Month: June 2022

Sunday 3^rdJuly 2022 (’01) 14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

1. IS66:10-14

• Read 66:1-24! What a moody ending to a moody book!

Is Yahweh relativising TheTemple&ItsWorks&Pomps?

& that ‘TheHumble&ContriteInSpirit’ are temple & worship?

• ‘Peace!’ If this means ‘wholeness’ have I glimpsed it yet?

Or will I settle for Suppression-of-Conflict, Economical Prosperity, AHidden Wound?

2. THE PSALM 65:1-7, 16, 20

• Read 65(66):1-20 Celebration of ThePriorities of ‘Elohim,’ TheTempleDivinity!
• TremendousDeeds! : Reflected in creation narrative of Gen1.1-2:4a!
• ‘Name!’ The power of ‘Elohim’ is to control&give-form to ‘Chaos!’
• ‘AllTheEarth!’ : In light of the dark&bright of 2Milleniums of ‘ChristianHistory!’ how do I understand the response-verse of this vested-interest psalm?

3. GAL6: 14-18 Paul’s dynamic language! Stimulating&scurrilous&noteworthy! Is anyone nowadays able to cut through the inherited gobbledygook?

• What have contemporary ‘adult christians’ to brag about?
• ‘Cross!’ A total lifestyle of DisciplineRenunciationAwarenessFreedom?
• What is the equivalent of ‘circumcision’ for all adultChristians?
• If I were to accept ‘Baptism’ now, with full heart, what would I renounce forever?

What new priorities would I embrace? What modes of assessment?

4. LUKE10: 1-12, 17-20

• Read 10 1-42! Explorations of HeartService rather than lipservice!
• In what ways are HisInstructions vital to my local church?
• Why are ‘HisInstructions’ so specific&realistic&inconvenient&sulky? And why are they being offered-out to us in this eucharist (boo-hoo), as ‘goodnews-for-now?’
• What if beggars (and such itinerant ‘preachers’) are the ones who ‘fulfil’ all-this?
• In what sense do the threats of vv13-16 apply to myChurch?

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

Gran&Effie, Effie&Gran! Innocent cunning, cunning innocence! Earth’s ears&eyes, Earth’s dusk&dawn! Each loved the other for being a doorway into wisdom’s exuberant weavery!

‘Gran!’ ‘Yes, a thaisge?’ ‘Sam threw Boysie’s mobile in his pinta milk ‘cos he laffed at her spare tyre, an’ he ran off gulpin’. ‘O my goodness..’ ‘..So Mam nudged Sam with her wrinkly, “Better hop over to Boysie’s an’ give th’ poor sob the kissapiece…” ‘My dear how…’ ‘Gran! The Kissapiece? Is it a flower like Chuckie’s Mam gives her when she’s narly?’ ‘If he doesn’t like flowers..’ maybe she’d talk soft, or kinda droopy-face..’ “Boysie, sorry about your..” “Sorry I made ya gulp…” But Gran, kissapiece! It just now went crunmbly behind my mouth! Kiss-a-piece’ ‘Sam ‘ll hafta kiss …a piece…of Boysie’s…hand! To make up, not to be so narly on her!’ ‘An what’ll Sam do then Effie? Effie put the crumbles together again in her ever-alert weavery…another thread a-trembling.. ‘Gran’ kissapiece! The piece-prossis! Sam an’ Boysie ‘ll start a kissapiece-prossis! O great great!’ & Gran&Effie lafft&lafft!!

6. Riddle

Who and what is delivering peace? TheMedia ThePoliticians TheMilitants TheIndustrialists? Or whoever struggles to marry ‘Citizenship&Discipleship?

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

Sunday 26 June 2022 : 13TH SUN in ORDINARY .C

1. 1K19.16, 19-22

• Read 19 1-21 Yahweh’s Prophet? Cowardly&violent&pious at-once?
• Why does ‘Yahweh/TheLord’ seem to encourage&condon e’political assassination’?
• Are the’seemly’ bits of 1K19 de-contexted here, to present an edifying posy?
• The habit of constantly referring to ‘God’, does this allow for ‘nuance’?
• Or, importantly, for separating the teacher’s or preacher’s ‘personal vagaries?
• Elijah’s&Elisha’s ritual-behaviours’ Familiar ? Outlandish? Banal?
• What if a ‘YahwehDrivenProphet’ threw their cloak over me, & beckoned?

2. THE PSALM . 15:1-2 5, 7-11

• Read 15(16) 1-11 Song of a very-enthusiastic Devotee-of-Yahweh
• Were such devotees able to visualise ‘Yahweh’?Say, as Animal? Or Fire?
• What 10 factors are creating in&for me a conviction ofSafety&SelfValue ?
• Presumably others addressed their divinities with comparable prayer-formulas, & inner experience!, So, how will Yahweh, in particular, or God make a difference ?

3. GAL 5.1, 13-18

• 
  Name 20 LifeSituations in which I embody ‘real freedom? * Name 20 LifeSituations in which I glimpse I’m entrapped or enslaved?
• ‘LedByTheSpirit

What is my Understanding&Experience of this awesome life-style?

