SUN 2nd APRIL 2023(’02): PASSION SUNDAY (formerly called PALMS). A

THE HOLY WEEK OF THE NAZARENE BEGINS

1. PROCESSION OF THE PALMS: MT 21:1-11

• In my local church, what is the equivalent of ‘TheEntrance-of-the-King’?
• ‘YourKing/Humble!’ Read ZECH 9:9-17! But is He not also vengeful&manic?
• ‘Donkey!’ Abigail came to David on a donkey, with bread&wine! (1SAM25)

2. THE MASS OF PASSION SUNDAY. IS50:4-7 (What about vv8-9?)

• Read TheFourServantSongs! 42:1-9, 49:1-7, 50:4-9, 52:13-53:12
• In my local church, how are ‘disciples’ speaking&listening&suffering?
• To judge by these ‘songs’, what are the ingredients of ‘true discipleship’?
• The attacks on TheServant, anything like that going on in my local church?
• In what 10Ways does ‘Yahweh’ aid past&contemporary ‘servants’?

3. THE PSALM 21:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 (Mere shreds of this great song!)

• Read 21(22):1-31! Dramatic&moving song of a beleaguered Yahwist!
• Isn’t it imaginable that Jesus sang all of this as He ‘died-a-servant’?
• Which ‘Friends-of-Yahweh’ are being derided in my local church?
• Are those who suffer-for-faith nowadays, encouraged to be so graphic in church?
• &If they had the opportunity to ‘witness-publicly’, would they be heard&heeded?
• But what if it’s the lot of a ‘servant/disciple’ to be mocked&torn&strippt?

4. PHIL 2:6-11.

• Read 2:1-18! ‘Mind-of-Christ’! Paul’s-imagining? Or the rale-Christ
  • In 45 words can I imagine how he’d explain ‘Christ’-Equality-with-God’?
  • What biblical or philosophical precedent (or model) did he have for ‘TheEmptying’?
  • ‘All-Beings!’ Does this include God&Angels
  • &Spirits&Animals, as well as Humanity?

5. THE PASSION FROM MATTHEW. 26:14-27:66

• How is ‘TheBetrayal-of-Jesus’ experientially-nuanced in my local church
• ‘Peter&Judas!’. One wept, one sacrificed himself! One is canonised, the other
• What was the alleged ‘blasphemy’? &Is ‘blasphemy’ a likelihood nowadays?
• Why did the storyteller make Jews say, ‘HisBlood be upon us’?
• Is it significant that Jesus died utterly alone, utterly devalued&unwanted?
• But what of the ‘many women, watching from a distance’?
• ‘Son-of-God!’ One who is totally committed to embodying ‘TheInterests-of-God’!

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

‘One of the saddest reflections for me in Holy Week, How many of those who shouted for TheKing on Palm Sunday shouted against Him on GoodFriday?’ &TheOfficialBeliever sighed as he spoke! ‘Maybe they saw the light’ ThePracticingSceptic’s response was casual but rapier-like ‘Oh, don’t take refuge in such a cynical ’ Listen’ Say, in 13th century Rome, if TheVatican fingered some peasant form the Abruzzi who’d shouted against the religious authorities, &kicked up a symbolic rumpus in St. Peter’s, would even you.’ ‘Nego paritatem’ You’re comparing chalk&cheese! OurLord was divine, whereas your peasant.’ ‘Who’s to say? &Hasn’t each one a spark of the divine.’ ‘Not at all’ That’s another of your sentimental half chewed existentialist lucubrations! Not even OurDivineMother! ‘Only the Godman from Nazareth was divine’ ‘That’s a much later dogma.’ ‘Pardon me, Schleiermacher! Both the words&works of TheWord-Made-Flesh sufficed to prove HisDivinity beyond shadow, to any reasonable’ ‘catholic apologist’, yes! but ‘They didn’t see the light, they sinned against it’ ‘That’s that’ ‘Leave it there.’

7. RIDDLE Which Jesus, as HisHolyWeek begins? AnointedKing? Son-of-God? The Shepherd? Son-of-Man? Lord? The Prophet? TheMaster? Yehweh’sServant? TheImposter? TheDesertedOne?Passion Sunday

Sunday 26 March 2023 (’02) • 5thSUNofLENT: A

1. EZEK37·12-14

• Read 37:1-14!TheValley-of-Bones that stood-again in TheBreath! But will this interest those who bring ‘Death-to-TheLiving’, rather than ‘Life-to-TheDead’?
• ‘TheGrave!’. The situation of being in religio-political exile in Babylon!
• ‘I-am” ‘Yahweh’ is the one who brings ThePeople out of every Exile!
• In which 5Respects are WesternChristians ‘in exile’, & ‘in the grave’?
• How did Patricius’ ‘exile’ in Ireland bring him to fuller realisation?
• Which modern Irish Literature/Drama explores our exile from ‘soul’s-truth’?
• ‘MySpirit”· Which DivineBreaths (other than Yahweh’s) are inhabiting TheIrish?

