Month: January 2022

                                                Sunday 6^thFebruary 2022 (’01) 5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

1. IS6: 1-8 (Tho’ what about ThePairsOf Wings?)

• Read 6:1-13! TempleVision! Impurity! Word-of-Destruction! & Hope?
• Familiar scenario? DivineService, AntiphonalChant, ArchitecturalVibrations, StrongThickStupifyingIncense! & a tremor perhaps, of collective guilt…
• Are we being enabled to Recognise&Purge hypocritical elements in our religion?
• ‘UncleanLips!’ What ways is one thing being ‘Professed,’ another being ‘Behaved?’
• Currently, who are ‘Yahweh’sMessengersToTheIrish?’
• What will be the cost of anything more than sentimental-dalliance-with-Yahweh?

2. THE PSALM  137: 1-5, 7-8

• Is this just another setpiece of YahwisticDevotionalRhetoric?
• What if this prayer was accompanied by Visualisations&BreathWork? So as to lead-to & produce the sort of ‘AngelicVision’ hinted-at in IS6:1-13!
• What important ‘attributes’ of Yahweh can I discern in this song?
• ‘DiscardNotTheWork!’ The risk of imagining a divinity as Potter or Weaver!

3. 1COR15. 1-11 (What’s the sense of a shorter form?)

• Read 15. 1-58! How is ‘TheBody’ transformed by ‘Death?’ & How is ‘Death’ transformed by ‘Christ’ & ‘TheBody-of-Christ?’ But does Paul know all this?
• In 20words, can I express ‘TheGoodNews,’ &how Christ revealed it to me?
• Why does he seem to be exclusively interested in ‘TheDeath&Resurrection?’
• The ‘ListOfApparitions!’ what would an analogous list be, for my local church, of significant individuals&groups, to whom, ‘ChristHasShownHimself?’
• What care is there nowadays, for ‘TruthOfPreaching?’

4. LK5 1-11

• Isaiah-in-TheTemple & Peter-among-TheFish! Similar intuition of Guilt!
• What was it about TheHugeCatch that triggered Peter’s ‘Glimpse-of-Darkness?’
• Read JON1. 1-3:11! Fish swallows Man, Man swallows Fish!
• ‘Deep Water!’ What’s TheRisk? What’s TheCatch? What’s TheConsequence?
• How does the image of ‘CatchingMen’ sit with current sensibilities?

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

Thursday afternoon, her legs tucked under her on the kitchen sofa, Gran fryin’ two herrins for their tea, the blue&green scent of fried herrins waftin’ into her, great! The only other sound, the chickies’-chat through the open window, something about the names they’d give their next crowd-a-chickies! But Effie herself found it strange, she’d no give-out to explore with Gran as usual. She let her bones go watery, & her face go loose, & crept her breath long&thin&snakey back over the week-end, Sam’s Saturday night shouts, Mam’s laugh when Sam talked about her auntie Babs , ‘Them’s bla-bla if  y’ask me!’ ‘Gran!’ ‘Yes, luveen?’ & moved the herrin-pan over on the thing! Fishers of men, Gran! Babs & Gracie’s fishers of men!’ ‘Was it Mam or…oh, yes! Well, what’ll we say? ‘Maybe they smell nice, like herrins?’

‘I’m not sure, Effie! But I think it means they like men!’ ‘Who, Babs & Gracie?’ ‘An men looks at them with fishy eyes!’ ‘Like the herrins lookin’ at me?’ ‘Sure!’ ‘But I’m not a fisher of men, am I?’ ‘You’re a fisher of herrins, Effie! Cos you really love them!’ ‘Yes, Gran! I’m a fisher of herrins an’ chickies an’Jesus an’ you! Jesus an’ you!  great, great, great!’

6. RIDDLE  Which is more powerful? Homilies&Exhortations&SpiritualReading? Or AdultInsight into the MoralRamifications of each new Personal or SocialScenario?

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

                                               Sunday 30^thJanuary 2022 (’01) 4^thSunday in Ordinary Time C

1. Jer1 4-5, 17-19

• Read 1: 4-4:31 Collections of hisVisionsOraclesPreoccupations!
• Who is Thinking&Speaking&SelfPresenting like Jeremiah in my world?
• Who is publicly agonising about TheChurch&Society&OurPlanet? ( Granted, of course, we’re convinced that our plight’s nothing like that of ‘Jerusalem!’
• What if that image ‘Yahweh CallingMeInThe Womb’ is no longer available to us?
• Or has been theologised&spiritualised&neutered by MyMinders&Mentors?
• Read it aloud slowly & carefully! How exciting &dangerous&treasonous!
• I-am-with-You! Sure, but can He deliver, not just me, but ThePromise-itself!

