 5Components of ‘GoodNews’ for TheContemporaryPoor? &How do I know?
• What about the retort, ‘But aren’t we all poor, even the rich, in the sight of Gos! So isn’t it really about an invitation to all mankind to join TheTrueChurch!’?

2. THE PSALM  LK1:46-50, 53-54

• READ 1:5-80! Mirrored narratives of the origins of 2Servants-of-Yahweh!
• Why do so many call Mary’sCanticle (vv46-55) a ‘revolutionary song’?
• How could a biblical woman speak-so of ‘Yahweh’? (Read 1Sam2:1-10!)
• Name 5women who are presently embodying these traits of Yahweh!
• Again, will this ‘revolution’ ever occur, unless people embody ‘Power-of-Yahweh’?
• &Again, isn’t Jesus a reminder of what happens to one who embodies ‘Exodus’!
• But how could Mary be ‘Servant-of-Yahweh’, if not as a mother?

3. 1THESS.16-24

• How much of this exhortation validly reflects the ‘ethos’ of myCommunity?
• Is this mindset at all compatible with our stressed competitive trivialised world?
• Read 4:’1-5:28′ Was Paul trying to calm down a local church that had become agitated&acedic due to erroneous assumptions about Christ’s imminentReturn?
• What if my diocese is feeding itself on ‘erroneous imaginings’? Or would I know?

4. JN1:6-8,19-28

• Read 1:1-51! Jn’s InitialKishwawn of Narrative&Image&Strategy&Dynamism!
• Where else to ‘PlungeThePeople’, except in JordanFlood! (ReadJosh3-4)
• In what ways is ‘TheIrrationalityOfYahweh’ represented also in John&Jesus?
• Christ=AnointedByYahweh! Elijah=YahwehMyGod! ‘Prophet=MouthOfYahweh!’ Because only ‘Yahweh’ can plunge ThePeople into the truly dynamicFreedom!
• Why is John imagined to be so dismissive about his importantConversionRitual?

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

‘Sir, a question! How did you know?’ ‘What! Is there no end to idle questions?’ ‘Sir, it is idle answers I seek to jettison’ so I am making my approach to you, rather than leaving myself in the clutches of chicken-brained praters!’ ‘Friend! Amen to your word about the prevailing fashion for idle answers! So, what is it?’ ‘Sir, how did you know Time&Place&Word&Touch&Gesture?’ ‘Friend, even as you yourself do! TheVoice directed my steps, moment-to-moment!’ ‘But Sir, I never hear TheVoice…’ ‘Friend, undoubtedly you do! but attend to one-who-knows! Habitually you drown TheVoice by boorish tumblings, you mistake TheVoice for something trivial&pathetic like dreams&hallucinations!’ ‘But how will I know, sir? &will it be safe?’  ‘Friend, when everything falls away then you hear, then you laff, then every danger breathes TheLover’sName!!’

6. RIDDLE Which aspect of Yahweh?

                                                     John! Plunger-intoCleansingWater?

                                                     Jesus! TheLeader-intoFreeingLight?

                                                     Paul!  TheSpeaker-intoEncouragingBreath?

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

Sunday 6 Dec 2020 (’99) 2^nd SundayofAdvent: B

1. IS40: 1-5, 9-11 (What was so frightening about vv6-8?) 

• Read 40:1-31! The crunchy programmatic overture to the immeasurably-influential book of ‘TheJewishBible known as SecondIsaiah (IS40-55)
• In what ways are events in my world attributed to ‘Yahweh’?
• What ‘GoodNews’ is ‘TheMessenger’ shouting-out to myChurch?
• Or are we just content to keep on repeating ‘TheNews” in old familiar formats?

2. THE PSALM: 84:9-14

• Read 84(85):1-13! Is this an unfailingly-dynamic commitment? Or a good example of the ‘wishful thinking’ in much of our own liturgical palaver?
• ‘MercySavingHelp!’: The Values that characterise a ‘Servant-of-Yahweh’!
• (Hostility to TheOtherGods, Commitment to TheOppressed, &Aleretness)
• Apart from ‘Yahweh’, to what factors might we owe our ‘Prosperity&Fertility”?
• Do ‘discoveries’ of Biology&Physical&Psychology relate to this language?
• By what Channels&Conduits is He Eloquent&Strident&Exigent in my world?.

3. 2 PETER3:8-14  Read 1.1-3:18! A homily attributed to Peter, that seeks to reassure certain Christians who are disturbed  because the ‘Parousia’ ofChrist hasn’t yet happened yet!           