2. THE PSALM 129 1-8

• Another very beloved biblical song’ even in Latin! What’s the empathy?
• AttentionForgivenessArrivalMercyRedemption’ • How important are these ‘attributes’ (credited to a divinity 2500years ago), in our own cynical&ironic society?
• ‘TheDepths” In what ways is TheUnderworld, TheWorld-of-Death, significant now?
• &What 20 Situations would I sum up as my experience of ‘TheDepths’?
• ‘Redemption”· Variously individual&collective, political&juridical&spiritual’
• How does Patricius in ‘TheConfessio’ mirror the sentiments of this psalm?
• ‘Soul!’· More elusive & more neglected & more needed than ever, is she not?

3 ROM8 8-11

• Am I struck in this, once again, by Paul’s strange&wayward ‘line-of-argument’?
• ‘Spirit” My understanding&experience of this? &Its links with my actual ‘breath’?
• ‘Spiritual&Unspiritual” How helpful or useful to english speakers is this terminology?
• What are the indications that ‘TheBreath-of-God/Christ’ is ‘in me’, or anyone else?
• Why is there apparently a negative prejudice about ‘Body’ in this extract?

4 JNll.1-45 (What sense, offering a ‘shorter form’ of a great story?)

• What can I glimpse here, of the ‘intimate relations’ between Jesus&The3Siblings?
• What character-differences can I glimpse between Martha&Mary? (Cf LK10:38ff)
• How do I take the unusual emphasis in this story on Jesus’ ‘Feelings&Susceptibilities’?
• ‘If You had been here” Is Jesus’ Absence actually a blessing, if strongly-worked-with?

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

PATRICIUS HIS SHOUTS OF GRACE
Yes! TheYouth imprisoned in Egypt'sDryWell!
Yes! TheSlave tested in TheDesert! Great-the-Fruit' Yes! TheLover'sEmbrace in prayer of Day&Night!
Yes! TheFriend, Hawk-in-Chariot, Salmon-in-Curragh!
 Yes! TheMaster, steadied the novice in contrary winds! 
Yes! TheGrace TheUnsurpassed, to preach to TheIrish! 
Yes! TheSower Seed &Ground, &Lord-of-TheHarvest!
 Yes! TheGreenness of Body&Soul, the many years!
Yes! TheValley-of-DryBones filled with Breath!

6. RIDDLE Which ‘Patrick-for-Now’?

TheRefugee-among-Strangers-whom-he-CameToLove?

TheExile who mined-his-hardship for a PreciousGold?

TheBreathFi1led who learned how to CallBackTheDead?

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

Sunday 19 March 2023 (’02) • 4thSUNofLENT: A

1 1SAM16:1, 6-7, 10-13

• Read 15.1-16.23!The dark violent king-making charism of Samuel!
• How did Samuel (or the others around) know that it was ‘Yahweh’ who moved him?
• When Yahweh/Samuel ‘looked at David’s heart’, what did they see?
• On balance, is my local church ruled by intuition, caprice, custom, or dialogue?
• Is 1it noteworthy that there are no women visible in this important narrative?

2 THE PSALM: 22:1-6

• What makes this song such a favourite of so many adults?

• Do I experience ‘Yahweh’ as ¹SolicitousShepherd’ or ‘GenerousHost’?
• ‘Yahweh’sHouse!’: TheTemple? Heaven? Or arguably, wherever ThePoor are?
• Isn’t this more likely to be a song sung by the king? Or do all expect such privilege?
• If Yahweh were my ‘provider’, what else would I ‘want’, not mentioned here?
• ‘Cos Yahweh may be an ‘undeveloped divinity’, not resourceful-enuff for now’

3 EPH5·8-14

• Read 4 1- 5.20! Some ramifications&corollaries of the new ‘christian’ lifestyle?
• Which ‘secret aspects’ of the local church should be uncovered&shaken-out?
• In a ‘christian perspective’, what ‘works’ of IrishSociety must be deemed ‘futile’?
• What of the claim that ‘ModernSociety’ is more dynamic than ‘TheChurch’?
• Far from ‘waking up’, will any of us acknowledge, even realise, that we’re asleep?