How am I being encouraged&trained to embrace&endure it ?

Can I name 10 adults in my local church who-truly-live-thus ?

If I’m not struggling for this, what else is worth a torn snotrag ?

4. LK9. 51-62 

• ‘FireToBurnSamaritans’ What sort of self-righteous ‘DiscipleRage’ 
• Would he also have rebuked TheBurnersOf’Witches&Heretics&Deviants’? 
• How can one hear these ‘SwordsPlunged,Rather, InDisciples’ ? 
• You follow me for comfort, but what of the homeless who-embody me?
• Disciples, dissolve ties, &burn, as I did, with unwavering flame!
• You will never falter, only if you are unremorsefullyin TheBreath’
• ‘ Wa-wa’ Leave Jesus alone, ADBI’ Don’t be rummaging our naive faith’

5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this ?
‘ What’s th’ sweat? Y’ seem a bit around th’ collar…’ ‘A’m just down from Mass’. I left early …’ ‘D’ja get sick? a bad pint or a soggy …’ ‘Looka, mind y’r hp ‘ ‘OK, no bull!’. ‘F’r once I decided t’ listen t’ th’ stuff an’ f’r once I could hear the warblers …! ‘God, another miracle,’ ‘As th’ oul’ Canon usedta say, “Listen, t’ y’r cost’ Ignore t’ y’r cost!”…’ ‘Aw, th’ more I rember back t’ that man!’ ‘Anyway’ I never heard th’ man above like that before! I prob’ly thought he was a sorta Sacred Heart! in a red dressin’ gown, like… ‘Course it’s red! but wha’ja hear, that has y’ all…’ ‘If I closed me eyes, it sounded like th’ oul’ Canon..’ ‘Y’mean socialist? an’ no pious mullarkey?’ ‘Yeah! no compromise, comrades!!”…’ ‘Aw, I loved that man!’ No wonder I nearly fell outa me stannin’, beside Th’ Little Flower! ‘Come on! wha’ja hear?’ He said that real Cathcks ‘d have no bedsa their own! An’ had to lave th’ dead there an’ go an’ preach! An’ if y’ ever blinked, y’ wouldn’t getta heaven!’ ‘Begod, no wonder y’re all custard ‘n’ jelly! Even th’ oul’ Canon ‘d find that a dose, saint an’ all as ‘e was!’

6. RIDDLE Which? ThePiousDrivenness-of-Elijah ?
TheBreathRootedness-of-Paul? TheExodusFlungness-of-Jesus?

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

Sunday 19 June 2022 (’01): THE BODY & BLOOD OF CHRIST :  C

1. GEN 14 : 18-20

• Read 14: 1-24 The skirmish of the 5&4 Kings, in which Lot is captured! & then rescued by his uncle Abraham! So, where does Melchizedek suddenly come from?
• ‘El-Elyon/GodmostHigh’!: One of the many Canaanite divinities!
• ‘Tithe’ If Salem is the later ‘Jerusalem’, this offering of the’tenth’ to ThePriest-King may serve to legitimate the latter claims of TheTemplePriesthood to ‘tithes’!!
• ‘Bread&Wine!’. Gesture-of-hospitality that TheFathers referred to ‘TheEucharist’ !
• What about those ‘blessings’ (what!) of ArmiesBannersGunsParadesHostilities .. ?
• What aspects of bible-dynamics does the interpolation of Melchizedek alert me to ?

2. THE PSALM : 109 1-4

• Read 109(110) 1-7! Dialogue of Kingavid 7 ZadokTheHighPriest!
• ‘Prince/Priest!’: where in my world is there a similiar mutual acknowledgement of the sacred&saecular power? perhaps with an appeal to divine patronage?
• & where is the antagonism of ‘theocratic’ & ‘democratic’ most clearly evident?
• How might we critically assess models of authority deriving from TheTemple?
• ‘FoesUnderYourFeet!’ Is ‘Christianity still espousing&feeding-on such slogans?
• Especially the fantasies accompanying regal trappings&prerogatives!

3. 1 COR11:23-26

• This ritual narrative! the most familiar&controverted&bloodsoaked of all!                         
• Read 11:2-34! His Reminders&Strictures&Premonitions about TheHouseWorship!
• Why did the struggle about ‘transsubstantion’ come into prominence at all ?
• Subsequently, why did it become so bitterly divisive? & eventually, so irrelevant ?
• How does thise’Eating&Drinking’ usefully ‘ portrayHisDeath’ ?

4. LK9 11-17

• Read EXOD 16: 1-35′ In truth, where does food come from ? & hat’s it for ?
• Why do TheTwelve/TheDisciples show such reluctance to feed the people ?
• What about the ‘rationalisations’ of this ‘exodus narrative’ ? That He’d previously stached food in a nearby cave ? Or, that they all shared their sandwiches ?
• In my world,

             How are we ensuring adequate sustenance for all the people ?

             In what ways if food being wasted  or spoiled or abused ?

