The Baptism of the Lord Cycle B 2021 (’00)

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