17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
SODOM AND GOMORRAH
Sometime after 1800 B.C. Abraham entered Palestine with his extended family. This group included his nephew, Lot and his family. Because the area was small–-about the size of Vermont–-the two groups split. Lot settled in the area south of the Dead Sea. It was the site of two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.
God comes to warn Abraham about the impending destruction of the region. The patriarch bargains with God like a wily trader bartering over the price of a sheep.
BURIED IN BAPTISM
Saint Paul believed that Baptism was a symbolic death and resurrection. The death-like aspect involved total immersion and resembled drowning. It was seen as a parallel to Christ's crucifixion and revival.
He uses this concept to teach that Christians, having been restored to life in Jesus, are freed from the legal formalities of Judaism. He specifically rejects the requirement of circumcision.
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