4 JN9:1-41

• Isn’t this one of the most picaresque narratives m TheTotalB1ble?
• As regards a ‘spu1tual meaning’, whom TheChurch seriously thinks they’re ‘blind’?
• Isn’t it still a widespread thought, that ‘misfortune’ is due to ‘sin’?
• How did the man (&his parents) survive the officious questioning of ‘authority’?
• “What is the equivalent in my local church of ‘KeepingTheSabbath’?
• In what ways are ‘disciples’ being trained to ‘see’ more-truly&more-deeply?

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

How is seeing different from blindness, if the one with sight is yet blind to pattern&hue&nuance? How is blindness different from seeing, if one born-blind has yet become unimaginably skilled like a hunter & a dowser, sensitive to every tremor, every ripple, in the accompanying web? Sha’ul my name, after the first & greatest of all the kings! Speak not to me of David&Solomon, for all their boastful exploits, they saw nothing of Heaven’sTruth’ Sha’ul my Master, for all that the storytellers have devalued his greatness, saw clearly Heaven’sTruth, but was pulled down by envy of Samuel-the Begrudger’ Sight of the eyes, sight of the heart, sight of the breath’ As with myMaster, all of these have ebbed&flowed for me m the accompanying web! Yet with this difference I was never king, nor called, nor aspired to be!But I was never overwhelmed by my darkness-of-the-eyes, nor was I inflated With boastfulness because of my many skills & many threads-of-power! Rather, I ruled my dark scintillant world by the harvesting of aptitudes sown by Heaven in my humble soul&body!I was truly agreeable to live&die in this way, moving modestly&invulnerably among the myriad sons&daughters of David (peace be upon him).. Until the blessed day I was approached by another who also was unmistakeably of the lineage of Sha’ul’ Now my life is utterly ablaze, praise-TheMaster!!

6 RIDDLE What is it most important to see?

The limitations of the professional zealots?

The presence of Yahweh/Jesus in the oppressed?

The new opportunities being provided by the modern world?

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

Sunday 12 March 2023 (’02) : 3rdSUNofLENT : A

1. EXOD 17·3-7

• What 15Sorts-of-‘Freedom’ are on offer in my religio-socio-political menu?
• Which of these ‘freedoms’ approximate to ‘being-freed-from-egypt’?
• ‘Freedom” Insofar as I’m struggling for this, what are the benefits? what are the costs?
• ‘Stone”: Nowadays, what 5Dangers threaten the leadership of my local church?
• Why shouldn’t people ‘test’, whether ‘Yahweh’ is with them or not’
• ‘Water-from-Rock” What is the seemingly-most-hopeless problem in the local church?

2. THE PSALM 94.1-2, 6-9 (This psalm’s seemly aspect!)

• Read 94(95):1-11! A great shout for Yahweh! But what dark voice, there in the tail?
• ‘BendBowLowKneel”· Outside Islam, what is the status of these gestures nowadays’
• Which image of ‘Yahweh’ is more congeinal to myChurch, Warrior or Shepherd?
• Why is ‘Yahweh’ so loathe to be ‘put to the test’? Who else am I reminded of?
• &Is His’Work’ in contemporary society sufficient to ensure He won’t be ‘tried&tested”
• Perhaps there is a widespread sentiment that ‘authority’ shouldn’t be questioned.

3 ROMS 1-2, 5-8 (Somewhat eviscerated?)

• Am I comfortable, &even blas, with this familiar language, or might I explore into it?
• ‘ThroughJesus!’: What sort of relationship? What sort of change? What cost ensues?
• Faith&Hope&Love’ Rhetoric? Attitudes&Skills’ PopsongStuff? UnimaginableChange?
• Where did the idea derive from, that someone could efficaciously ‘die for sinners’?
• In what ways does ‘Christ’sDeath’ prove ‘God’sLove’?

4. JN4:5-42

• Which OT stones (of WellsJacobSamaritansMountainsHarvest) are evoked here?
• Is there an elusive quality, nearly cat&mouse, about the ‘conversation’ of Jesus&her?
• Say, what each understands by ‘water’&’husband’&’worship’&’messiah’&’truth’?
• What about His subversive suggestions,

Whoever drinks Jesus’ ‘water’ will never thirst again!

Whoever worships ‘TheFather’ must do so ‘in spirit&truth’!