             Is all foood ‘eucharistic’, & each Eucharist ‘truly food’ ?

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

        THE HUNGRY THEIR SHOUTS FOR HIS BREAD

                     THOU! OUR BELLIES ROT FROM BLOATED RHETORIC!

                         THOU! ALL THE EUCHARISTS, STILL WE STARVE!!

                 THOU! PERCEIVE THE DESPAIR, THE DESPERATE MOTHERS!

                  THOU! WE YEARN THE POWER OF YOUR BLOOD&BODY

                THOU! WE LOOK TO YOUR SATED DISCIPLES FOR CRUMBS!

                      THOU! IN VAIN THE PIETY, IN VAIN THE CULT!

                           THOU! WHAT PRICE FAITH IN-FAMINE!

                   THOU! WHEN WILL YOU BLESS THE BREAD&FISH!

              THOU! OUR BREAD-FROM-HEAVEN  BE BREAD-FROM-EARTH!

6. RIDDLE    TheBody&Blood!  A kind of blessing? An occasion of power?

                      An ancient ritual? A feeding for dangerous work?         

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

SUN 12THJUN 2022 (2001): THE MOST HOLY TRINITY: C

1. PROV8:22-31

• Read 8:1 – 9:6! But what, if anything, have ‘Wisdom’& ‘Yahweh’ in-common?
• & Who is this so-alluring & so-versatile divinity called ‘Wisdom’? (SIRACH 24!)
• ‘Created’!: Why does this poet seem to subordinate ‘Wisdom’ to ‘Yahweh’?
• Can I name 3FemaleBiblicalCharsters who are not subordinated to males?
• How does the poet imagine

            The methods by which Yahweh unfolded&arranged ‘TheWorld’?

            TheAppearance&Attributes of Her-Who-is-0Called’Wisdom’?

            The Appearance&Attributes of Him Who-is-called ‘Yahweh’?

            Their modes of CollaborativeSynergy?

2,  THE PSALM: 8:4-9

• Read 8:1-9! Celebration& Assertion of human dignity&dominion!
• But is this poet somewhat-less-aware,  both ecologically&cosmologically?
• If the other species are ‘under our feet’, what hope have they got? Unless ‘we’ free ourselves from our customary ‘biblical chauvinism‘, &rediscover ‘Wisdom’!
• Why is it presumed that the divinity of GEN 1 is also the ‘exodus divinity’?
• What if David planned a ‘religious composition’ analogous to Constantine’s ?
• ‘LittleLessThanAGod’! But if he is infested with one of ‘TheOtherGods’?
• Say, Dionysius Artemis Hermes Aphrodite! Or Yahweh, TheMoodyOne, Himself!

3.  ROMS 1-5

• As context, who will brave the ‘carrick-a-rede’, to read all-of-this-great-epistle?
• ‘ByFaith-through-Jesus!’: What? Very simple? Or very obscure or, just shattering?

4.  JN 16:12-15

• Read 16: 1-33! ‘TheseThings’? TheAdvocate TheFather ThatDay Peace TheWorld!
• ‘Spirit/Father/Mine’!  Another hint that was woven into ‘TheTrinity’!
• In 25words, can I guess&express ‘EverythingTheFatherHas’?
• What are the 20principal Resources that make-up ‘MyWorld’?
• In what sense have I been given access to ‘TheCompleteTruth’?
• What assures me that ‘TheSpiritOfTruth’ is not being ‘muzzled’?
• What diverse voices are diversely ‘TellingMeOfTheThingsToCome’?

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

‘Gertie, d’ya know what he told us above this mornin’? ‘God, Cissie, I hope he didn’t come out wi’ somethin’ rash!’ ‘Wait’ll y’ hear! TheTrinity’s th’ best thing God ever told us about Hisself!’ ‘I don’t know now, Cissie! What about OurDivineMother? An’ Th’Infant a’Prague? An’ Th’ThirdSecret?’ ‘An’ listen! ‘Cos it’s a mystery, we really don’t know nothin’ about it! It might as well be in greek!’ ‘That’s what I thought all along…’ ‘except that it’s th’ rale m’coy, whatever language, an’ whatever y’ think..’ ‘An’ what about th’ man above? Does He figure at all?’  ‘Right there in th’ middle, he said! Called Him Th’SecondPerson! He’s th’ word made flesh, like in th’ Angelus!’ ‘God, don’t let on t’ my fella, he’s always foamin’ at th’ mouth, an’thun c’n start th’ fool rantin’. God, where’d I get ‘im from, Cissie? He’s like th’plagues of Egypt!’ ‘I know Gertie! Tha’ fella’s been y’r cross an’passion.’ ‘That’s th’ why Gertie’s trinity’s Our divineMother an’ Her 2 dacent men! ‘Cos nothin’ else ‘ll manage that lucifer a’ mine, God forgimme!!’

6. RIDDLE.   The Trinity! Which is more imperative? Visualise, Interpret,

                        DanceWith, Demythologise, or JustEmbrace It?

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