Nativity Catholic Church
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Okay God, Here's the Deal
A "FIRESTARTER" Spiritual Essay by Rev.
Dr. Benjamin
Berinti, C.Pp.S.
As I sat in the presider’s chair during two Masses this past Sunday, listening to the words of the first proclamation from Genesis, even though by this time I was quite familiar with the text, actually hearing it proclaimed became annoying! You may or may not recall that the passage in question is Genesis 18:20-32, where we relive Abraham’s bargaining with God in the hopes of saving the people of Sodom, who are about to feel God’s blazing wrath. In his wily, astute, and ever-so flea-market-best-wheeling-and-dealing tone of voice and exquisite vocabulary, Abraham uses his eloquence and persistence to withhold destruction. As the readers were working his and her way through the bargaining countdown of saving 50 people…then 40…then 30…all the way down to 10 people, I could feel myself getting irritated. All right already, Abraham, God agreed to your demands—will you clam up and quit being such an irritating pest? I was tired of hearing the same words over and over again. And then it struck me…what about God having to listen to all of us bargainers, every minute, every day…forever and ever, Amen! How many times does our own prayer ring out with an equally eloquent, or at least persistent, “Okay God, here’s the deal”? And I wonder if God ever gets tired and annoyed at the repetitiveness of our cries and laments and special requests. We assume God’s patience…and love…far outweigh ours, so we continue our barrage of deal-making. Perhaps God simply does what I did that morning—heaves a sigh—waits until we come to an end—and then says, “If you’re quite finished…here’s what I have to offer.”
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