Traditional enemies will love when they look-beyond their ‘bone-of-contention”

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

‘Quick Gertie, call us a wee ball a’ malt’ I never heard such a drim an’ drew! Y’r man took th’ biscuit this mornin’, goin’ on an’ on like a tinker’s trimmins ‘ ‘Oh ”,,,thirst an’ women an’ wells an’ droot ‘ ‘Here, peg that inta y’r gob” ‘Then suddenly he started on th’ Samaritans .’ ‘Them boys that marches f’r Jesus?’ ‘Seems they’re a small crowda rummies from OurLord’s time, who lives in th’ past..’ ‘Oh ‘ ‘. an’ does nothin’ like no one else! includin’, they’d never take a sippa y’r Powers.’ ‘Begod, I’ve no squawk about that” ‘But worse, th’ think they’re the really real people a’ God, an’ we’re Just…’ ‘Cissie, th’ sound th’ spittin’ image a’ my fella! His latest is, “A’d let nobody, but nobody, inta Ireland’ Ireland’s our holy ground’ Bought be th’ blood of our own martyrs, Connolly an’ Pearse’ No dirt in Ireland, never””· .Aw he’s such a. ‘ ‘I know’ but y’ can’t blame ‘im, neither’ Before y’d blink, them rummies, an’ worse, ‘d have th’ emerald isle overrun’ Like th’ other crowd already” ‘So, did head a’ wit.. ‘ ‘Oh yes, this Samaritan women, one a’ th’ rummies, was sittin’ at Jacob’s Well.. ‘ ‘Ha-ha!!’ ‘ an’ asked Jesus f’r a drink! No, he asked her’ No, she ..’ ‘Typical rummy’ I know what a’d a’ done If I was him ‘!’

6. RIDDLE Where will I hear ‘TheVoice-of-Yahweh’? ChurchPrescriptions?

TheCry-of-ThePoor? TbeArgybargy-of-Militants? TheSelfPresentation-of-TheAhen?

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

Sunday 5 March 2023 (’02) : 2ndSUNofLENT A

1. GEN12:l-14

• Read 11 l – 12:20! TheScattering TheCall TheFamine TheBetrayal ThePlagues! Why?
• How am I affected by the devious opportunism of ‘Abram’? (&Reminded-of what?)
• In what respect is ‘Yahweh’ different from the tribal divinities of all the other nomads?
• For instance,Muhammad’s call by Allah, &the subsequent ‘Rise-of-Islam’?
• ‘All-the-Tnbes¹‘: But what of those ‘tribes’ who resisted ‘ThePeoples-of-TheBook(s)’?
• Isn’t ‘Yahweh’ here giving carte blanche for their enforced ‘conversion’, or destruction?

2 THE PSALM 32 4-5, 18-20, 22

• Read 32(33) 1-22! A Jubilant celebration of ‘Yahweh”
• What evidences m my local church of ‘ThePresence&Power&Action-of-Yahweh’?
• Apart from ‘Yahweh’, which other ‘agencies’ do I count on for protection&sustenance?
• IfYahweh were to ask me, what 20Resources would I admit to needing-from-Him?
• ‘Famine!’ If we don’t muck in, what signs that ‘Yahweh’ is either aware or capable?

3 2TIM1:8-10

• Read 1 3-18! Isn’t this writer actually rather anxious about Timothy’s ‘faith’?
• The12Anxieties in my local church about ‘Faith&Practice&Observance’? &Is there more concern about the ‘enthusiasm’ of children, teenagers or adults? Laity or clergy?
• ‘HeAbolishedDeath” MyUnderstanding of this in 30words of modern language?
• What I0Sorts-of-‘Hardship’ am I bearing ‘for the sake of TheGoodNews’?

4. MT17.1-9
   • What, that no women-disciples are included? &may even be specifically excluded?
   • Was the calling&significance of women in Jesus’ historicall ministry somehow disguised or dissimulated in the formation of ‘gospels’? Unless Jesus actually didn’t call them
   • DAN7·9-14 TheAncientOne! EXOD34: Moses’Face’TheGlory! EXOD24 TheCloud!
   • ‘OnlyJesu’!· Was it all a dream? Or has He absorbed it all? Or is it ‘anti-Jewish’?
   • Apart from ‘devotion’, can I glimpse the ‘big issues’ of this neglected narrative.