2. The Psalm, 70 1-6, 15, 17

• Read 70(71): 1-24! A gritty feisty song of the experience of life-long protection!
• What if the intimacy of such psalms underlay Jesus’ expression ‘Abba!’
• What are The20PrincipalAreasOfRisk in my experience as an adult?
• In what ways do I enjoy ‘divine protection’ in any or all of these?
• How would I know if it was ‘Yahweh,’ or some other divinity was involved?
• Is all ‘divine protection’ the one? Or is the presence of certain ‘divinities’ iffy?
• In what ways has my ‘childhood faith’ transformed as I grew up?

3. 1Cor 12:31-13:13

• Why is this excerpt so popular in WeddingMasses? & What of its implications?
• What convinces Paul that ‘love’ is greater than ‘faith’ or ‘hope?’
• How can he make these ‘cool statements’ about ‘love?’
• Especially that ‘love’ delights in the ‘truth?’ & That ‘it does not come to an end?’
• Read this ‘lyric’ aloud, slowly&carefully! Is there really no negative side to ‘love?’

4. Luke 4: 21-30

• Read again 4: 16-30! Another of these one-story versions of TheGoodNews!
• Did He push them somewhat, quoting about ThePhysician & TheProphet?
• & What if ‘ThePeopleOfYahweh’ can’t demand to keep Him to themselves?
• Does this erode the fantasy of being ‘TheChosenPeople’ (in an exclusive sense!)?
• If Yahweh wishes to act graciously towards others, will our ‘love’ equally extend?
• Perhaps the religious authorities were rejecting not just Him, in the abstract, but his struggle for inclusive AttitudesValuesRituals! Even nowadays…

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

      ‘Sir, why did the religious men of Nazareth refuse to accept you in their synogague,  & in their hearts? Was it Heaven’sWill as some claim?’     ‘Friend! The spurning of grace by HisOwnPeople was never the intention of TheOneWhoSentMe! Rather, to be open in every way to the initiatives of HisBeloved!’ ‘Sir! It both pleases&saddens me to hear you speak-thus! So, how did those religious men mistake TheFreeingAngel & rush to trampleThePearl?’

‘It grieves me deeply, friend, to say! They were seduced by their Teachers to expect a Messenger & a Salvation that would make no demands! Rather would flatter their own fantasies of being ‘TheChosenPeople!’

‘Sir! Will ThePeople ever be immune to such erroneous expectations&fantasies?’

‘Friend! I fear they will not! At least until they realise that all the ancient stories are truly&only about themselves! Possibly then…’

6. Riddle  Which is more challenging? To-be-called-by-Yahweh, in TheWomb, in Youth, in Adulthood, or atDeath?

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

23 Jan2022(2001) 3^rd SUN in ORDINARY: C

1.NEH8:2-6,8-19

• Read 8:1-12! Ceremonial public listening to TheLaw! including a ministry of hermeneutic! leading into a celebration of The-Festival-of-Sukkoth!
• Does any such sustained reading of TheBible occur in my local church?
• Is there a danger that the current pick ‘n’ mix approach is undermining TheBible?
• As well as the pretence that large tracts of it are ‘covered’ in ‘TheLiturgy’!
• Do we need a ritual of ‘Sustained-Reading-of-Total-BibleBooks’?
• Not least to counter the practically-overwhelming impact of TV&TheMassMedia!
• What about the strong link in this extract, ‘The sharing of “food” with TheNeedy’?

2. THE PSALM 18:8-10,15

• Read 18(19):1-14! TheSpeaking-of-CelestialTime&Space! &TheAthleteTheSun!                  with a Song-of-Yahweh’sLaw itsRightnessClarityTruth! & Prayer-of-Fulfilment!
• What if the real Law-of-Yahweh is Earth’s billions of PoorHungryIgnorantLost?
• Is the rhetoric of ‘justice’ only a figleaf for the Churchs’Negligence in this matter?
• Sure, Yahweh’sWords are ‘breath’, but Breath-for-what’ Humns? Homilies?
• Why are sentimental ‘YahwehSongs’ so popular both in Liturgy&pararliturgy?

3. 1Cor12:12-30

• How convincing&thorough&accurate is his account of ‘the human body’?
• How does it resonate, say, with evolutionary biology&anatomy?
• Has he male or female in mind? &What about the many ‘inner organs’?
• ‘Tongues’? What about crucial ‘gifts’ like ChristianMother, Healer-of-AllConflict, SpeakerOfTheSigns-of-TheTimes, Flailer-of-TheOtherGods, Critic-of-TheTemple…
• so, what is a modern local church needs to declare a whole new range of ‘gifts’?

