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THINKING FAITH When his daughter Tamar is deflowered by her own half-brother, David feebly fails to take action. When his son Absalom rebels against him and SB is killed in battle, David’s grief is so torrential that the whole army slinks SUNDAY BULLETIN home as if defeated. How can we admire this man? Admittedly he is a charismatic leader, for whose praise men – and women too – would willingly risk their lives. When daredevil young officers break through the enemy lines to fetch DAVID SBSBThe God him his favourite Bethlehem water, he praises their valour but forbids What is so special about David? J.L.SB them ever to do the same again. McKenzie, author of the famous one- who speaks volume Dictionary of the Bible, once DEVOTION AND REPENTANCE described David as “an oversexed The point of David is, then, that he is the icon of passionate devotion to the Lord, the bandit”. The picture of David icon of repentance and return to the Lord; that is his real importance for us. After David’s changes as time goes on. The adultery with Bathsheba the prophet Nathan comes to him with the parable of the poor later books of Chronicles regard man’s one treasured lamb. David responds unreservedly and prostrates himself in fasting David as the founder of the Temple and penance. When the child of that union sickens, David passionately begs forgiveness. liturgy, and paint a picture of him When the child dies, his officers fear that David will lose all control, but he obediently as a plaster-cast saint. Yes, he was Fr Henry Wansbrough accepts the will of the Lord in prayer and offering. Even his weakness towards his own the founder of the liturgy, but only family moves our sympathy, for it is the weakness of passion. When Shimei curses him for in the sense that he bought the land OSB considers one of his ferocity to Saul’s family and clan, he does not defend himself but merely turns to the on which the Temple was to stand. the iconic figures of Lord and accepts the divine judgement: “Perhaps the Lord will look on my wretchedness The earlier books of Samuel give the Old Testament. and repay me with good for his curses today.” a fuller and more realistic picture. David was forbidden to build the Mass text Temple because he was a “man of blood”. This realistic account is a gem, tracing the personalities ENTRANCE ANTIPHON SECOND READING 1 John 3:1-3 Let us all rejoice in the Lord, of David’s family and court, and as we celebrate the feast day in honour of all GOSPEL ACCLAMATION their intrigues and rivalries. It is the the Saints, Alleluia, alleluia! @redemptorist first writing in any literature from at whose festival the Angels rejoice Come to me, all you who labour and are which it is possible to gain a real impression of characters and and praise the Son of God. overburdened, their flaws, foibles and failings. It must stem from some member and I will give you rest, says the Lord. FIRST READING Apocalypse 7:2-4. 9-14 Alleluia! of the court of King Solomon. PSALM Psalm 23 The David of history is far from perfect. As a kid he boasts of killing GOSPEL Matthew 5:1-12 lions and bears with his bare hands. When the king’s daughter RESPONSE Such are the men who seek your face, COMMUNION ANTIPHON falls wildly in love with him, he takes her on out of sheer ambition; O Lord. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall he never had children by her. Challenged by his canny prospective 1. The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, see God. father-in-law to provide a hundred Philistine foreskins as a bride- the world and all its peoples. Blessed are the peacemakers, price, he arrogantly provides two hundred. Expelled from court It is he who set it on the seas; for they shall be called children of God. for usurping the star-struck Jonathan’s prerogatives, he sets on the waters he made it firm. R. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, up a band of roughnecks, offers his services to the Philistine 2. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. king of Gath, arch-enemy of his own people, and then sets up a Who shall stand in his holy place? protection racket as a sort of robber baron. Granted, he spares The man with clean hands and pure heart, Saul when he catches the king in a cave with his trousers down, who desires not worthless things. R. but he is well aware that he is instilling the lesson not to mess www.rpbooks.co.uk [email protected] [email protected] www.rpbooks.co.uk 3. He shall receive blessings from the Lord with the Lord’s anointed. When his army commander, the brutal and reward from the God who saves him. Next Sunday’s Readings: Joab, treacherously murders a rival, David ostentatiously wrings 1 NOVEMBER 2020 Such are the men who seek him, Wisdom 6:12-16 FSC his hands in a show of distress, but takes no action against the ALL SAINTS seek the face of the God of Jacob. R. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 logo murderer. Worst of all, when he spots a pretty woman having a Matthew 25:1-13 bath on her rooftop, he takes her into his bed despite the fact that YEAR A The Sunday Bulletin. Written by Fr Henry Wansbrough OSB. Edited by Peter Edwards © Redemptorist Publications. A Registered Charity limited by guarantee. Registered in England 03261721. Mass Text: excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on she is the wife of one of his own serving officers, and then has DIVINE OFFICE WEEK III redemp orist English in the Liturgy Corporation. Psalms from the Grail Psalter reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd © 1963. All rights reserved. publicationsConcordat cum originali Ann Blackett. Imprimatur + Peter Doyle, Bishop of Northampton 13 July 2018. Permission granted for distribution in the dioceses of the officer killed in an attempt to cover his own lust and treachery. Scotland. Image: Wikimedia Commons: Nicolas Cordier, King David, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, photograph by Jastrow THINKING FAITH own. Then he cleans out an evil spirit and heals diseases. Next he arrogates to SB himself the power to forgive sins: who SUNDAY BULLETIN does he think he is, for only God can forgive sins? Soon he calms a storm on the lake – but only God has power over the elements! The wonder grows. THE GOSPEL OF MARK SBSBThe God MARK’S IRONY In our Sunday and weekday readings at Mass the Church givesSB While we are watching all this, we, the Christian readers, know what is happening. But us short snippets from the scriptures. It is an unforgettable who speaks the disciples don’t: they are seeing it all for the first time and learning for themselves, experience to read right through a Gospel and so get to know slowly. Then at last Peter blurts out, “You are the Messiah”, though he still does not realise Jesus as he is presented in the teaching of one of the authorised what this means in practice. Peter refuses to accept that it means that Jesus can reach his messengers of the Good News. The shortest and almost certainly fulfilment only through suffering. We see all the disciples in the same frame of mind: they the earliest of the Gospels is Mark. The liturgy will be focusing on do not listen when Jesus speaks of suffering and death. They merely squabble among it at Mass during Year B, which begins in a few weeks’ time when themselves about seniority. Mark’s irony is that the whole Gospel is operating on two we enter Advent. We don’t know who the writer was, and Marcus levels: that of the reader who knows the end of the story, and that of the actors who either was a common name in the Roman Empire at the time, but a very refuse to believe at all or come to believe only sluggishly. Jesus will not accept any title ancient tradition in the Church links him to Peter at Rome. He is given him until he stands before the high priest on trial. When he accepts the titles offered called “the interpreter of Peter” – whatever that means: translator? As we approach the by the high priest, he is condemned as a blasphemer. Even after that the soldiers mock him messenger? explainer? end of this Year of as king of the Jews; we know this to be true, but they do not. the Word, Fr Henry From the Gospel itself it is clear that the whole is the work of It is only when he is dead that the centurion speaks the full truth, “In truth this man was a one mind: it has the same features of language and storytelling, Wansbrough OSB son of God.” the same emphases and tricks of style. In this Greek text there reflects on one of remain many features of Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the Gospels. Mass text his fellow country people. The names are good Palestinian Jewish names, like Bar ENTRANCE ANTIPHON SECOND READING 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Let my prayer come into your presence. Jonah (son of Jonah), Yair (which becomes Incline your ear to my cry for help, O Lord.