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

James&John, the sons of Zebedee-the-Netmaker, were among the first to answer the call of TheLordJesus!Shulammith their mother, known as TheAppleTree, herself I responded at the same time, &was part of the intimate companionship up to & beyond TheMaster’s Exodus! Well known among TheFollowers was the story, how she pleaded for her sons, &how these accepted to drink from TheLord’sOwnCup!Well known too, the day of indignation, when they desired, like TheThreeMessengers-to-Abraham (peace-be-upon him), to call down fire on TheSamaritanVillages, &TheLord rebuked them, &they earned the nickname BenêRégesh, Sons-of-TheThunder, for their impetuous ardour! Well known also, the inspiring stories, how they finally drained TheLord’s Chalice to the bitter dregs, in their-OwnExodusTogether under Herod Agrippa, a mere decade after TheMaster’s own under PontiusPilatus! Less well known their own peculiar ways of relating together, &how they were in constant communication at all times! What is known to no one, apart from one other, is a brief conversation they shared as they prepared to FallAsleep-in-TheLord! It was the first time since it happened, that they’d ever alluded to TheManifestation-of-TheLord’sGlory-on-MountThabor! ‘James, may we now speak of that blessed moment?’ ‘John, surely we may’! ‘James, did we both hear TheVoice?’ ‘John, surely we did!’ ‘&James, was TheVoice that of a man or a woman?’ ‘John, assuredly it was of a woman’ &Let us say together whose it was’! ‘Amen-amen’ TheVoice-of-TheDivineMother, TheLord’sFirstMotherAlways’ Amen!

6. RIDDLE Which? LeaveHome? HopeInLove? BeHoly? FearNot?

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

26FEB 2023 1stSUNinLENT(2002): A

1. GEN2:7-9, 3:1-7

Read 2:4b-3:24! A neglected narrative, smothered by tendentious interpretations!

• Why are there two special ‘trees’ &How are ‘life’ & ‘knowledge’ related?
• How was the suitability of animals (&woman) as a ‘partner’ judged?
• What the values&emotions&taboos around ‘nakedness’ nowadoys?
• What ‘knowledge’ would the ‘tree’ give? &Did woman or man receive it?
• Is ‘self-awareness’ always at a cost? What cost? &What benefit?

2. THE PSALM 50: 3-6, 12-14

• Read 50(51) 1-19! Various strategies for ridding oneself of ‘sin’,&its miasma!
• Why is there so much emphasis on ‘sin’ in TheBible, &in the mainstream Churches?
• What are the ‘secular’ equivalents of ‘sin’? &How are they purged?
• How could I rid myself, once and for all, of this debilitating ‘venom-in-the-bones’?
• How adequate are the current ‘rituals-of-penance’ for dealing with sin’s ramifications?

3. ROM5:12-19

• Read 4.1-7.25! How relate Adam&Christ, Sin&Grace, Life&Death, Fait&Works!
• What about the matter-of-fact self-confident logic of it all? But maybe too eloquent?
• Why does Paul connect ‘sin’ & ‘death'(Read carefully GEN2, 4b -3.24! Again!)
• Does he clarify how ‘all have sinned’? &How ‘death spread to all’?
• Is it ‘physical death’ he means? Or some condition like ‘lack of faith’?
• SinDeathWorldLawGraceRighteousManLife! Can I say this riddle in 20modern words?

4. MT4:1-11

• Read 3.1-4.25! Setting-in-train, by Heaven&John&Jesus&Devil, of ‘TheNewExodus’!
• ‘Tempter’! As Moses was tested for his competence as Leader-of-Exodus, so is Jesus!
• In what 20 ways is my LifeCommitment-as-Disciple being tested?
• ‘Angels’! How did they ‘look after Him’? GEN21.8-21(Hagar), !Kg19.1-8(Elijah)!

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

‘Gran’! ‘Yes, Effie dear?’ ‘Boysie’s goin’ off everythin’ for the forty days an’ forty nights!’

‘O, I’m very impressed to hear it, luveen! But a bit surprised.’ ‘Sam an’ Boysie had another row, which he lost! An’ he got very wampy an’ shouted, “Righto then, that”s me up th’ Swanee! A’m goin’ off everythin’ for the forty days an’ forty nights!’”….’What’s th’ forty, Gran?’ ‘Well, a mhilis, y’ know we’re into Lent’ ‘ Yes, Sister Maggie says it Th’ Spring but y’ pray durin’ it, an’ shouldn’t be goin’ ’round like swans or lambs’ ‘ oh’ ‘ ‘an go off cursin’ an’ tearin’ up Gran, Boysie’s goin’ off too, but everythin’! ‘Did Sister Maggie also tell you that Lent is was forty days an’ forty nights…’ ‘ Maybe while I was listenin’ to a family a’ sparras talkin’ outside’ ‘But I wonder why it’s forty days an’ nights’ ‘Mam says she’s goin’ to be forty forever…’ ‘ so it must be a good number!’ ‘Yes, I think Jesus went off everythin’ for forty days an’ nights’ ‘ Had he a nargument with his friend?’ ‘ During the forty days an’ nights he had a big nargument with someone very bold’ ‘ I think I know, behind my eyes,’ …’who was trying to get Jesus to turn against God’ ‘ But Jesus shouted, “No, you don’t! I will never turn against God…”’…’… “Y’ must know, I’ve gone off everythin’ these forty days…”..’ ‘”except God alone!!”’ Effie smoothed her nice blue dress, & whispered to Gran, ‘Thank you, my favourite lady of all! I love you the same as I love God, all the days an’ all the night! Great, great!!’