4. LK1:1-4; 4:14-21

• Read 4:1-44! TheUnfolding-in-Power of HisBaptismal-HolyBreath!
• Why is the important 4:16-30 split between two SundayEucharists?
• ‘TheBreath-of-Yahweh!’. This ‘anointment’ is more subversive than Hymnsinging!
• Read 61:1-11! Listen carefully to the faith-expectation of a true-yahwist!
• How harmless, or how dangerous, would such a one be, in one’s ownCommunity?
• Did Jesus intend to incite the violent reaction that ensued?
• Insofar as he delivered a ‘homily’, what if all ‘homilies’ were as provocative?

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

‘TheMan-from-Nazareth…’  ThePractisingSceptic’s tone was appropriately irenic!

‘I’m always puzzled at the vehemence of the reaction He seemed to provoke in His religious contemporaries.’ ‘Quite simple really…’. TheOfficialBeliever felt this was home-ground, &that the points could be easily chalked-up! ‘All part of the DivineSalvificForeknowledge & UngainsayableDispensation!’  ‘You’re saying those enraged worshippers in the NazarethSynagogue were mere pawns in some divine &ecclesial arr…’ ‘How dare you presume to…’ ‘I’ll tell you! Jesus claimed to be anointed by Yahweh’sBreath….’  ‘So He was, as TheWordIncarn….’ &Wouldn’t you think they’d welcome&embrace such a Messiah…? ‘Their unChristian minds were darkened! God blinded&deafened them, so that…’ ‘With your own unJewish mind, are you serious…? ‘Look, I sp;eak with&from Authority, ThePillar&Ground-of-Truth! You merely prattle rationalisms! Need anything further be said by either of us?’

RIDDLE  TheHolyBreath! Which? TalkAbout, Suppress, Dissapate, Cultivate?

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

 16^th Jan2022(2001) 2^nd SUNinORDINARY C

1. IS62:1-5

• Read 62:1-12! ReNaming&ReAssurance&ReEspousal by Yahweh, of City&People!
• ‘Integrity!’ Total reconciliation of ThePeople with Yahweh’sPriority, concomitantly His’Victory’Over’&TheirRejectionOf TheOtherGods’Priorities! wow!
• Again, it must be seriously asked whether ‘Yahweh’sPriority’ (The commitment of all resource to the freeing of the poor&ignorant!) isn’t essentially a non-starter!
• Since TheChristianChurches as a whole seem to have other fish to fry.
• Great new names! ‘MyDelight’, ‘TheWedded’! But can Yahweh sustain it?
• Why is Yahweh so impotent in regard to having His ‘Priority’ adopted&embodied?

2. THE PSALM 95:1-3,7-10

• Read 95(96): 1-13! A flattery-chant for Yahweh, by all except TheUnderworld!
• ‘Name!’ What ‘Power-of-Yahweh’ is evident in my world? &What is not?
• If TheWretched of this Earth received their ‘fair’ share, how’d that affect me?
• What ‘new’ song can be sung to Yahweh, that won’t cost us dearly?

3. 1Cor12:4-11

• Read 12:1-14:40! He evaluates the Variety&nature&relativeImportance of TheCharismaticGifts in TheCorinthianChurch, attributed to TheHolyBreath!
• What ‘spiritual gifts’ are acknowledged in my local church?
• To what extent is TheHolyBreath’ excluded in practice from my local Church?
• How might AdultChristians&HolyBreath&Magisterium collaborate?
• To what extent is Paul disposed to admit ‘spiritual gifts’ in Women?
• Why has the ‘gift’ of ‘speaking-in-tongues’ become so notorious, yet so ‘coveted’?
• &What if it is more ambivalent than those ‘endowed-with-it’ will admit?
• Why is Paul so anxious to assert, ‘All are work of one&same Spirit?’

4. Jn3:1-11

• What interpretations have I been given for this ‘familiar’ story?
• What is this story is an evocation of Dionysius stories of ‘ProvidingWine’?
• Why is TheMother seemingly never ‘named’ in TheFourthGospel?
• ‘TheHour!’: TheAcceptance by Jesus of TheBurden of being ThePassoverRam!
• ‘Wine!’ ‘Blood-of-TheRam (EXOD12)! Fruit-of-TheVineyard (IS5)!
• But what are ‘transformation stories’ very rare in TheJewishBible?

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

Yes, He was even darker that I! I always reckoned it was the weight of Heaven’s Breath, like an unperceived storm! From TheTemple, from Joseph’sParting, &especially from Jochanaan’sPlunging, I could see the outline, though not the extent, of TheBreath! Even before HeHimself did! Only gradually, only circumspectly, He opened Eyes&Lips&Arms! I remember, it was at a wedding festival, not far from home, a small village, Cana I think it was! I was there looking after the food, Himself&4 or 5 followers were invited by TheBride (whose mother was a followere! Though not-herself)! Well, the usual, the wine runs out! I mention it to Him, He darkens in my regard, I nod here&there! &listen! He opened Eyes&Lips&Arms! & Heaven spilled into the needy celebrations of the blessed Bride&Groom! I can’t pretend to know the blood&marrow of it, but from that day at Cana, TheBreath incresingly surged&smiled in Him, a manifesting Storm! Such gracious stratagems of Heaven!!

