FROM THE PASTORS DESK……                               SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2005


Dear Fellow Parishioners,


A good friend of mine, Fr. Finian McGinn, OFM, tells a story about his first experiences as a newly ordained Franciscan priest just out of seminary and assigned to a special internship year at St. Mary's Parish in Stockton, California. It seems that many of the parishioners were accustomed to seek out the newly ordained priests for special blessings. His first Sunday, he was asked to bless a car. The second Sunday, one of the parish children brought him the family pet dog. But, the third Sunday, no one approached him. All of a sudden people stopped asking him for blessings. Two months went by and not a single request! He was really puzzled by this until he finally learned that the car he blessed ended up in an accident and was a total wreck. The dog he had blessed had run into the street and was hit and killed by a speeding motorist. It was then that he realized why everyone was avoiding him after Mass. Word got around fast in that parish!
I am reminded of this story when I read today's first reading from the Prophet Malachi where God warns the Old Testament priests that if they do not listen to Him and take to heart what He is trying to tell them through the mouth of the Prophet then He "...WILL SEND A CURSE UPON YOU AND OF YOUR BLESSING I WILL MAKE A CURSE." (See Malachi 1: 14b-2:2b) You and I through our baptism have been called to participate in the priesthood of all believers. The priest or deacon who baptized us anointed the crowns of our heads with the oil of chrism and said: "As Jesus Christ was anointed priest, prophet, and king, so may you live always as a member of His body sharing everlasting life." (See Baptismal Ritual) This is serious business! We are responsible for leading others at home, school, work, in the neighborhood, among our circle of friends, and right here in our parish by our own personal example. God's curse fell upon the priests of Malachi's day because they had "...turned aside from the way...and...caused many to falter by (their) instruction." (See Malachi 1:2b-2:2b) How many of us (myself included) fall into that category of people that Jesus condemns in today's Gospel from Matthew when He says: "...DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR EXAMPLE. FOR THEY PREACH BUT THEY DO NOT PRACTICE." (See Matthew 23: 1-12)
Let us resolve this week to be a blessing and not a curse!

         Sincerely yours in Christ,


                                            Fr. Raymond J. Tintle, OFM
                       Pastor