6. RIDDLE Sin! Disobedience-to-Law? Refusal-of-Friendship?

Embrace-of-AnotherGod? MisrepresentedAutonomy?

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

19FEB2023 7thSUNinORDINARY(1996): A

1. LEV19:1-2, 17-18

Lev 18-20! What are the main preoccupations reflected in these Prescriptions?

What is the affect of appending to an Imperative, ‘I am TheLord/Yahweh!’?

In my Community, what ‘leverage’ is available, to either “Rulers’ or ‘Subjects’, to

ensure that Prescriptions&Stipulations are adhered to or fulfilled?

Which do I find moves me more to undertake a course of action:

Description of it as a ‘Divine Law’ or ‘The Word of the Lord’?

Support of its ‘truth’ by philosophical or quotational arguments?

Threats of ‘eternal’ or ‘temporal’ Loss or Punishment?

Presentation of one or more Exemplars who freely live the imperative?

Whisper of the InnerVoice of Soul, to take &taste&endure alertly?

Unwillingness to confront or embarrass ‘Authority Figures’?

What are the 5principal ingredients/exemplars/drawbacks of ‘Holiness’?

2. 1COR3:16-23

Why is Paul so obsessive about other claims to ‘Wisdom’?

Was he ironic enough to intuit that in time, even his own ‘Divine Wisdom’ might well topple over into ‘Worldly Wisdom’? How might this happen?

What about the mass of ‘Argument’ in the ‘traditional’ Catholic Apologetics?

Ultimately, what did/do people find so compelling about Paul?

Name the 5mostimpressive Writers Preachers Activists Controversialists?

If I am ‘Temple of God’, in whom dwells ‘Breath of God’

What am I doing to Protect Nourish Explore Honour this?

In what ways do I Neglect Avoid Dishonour Squander this?

Who else do I invite into The Temple? Or who do I exclude?

Who forces their way in: by Violence Fraud or Sweet Talk?

To what extent might Paul be devaluing the NittyGritty of experience?

3. MT5:38-48

In what situations can I glimpse myself to be vengeful vindictive reactive?

Where have I learned this behaviour?

What alternatives to ‘Vengeance’ have I discovered or attempted?

Can I se that ‘Eye-for-Eye’ promotes a basic irreducible ‘Justice’?

Why are exhortations to Tolerance Forgiveness Patience Letting Go Compassion & especially ‘LoveOfEnemies’, falling on deaf ears?

What Mindsets&Models are in possession in our PsychicTapestry, that makes it essentially impossible ludicrous dangerous, to be ‘Soft’ & ‘Wimpish’?

How do the initiations of Children into Adulthood, accentuate attitudes of SelfInterest rather than Altruism? &so involve Violence etc!

In what ways is ‘TheHeavenlyFather’ perfect? &How could I emulate this?

To what extent have I found intensive ‘SoulWork’ helpful in all of this?

4. OVERALL QUESTION

Lord! Now & then a stone turns,

&It’s You, smiling! More Conflagration

&Cauldron than before! Like now! O why?

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

Sunday 12^th.February 2023 (1996) 6^th.Sunday in Ordinary A

1. ECCLUS/SIRACH 15: 15-20

Read ECCLUS/SIR 14:20-15:20 Another example of the disarmingly sanguine&optimistic mindset: which imagines that Rhetoric&Knowledge! will give birth without further ado, to appropriately virtuous behaviours, either in oneself or others!

• What hints do I receive that ‘Unconscious Factors’ are at work in me?
• What am I currently identifying as ‘TheTrueWisdom’?
• What Rituals&Methods&Processes am I working, so as to embrace This?
• What aspects of my total experience, are represented by ‘Fire&Water?’
• In what sense is one of these dimensions less valuable or desirable than the other?
• How am I affected by this Fantasy, of Yahweh as a ‘Censorious Watcher?’
• What about the somewhat hectoring&truculent tone of this extract?
• &How about the pervasively masculine texture of this English Version?
• Which phrases of the extract would I want to test against my adult experience?