6.RIDDLE    Which? TheMother   TheEarth   TheCity   TheBreath  TheHour   ThePeople?

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

Sunday 9 January 2022 (’00): THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD: C

1.1S40:1-5, 9-11 (What about ‘YahwehBreath’ & ‘GrassPeople’?)

• Read 40:1-31! The beginnings of an agonised&complex exploration of the always-ambivalent ‘Yahweh-of-Sinai’! during the traumatic Exile-in-Babylon!
• Who are TheConsolers in my local church? Who are the inevitably-consoled?
• Who are The-Not-Being-Consoled? but whose need is all the deeper!
• To what extent are people being given mere ‘consolation prizes’?
• What if the genuinest consolation is the dynamic ‘Arrival-of-Yahweh’!
• In what significant way is ‘Yahweh’sConsolation’ different from that of TheOtherGods (including HermesZeusAphroditeArtemis)? But also that of ‘God’!

2 THE PSALM 103:1-2, 3-4, 24-25

• Read 103(104) 1-35! ‘Yahweh’, eco-cosmological divinity! But is this Him, really?
• How do I understand the use of exaggeration&flattery in this Yahweh-extract?
• Can I imagine ‘Yahweh’ as a sheikh, in cloth-of-gold, lolling in HisTent?
• Why is Yahweh often imagined as a ‘StormGod’? (Say, EXOD19:16-25; PS28(29)!)
• Doesn’t the rhetoric hide the true Weakness&Priority of Yahweh, ‘TheHungry’?

3 TIT2 11-14;3·4-7

• Read 1:1- 3:15! But will such hortational, somewhat-selfhrighteous, tending-to-belittle-others, using-nudge-nudge, language really achieve ‘change-of-behaviour’?
• What are my 20PrincipalOptionsHobbiesRelationships that do not ‘LeadToGod’?
• &Did Jesus at TheJordan renounce all that didn’t ‘LeadToGod’ (including ‘Fear’)?
• Can I name 5AdultChristians with ‘NoAmbition except ToDoGood’?
• In 15word , what is my Understanding&Experience of ‘DoingGood’?

4. LK3 15-16, 21-22 (What of TheWinnower&Chaff&Fire?)

• Read 3·l – 4:15! The richly-narrative ramifications of Jesus’RitualDeath-in-Jordan!  recapitulating the arduousDestiny of Yahweh’sReluctantPeople!
• ‘TheChrist!’. By what ‘signs’ would I recognise ‘TheMessiah’ in my local church?
• Especially the portentous&frightening ‘Someone’ delineated by TheBaptist!
• Why do Catholics assume that a ‘ReturningChrist’ would be ‘on our side’?
• In what terms did a ‘HeavenlyVoice’ address me, after or since my ‘baptism’?
• What are the7Ways in which ‘TheHolyBreath’ physically-manifests in my world?

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

‘Gertie! A’m still wonderin’ about that man!’ ‘God, Cissie, is it   y’ know who.. ‘ ‘He keep comin’ back inta th’ readin’s’ Y’d think it was him bein’ born-again.’ ‘Oh, that fella  goin’ round th’  doors prayin’, wit’ ‘is oul’ leaflets!’ ‘…instead of OurDivineLord” ‘Oh ..’ ‘Listenin’ above this morin’, chicken-chest was up on th’ altar, one rale squawker if y’ ask me ‘ ‘True ‘s God, Cissie! I’d t’ tell my fella t’ keep ‘is eyes til himself! “She’s nothin’ ‘d intrestya'” But he’s such a little ..’ ‘Gertie! Y’ shoulda heard all the talk about fire, &some twist-me-corset about SomeoneComin’ .’ ‘Aw, a’m well usedta that sorta chat, duck’s water is all it’s.. ‘ ‘I just said t’ meself, “John The Baptist, a’m supprised atcha!”, this talk ‘a fire an’ stuff.. ‘ ‘Puttin’ th’ fools further!’ ‘Haven’t we enuff a’ threats an’ fire this time a’ year, God bless th’   mark’ without yon.,’ ‘God knows y’re right, Cisssie’ I always thought he was just too innocent-lookin’ in ‘is sheep-fleece…!  ‘Yeah, too sweet t’ be wholesome!!’ ‘Yeah ..’

6. RIDDLE    ThroughBaptism, was I initiated into Eden Egypt Sinai Sion Gethsemane Golgotha Rome or my local church?

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