• The Slowness&Patience&Suddeness of ‘TheLord’, how does this sit with me?’Peace”: In 30words, what ‘Wholeness’ am I struggling to attain?
• What of the claim that ‘TheComing’ is even now taking place in ‘ThePoor’

4. MK1:1-8

• Read 1:1-45! Jesus’ Inauguration&Selfpresentation as Holy-One-of-God’
• To judge from ny total behaviour, was I baptised in ‘HolyWater’ or ‘HolyBreath’?
• If John’sBaptism so affected Jesus, surely it cannot have been just a ‘swim’?
• Why does the storyteller so systematically subordinate John to Jesus?
• Is the same tendency there in myChurch’s discourse about ‘TherOtherChurches’?
• If this excerpt links Jesus closely with Yahweh, is this cause for Joy or Regret? ‘Cos, if Yahweh’ so self-asserted in both John&Jesus, what might He seek in me?
• If John&Jesus each embody a very strenuous & very dangerous vocation, shouldn’t I say NO! To both? (unless it’s only rhetoric&devotion…)

5.  The presence &action of the BlessedOne, is it like this? ‘Cissie, didja hear it last Sunday above? ‘God, tell us quick Gertie! A bitta scandal was it?’ ‘Well sorta! Yer man that baptised OurBlessedLord, JohnTheBaptist.’ ‘ Funny name, isn’t it?! Like roundy bread!’ ‘…Cissie, are ya sure it didn’t register?’ ‘Wouldn’t i tell y’ if it did? ‘Listen! He never drunk nothi’ but an occasional sippa the jordan! An ate nothin’ but locuses an’ wild honey! ‘What!’ ‘There y’are now!’ ‘god how’d I miss that! I coulda bounced it off my fella’s phizzog1’  ‘Cissie, don’t get distracted ! sipsa Jordan, with everythin’ leppin about in it..’..’ Aw yuk, Gertie!’  an’ insecks, an’ that other stuff, it coulda been anythin’  ‘Gertie! It’s comin’ back t’me! The priest said it really meant notta br goin’ over th’top wi’ th’gargle, but be temporal!’ an’..’ ‘.t’swally the sour bitsa theChristian life”  ‘That’s the locuses prob’ly!’ ‘as well as the sweet bits!’ ‘I wasn’t so sure about that meself!  But he mighta meant Advent!’ ‘No matter! We’ll make up for it all on Christmas Day, Cissie, wi’the help o’ the spirit of life! ‘ Indeed we will, Gertie! Isn’t that what Christmas is all about!’

RIDDLE: Whose life is safer? The Baptist’s, Jesus. Or Paul’s”

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

ADBI: ADVENT 2020 (’99)

 

CROSSING THE REED SEA, JORDAN, JABBOK, CEDRON!

WHAT TO CARRYTHROUGHTHIS IMMANENT BAPTISM?

AS YOU SALMON FROM OLD YEAR TO NEW! CALL IT IMMANENT BAPTISM!

&RECOIL FROM OLD-LIFE, &OLD-CENTURY, OLD-MILENNIUM!

WHAT TO CARRY ACROSS OR THROUGH THE DENYING BECKONING WATER?

LIKE THOSE WHO SQUAT ON THE SHORE, &SIFT THE CATCH, WHAT-THE-CRITERIA?

FOR THIS IS TIME-OF-RECKONING, WHICH OF THE GODS WILL SPOOK OR SPUR ME?

FIRST THE TOTALBIBLE, CAULDRON OF ALL THAT BIRTHED-THE TEACHER!

HE, LOVER OF WOMEN&MEN, FOREVER YEARNS THE POOR!

THESIXTEENDOCUMENTS OF VATICANTWO I WARMLY CHERISH!

AMAZING! ANCIENT RONCALLI, UNLIKELY MIDWIFE, TENTATIVE CHILD…

THEN THELABYRINTH-OF-RELATEDNESS!WHAT GENETIC & CULTURAL WEAF?

EVERY LOVER-SMILE, &ENEMY-FROWN! & ALL-WHO-DITHER…

THEN THEINITIATIONS! EVEN I, RELATIVELY CUNNING!

YES, MAY I SEE THE-EXTENT! &CARRY-ACROSS THE ONES-THAT-MATTER…

THE WORDS&CHOICES, GESTURES&BEHAVIOURS OF JOHNPAULTHESECOND!

UNREMITTING COMPOSES AN ECCESIAL&CHRISTOLOGICAL VISION!

THEN THE UNKNOWN HORIZONS! THE INTERACTION OF DIVINITY & SCIENCE

&THE CRITICAL-CREATIVESCINTILLA! NOT TO REMAIN FOREVER ASLEEP

IN THE NOW-THREADBARE TAPESTRY OF KNOWLEDGE&OPINION&FANTASY&DESPAIR!

RATHER VENTURE HUMBLY THE EXPERIENCE OF WOMEN&MEN

ESPECIALLY POOR! &GAY&CRIPPLED&DESTITUTE&MAD&IMPRISIONED!

HEARING THE CRY OF THE DISVALUED POOR! THE CRY OF THE EARTH!

&CONSCIENCE! THAT NEGLECTED CHILD OF EARTH’S ARDENTEST DESIRE!

INURED TO WINCE AT THE MEREST SHADOW OF THE WHIP, WHEN WILL SHE TURN

&CARRY THE WOUNDED SELF ACROSS&THROUGH THE IMMANENTBAPTISM?,

FOR NOTHING WILL GERMINATE OR BLOSSOM OR FRUIT,WHATEVER THE AURA

&BOAST&FROWN OF AUTHORITY, WITHOUT CONSCIENCE! SHETHEQUEEN

THAT SWEETLY GATHERS ALL THE REST ACROSS TOMORROW’SABYSS

&WHAT MUST BE LEFT BEHIND, ON THIS WITHERING BANK?