2. 1COR2: 6-10

• The wisdom that weaves in my adult experience: how describe It?
• How do I represent the relatedness between this Wisdom & myself?
• How does It stand vis-a-vis what Paul means as ‘Wisdom?’
• What counts as ‘Maturity’ in my Church/Community? What are the ‘Criteria?’
• Who declares&applies the Criteria for ‘Wisdom’ in my Community?
• In Paul’s Community, how will people actually reach ‘Maturity,’ without ‘Wisdom?’
• If Paul were here now, would he still say TheMasters had come to their End?
• Who are TheMasters, whose Thinking Example Imperatives dominate this Age?
• How can the modes of Initiation of AdultEducation be more affective?
• ‘Crucify the Lord of Glory’: why does he choose such emotive&tendentious terms?
• As One-who-loves-God, what do I imagine is being ‘prepared for me?’
• What opportunities exist in my Community, for the Spirit to Reveal the Depths?

3 MT5: 17-37

• Read aloud&slowly TheDecalogue (EXOD 20)! Keeping in mind that these were part of the Covenant-with-Yahweh, and all its dimly-glimpsed implications for the life in the world for a ‘ServantOfYahweh’ (Jos 11:24)! &How truly dismaying to hear Him say that ‘embodying Yahweh’ demands more struggle than being a Pharisee! These Jews being, not Freaks&Frauds, but the best exemplars of JewishBiblicalPiety!
• What, if&when I glimpse that ‘Yahweh’ was the InnerEssence of ‘Law&Prophets?’
• Why have CatholicChristians so little esteem for ‘TheOldTestament?’
• What if Paul’s dismissive attitude to ‘TheLaw’ has rubbed onto Catholics: who in another sense have even less esteem than Paul!
• Jesus’ impossibly demanding understandings of Discipleship! What can I do but Ignore or Spiritualise or Analyse or Ridicule His unmistakable thought! Unless…
• How compatible is this extract with current Ecclesial&Social conventions?

4. OVERALL QUESTION:

Lord! Let me get my breath back!

‘Which of us is in the real world!’ That’s what’ll be said!

Can I settle for TheSacredHeart?

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

5^th.Sunday in Ordinary A Sunday 5^th.Feb 2023 (’02)

1. IS58 7-10

• Read 58 1-14! True&false religious practice! & Why embody one, not the other?
• Why are readings like this consistently offered-out, consistently ignored?
• Which of these ‘works of mercy’ do I pursue, even in a modest fashion?
• Apart from SVdP, how is my local church organised to succour our own needy?
• Why is Food&Shelter&Clothing&Non-Violence reckoned to be so fundamental? Yet, Worship&Devotion&Obedience is sanctioned with reward&punishment as the ideal?

2. THE PSALM: 111 4-9

• Read 111(112). 1-10 The rewards promised for Righteousness& Fear-of-Yahweh!
• Who in their right mind wouldn’t inconvenience themselves for them! & Yet.
• Is there a tacit wink in institutional religion that TheYahwisticStuff is optional?
• Good/Just/Man,’ Does the yahwehistic golden-handshake apply also to women?
• Read Job 23-24. Job’s Bone-to-Pick with ‘God’ & the traditional ‘theodicy’!
• In what ways are AdultChristians ‘Light-in-the-Darkness for IrishSociety?

3. 1COR2, 1-5

• How is Paul (or anyone) able to declare ‘what God has guaranteed’?
• ‘Jesus-as-CrucifiedMessiah!’ What is the impact now, of this Biblical language?
• Nowadays, from what do preachers&missionaries derive their ‘power’?
• ‘Fear&Trembling.’ Is not this an unusual side of Paul? How is it compatible with his assertion that his speaking demonstrated ‘ThePower-of-TheHolyBreath’?
• ‘TheHolySpirit!’ What was dynamic in Paul, how might it awaken in me?

4. MT5.13-16

• In what circumstances does the earth require salt? Or is it that the disciples of Jesus
• will be a preservative a flavouring for the people of the earth?
• Are disciples who have become insipid&irrelevant, threatened with being trampled?
• ‘Light.’ Apart from ‘Mass-attendance,’ how ‘visible’ are Christians in Ireland?
• What 7Sorts-of-‘ChristianPresence’ are urgently needed in the contemporary situation?
• But aren’t Christians currently encouraged to be ‘low-profile dummies?

