FROM THE PASTORS DESK……   



SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2005




Dear Fellow Parishioners,


Do you remember toys called "transformers"? They were popular many years ago. They were mechanical toys that could be shaped different ways so that the same item could become an animal, a tank, a robot, etc., depending on how you put them together. In other words, these items were "transformed." Children, with their blossoming imaginations, were fascinated by them.
Our second reading, assigned to be proclaimed on this Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, taken from Paul's Letter to the Romans, also mentions the word "transform." He says: "DO NOT CONFORM YOURSELVES TO THIS AGE BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND, THAT YOU MAY DISCERN WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD, WHAT IS GOOD AND PLEASING AND PERFECT." (See Romans: 12: 1-2)

In other words, St. Paul says that we should be like clay in the hands of the potter and allow God to shape us and mold us so that we will follow His will for us and know what kind of life is really pleasing to Him and will lead us to what is good and perfect. We have a perfect opportunity to experience this process of "transformation" each time we come to Mass. The Lord wants to mold us through His Holy Word as we listen to it being proclaimed, reflect upon it during the homily, and make a practical application of it in our daily lives through the week ahead. He also wants to do this through sharing His Body & Blood at the table of the Eucharist. There is a short, often unnoticed, symbolic action that takes place at each Mass that can serve to remind us of this fact. As the priest or deacon prepares the chalice for the offertory, he adds a drop of water to the wine. As he does this he says: "By this mingling of water and wine may we become partakers of His (Christ's) divinity who has become a partaker of our humanity."

When we participate in this transforming process, the Mass comes alive with meaning and purpose and we become a blessing to others. 

    Sincerely yours in Christ,



                  Fr. Raymond Tintle, OFM
                Pastor