NONE ELSE CAN DISCERN THIS BUT ADULTCHRISTIANCONSCIENCE!

&THIS I WHISPER & SHOUT: ‘IS THE QUEEN STILL OPPRESSED BY THE KNAVE..?’

*

IN TRUTH, WHAT OF OUR CLINGING PANOPLY-OF-SELF-IMPORTANCE

IS OF PROVEN VALUE, &WORTHY OF BEING-CARRIED-ACROSS?

&WHAT IS PALPABLY DELUSIVE, BUT STOLIDLY BROKERED-BY-POWER?

ESPECIALLY, WHAT SEEDS MUST BE RECOGNISED, & BROUGHT-IN-HONOUR,

(OR EVEN AS DANGEROUS CONTRABAND!)

TO BE MATCHED OF A TRUER&WORTHIER PEOPLE-OF-THELORD!

***

Sunday 29 Nov 2020 (’99) : 1stSundayofAdvent : B

1. IS63:16-17; 64:1, 3-8

• Read 63: -64:12! Some of the notorious extremes of Yahweh’s ‘Pathos’!
• In what ways does this poet see Yahweh as unique among ‘TheGods’?
• To ‘FearYahweh’ is to ‘Walk-in-HisWays’ is to ‘EmbodyHisPriorities’!
• How did ‘TheProphets’ discover Yahweh’s ‘moral imperatives’?
• What tells&enables contemporary ‘Yahwists’ (who?) about ‘Justice/Integrity’?
• What if ‘God’ is not as enraged about the ‘Oppression of ThePoor’ as ‘Yahweh’ is?

2. THE PSALM : 79:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 (Such a shredding of this great VineSong?)

• Read 79(80):1-19! Song of TheVine-of-Yahweh! Suffering, protesting, yearning!
• Read also ISS:1-30! Song of TheLover’sVine! Hope&disappointment&rage!
• ‘Vine!’: So mysterious&divine&vulnerable&precious&neglected& …
• Who is being blamed in this psalm, concerning TheVme’sDegradation?
• Apart from Vine, what other Tree&Flower&Animal-images for Yahweh’sPeople?
• So modernly blasé as I am, can I glimpse the numinosity of wine in TheAncient
• NearEast! especially for the poor! in intimate trysts, &orgies, &Passovers!

3. 1 CORl :3-9

• Read 1:1-31! Paul’s essential call! To ‘Balance&Collaboration’!
• In my Church, which is most valued, Difference or Conformity or Hypocrisy?
• What are the ’20Enrichments of TheSpirit’ evident in the local church of Armagh?
• How is ‘Factionalism’ recognised&understood&tolerated in myCommumty?
• What are the Origin&Nature&Affects of ‘Centralisation in TheChurch’?

4. MK13:33-37

• Even listening acutely to this excerpt, what more can I do than merely-nod?
• What are the 15Trends in contemporaryChurch&Society that adultChristians are ‘asleep’ in regard to (because of ‘individualism’, &’fear of reprisal’!)?
• What arc ‘ThcSigns of TheTimes’, about Indiscipline, Ignorance, MoralLaissez-Faire, Obsession, Flattery, Plagiarism, Addiction, Obscurantism, FuddyDuddyism,
• PorousFaith, Absence-of-Debate, Despair, &above-all, Failure-to-ValueOneself!
• Who’s interested in ‘StayingAwake’, when sleep-disorders are actually endemic!

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

‘Now that the holy season of Advent’s upon us once again, there’s one saying of OurDivneLord that even you can’t cavil with .. ‘ ‘You mean, Eat, Drink, an’ be. . .’ ‘Enough of that irreverence! Don’t you realise. . .’ ‘OK! If you insist, I’ll be reverend

for a change!’ ThePractisingSceptic paused ironically, &nodded to TheOfficial  Believer, who proceeded with just a little gravitas, ‘Right! In the LittleApocalypse of StMark, TheMaster exhorts HisDisciples.,’ ‘What? me-too?’ ‘ … to “Stay-Awake!”  &not to .. ‘ ‘Hold-on! I presume this is a metaphor .. ‘ ‘Not at all! He never descended to metaphors or such tropes!’ ‘Are you serious? Awake? Totally-insomniac discipleship? Tho’ it’d be a great improvement on the present totally-insomniac discipleship!’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I mean a sleeping Church, talking in its sleep, these old chestnuts,  telling us to stay awake!’ TheOfficialBeliever stared in disbelief! ‘What’s more’, ThePractisingSceptic continued, ‘if you’re wise you’ll all remain there, utterly zonked! ‘Cos if yous ever wake up, it’ll be worse than crybaby Oisín ever was!!’

6. RIDDLE Which is more dangerous? Me to return to Yahweh? Or Him to return to me?                                          

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