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

‘Is it possible, sir, & I say it with due regard to the proprieties, that some of your most challenging words to disciples have been watered-down & spiritualised? And what was once flame is no longer even ash? ‘Friend, it is true, & where truth is being hidden, what are proprieties but pious fraud? ‘It grieves me, sir. To find all that solicitude to quote you & refer to you, that it is yet little more than lip-service.’ Let me mention one particular word?’ ‘Friend, please do!’ When you encouraged disciples to be salt-of-the-earth, & if salt-of-the-earth lost its aliveness, it would be thrown out & trampled?’ ‘Yes…’ ‘I remember, it was near TheSea-of-salt! & some felt offended by being associated with the inhabitants of Sodom, while others were displeased with the hint that useless salt, that is disciples, would be thrown out & trampled!’ ‘Was it on that occasion that many left your company & walked no more with you?’ ‘That occasion, friend, was but one of many!’ ‘& What did you reply to the complainers?’ ‘Very little, friend! I said, if you find it difficult to carry the full burden of my words, how will you fare when the burden of others’ hatred for me, falls fully on you?’

RIDDLE What to do? Struggle for the corporal works of mercy?

Depend not on eloquence but on TheHolyBreath?

Seek to be a visibly-dynamic presence of society?

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

SUN 29th JAN 2023 (’02): 4th SUN IN ORDINARY TIME. CYCLE A

1. ZEPH 2:3; 3:12-13

• Read 1:2-3:20! A most enraged&violent outpouring of ‘Yahwistic Vitriol’ against Jew&Gentile! Barely mitigated by one or two phrases, &the end-song!
• In light of such ‘prophecies’, it must be asked if ‘Yahweh’ is at all ‘balanced’? Or how we in the ‘modern world’ can comprehend these dramatic mood-swings?
• To what extent is TheWrath-of-God still legal tender among ‘Christians’. Is it sometimes a projection of ‘authority figures’’, or a means of keeping ‘order’?
• Can I discern any ambivalence in the call to people to be ‘humble&lowly’?
• Unless it is supported&deeply-rooted by the most excellent ‘adult-education’?

2. THE PSALM 145:7-10 (Note again the subversive vv3-4!)

• Read 145(146) 1-10 Whatever about ‘princes’, can ‘YahwehHimself’ be trusted?
• As Job would ask ironically, how much of this excerpt is actually happening?
• Unless to the extent that contemporary ‘Embodiers-of-Yahweh’ are doing it!
• How is my local church enabling me to actualise any of this ‘wishful thinking’?
• ‘OppressedHungryPrisonersBlindBowedDown StrangerWidowOrphan!’ Is this list a mere rhetorical flourish? Or ‘spiritual chores’? Or serious reality still being avoided?

4. MT 5:1-12

How could God be actively-salvific in those with one foot in the grave?

How could the non-violent ever come to own this earth?

All the loss&death, when has God actually comforted a mourner?

Those who longed for justice like for food&drink, when have they found it?

When were the tolerant&compassonate folk not just taken advantage of?

Sure, many are single-minded & utterly-focussed, but is it God they gaze on?

Maybe loyalty-to-religion & wholeness-for-all are incompatible?

Persecuted for justice? Who can say is it truly virtuous, or something else?

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

Confidential memorandum to TheMost ExcellentHighPriest Caiaphas!

Dispatched by trusted messenger from ‘BarShemayâ’, Stalker of TheNazerene!

Greetings ‘May Heaven’sBlessings adorn YourExcellency’

Unworthy though I am, by any standards, I continue the work you entrusted to me, as Stalker-of-TheNazerene! I regret to say that the crowds are still flocking after him, in spite of the feeble efforts of certain parties (no names, Excellency) to discredit him! &in spite of the strangeness of his own words&behaviour! Much of the time, he merely offers riddles, no attempt to clarify anything, sometimes I wonder if these are coded messages to followers planted among the crowds! Yesterday for example, the first day of the week, TheNazerene climbed a low hill & sat there (rather pompously&mawkishly, I thought) teaching the hungry sheep, he calls it! Riddle after riddle, I just lost count! Here’s a few I recall (too dangerous to be seen writing on the spot)! ‘Why does Heaven favour only the wretched&resourceless’? TheBlessedOne will bestow all authority only on the meek of the land! If you hunger&thirst for justice, how could Heaven reject your cause? Why is TheBlessedOne more interested in those who mourn than those who laff? As he spoke these nonsenses, I could see people nodding, &at the end of the rigmarole they all cheered & threw their cloaks in the air! I fear he was speaking subversion&revolution, in coded language! I urge you once again, Excellency, let us be ready to slaughter him, &soon!’

6. RIDDLE

Who can I say are truly called? TheLowly&Oppressed? TheFoolish?

The SingleMinded? Or those who just say their prayers?

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