FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK……

July 25, 2005

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Many years go, I had what for me was a novel shopping experience while on a trip to Mexico.  I went shopping for gifts to take home to my friends and family.  There was an open air mall of vendors' booths selling all kinds of wares from clothing to luggage to all kinds of things one might imagine.  I began to look for price tags on some items that appealed to me.  Finding none, I asked the vendor how much the items cost.  He gave me a price that seemed to be quite high.  I reluctantly paid it.  Then I found out from some of my traveling companions that they had purchased the same items for a lot less.  What I learned was that in that part of the world, vendors and customers are supposed to haggle over the cost of an item.  Vendors there routinely quote high prices expecting to bargain with their customers over the eventual cost of their wares.  Eventually, with a lot of patience on the part of seller and buyer, a price that is mutually convenient for both is reached.
In today's first scripture reading for this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time from the Old Testament Book of Genesis, we come across a similar bargaining session between God and Abraham over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham bargains with God to save those two towns from utter destruction.  Their bargaining starts with fifty innocent people.  With patience and perseverance, Abraham is able to get God to settle for ten innocent people as the price for not destroying the city.
This story is a quaint way of portraying God's mercy.  As a popular Christian hymn proclaims:  there is a wideness to God's mercy.  For those of us who have strayed from the path of righteousness, this is very comforting and encouraging.  It is also a challenge to us to do likewise to those who have need of our mercy as well.  This is what we pray for when we recite the Lord's Prayer.  Mercy and forgiveness are the keys that open our hearts to receive mercy and forgiveness from God.  Every perfect prayer must include this.

    Sincerely yours in Christ,     

    Fr. Raymond J. Tintle, OFM
    Pastor