FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK…...

August 24, 2003

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Decisions, decisions, decisions.  Our lives are filled with them.  Some decisions are routine.  For example; what are we going to wear for work or what are we going to eat for breakfast.  Other decisions like what career to choose, or where are we going to live, etc., are not.

Our first reading for today, the twenty-first Sunday in ordinary time, taken from the Old Testament Book of Joshua, challenges us to make a fundamental choice:  "...DECIDE TODAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE…"  (Joshua 24: 1-2)
 
In our relationship with the Lord, there is no middle ground.  We are either for Him or against Him.  Not to decide is itself a decision against the Lord.  We cannot claim neutrality.

In today's Gospel passage, taken from the Gospel of John, we are told that many of Jesus' disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him.  Jesus turns to His twelve Apostles and asks:  "Do you also want to leave?"  Peter, speaking for the rest, replies:  "Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of the eternal life."  (John 6:60-69)

Some decisions like whether or not to buy a new car can be put off.  Not so when it's a question of our relationship with Christ.  As St. Paul said:  "BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME; BEHOLD NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION."  (2 Corinthians 6: 2)  There will never be a better time than now to make your decision to follow Christ!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Ray Tintle, OFM
Pastor