Today's Message: Third Sunday of Lent A
Exodus 17: 3-7; Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8; John: 5-42
Lent is a time for questions: We started with what am I going to give up for lent. ... The Church encourages us to look at what am I going to do, and they strongly suggest prayer … fasting … almsgiving. Another question is to look at ourselves, which is always a good exercise, and ask what do I thirst for in my life? Thomas Merton wrote a marvelous prayer that I say everyday; have done so for years:
The Road Ahead
Lord, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road though I may seem to know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always; though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.
A wonderful and, I feel, powerful prayer, and the theme of today's readings which challenge each one of us to trust God in spite of our lost and arid times and to realize deeply that God is always, absolutely with us each and every moment of our lives … even if we don’t know this … can’t figure it out … feel that we are horrible and not worthy … or don’t even care that much. God loves us that much.
The first reading from the Book of Exodus continues with the Israeli tribes journeying from Egypt to Sinai, where God is challenging them to realize His love for them and they are to trust Him. God has already showed his care by providing manna for them. Now they are at Rephidim where they discover there is no water. What to do? One might imagine that after all the ‘miracles’ God performed in bringing them away from slavery in Egypt, they would automatically turn to this God who just loves them. But no, they start complaining. Isn’t this like ourselves ... when things don’t go right in our lives, we start to bicker and complain? Where are our complaints directed? The Israelites complain to Moses, accusing him of putting their lives in peril. Are they going to survive? Life was better in Egypt: At least they had food and water and enough to survive. They complain so much that Moses feels his own life is in peril. He feels the people might dig a pit, put him in it and stone him to death. It also seems that Moses is having his own problems trusting in God. But God gives assurances that He is always with Moses. God continues showing the elders and the people His continued care. Imagine the scene: Moses goes to this huge boulder with the leaders of the community and touches it with his staff, the instrument of all the miracles in Egypt, and water gushes out. The water is enough for all the people and the livestock. I’ve been in drought areas and seen the people jump up and down when the rains come … so much joy and singing and dancing. The Israelites no longer fear their own death and they are filled with the realization of God’s care for them. Names are given to this place in the desert: Massah, which means "test," and Meribah, which means "complaint." Both names reflect the failure on Israel’s part to realize that God is actually with them, cares for them and protects them. Do we realize that God has done this continously for each one of us many times? Do we take time in gratitude to thank God? Or do we say, "Well, that’s what God is supposed to do?" Do I return God’s closeness with my own closeness in prayer and thanksgiving?
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he explains that sin alienates us from God. As with the Israelites, our own complaining, lack of trust, hurting, being miserable, and not caring isolates us from others … it also isolates us from God … makind us think that God doesn’t care. Lent encourages us to look at the love of Jesus who suffered and died for each of us even while we continue to sin and hurt, being unforgiving and selfish and prideful. Is God’s love plain for us to see?
The Gospel from John contains the dramatic account between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Some points we don’t consider:
So I reflect on:
“Jesus begins with His own physical thirst and ends up talking about the woman’s soul thirst. What can I learn from this conversation about sharing the Good News?
“In speaking with a woman to whom He was not related, and to a Samaritan, who was considered apostate by the Jewish community, Jesus crossed two cultural boundaries. What boundaries do I face in a normal day?”
Lent is a time for questions: We started with what am I going to give up for lent. ... The Church encourages us to look at what am I going to do, and they strongly suggest prayer … fasting … almsgiving. Another question is to look at ourselves, which is always a good exercise, and ask what do I thirst for in my life? Thomas Merton wrote a marvelous prayer that I say everyday; have done so for years:
The Road Ahead
Lord, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road though I may seem to know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always; though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.
A wonderful and, I feel, powerful prayer, and the theme of today's readings which challenge each one of us to trust God in spite of our lost and arid times and to realize deeply that God is always, absolutely with us each and every moment of our lives … even if we don’t know this … can’t figure it out … feel that we are horrible and not worthy … or don’t even care that much. God loves us that much.
The first reading from the Book of Exodus continues with the Israeli tribes journeying from Egypt to Sinai, where God is challenging them to realize His love for them and they are to trust Him. God has already showed his care by providing manna for them. Now they are at Rephidim where they discover there is no water. What to do? One might imagine that after all the ‘miracles’ God performed in bringing them away from slavery in Egypt, they would automatically turn to this God who just loves them. But no, they start complaining. Isn’t this like ourselves ... when things don’t go right in our lives, we start to bicker and complain? Where are our complaints directed? The Israelites complain to Moses, accusing him of putting their lives in peril. Are they going to survive? Life was better in Egypt: At least they had food and water and enough to survive. They complain so much that Moses feels his own life is in peril. He feels the people might dig a pit, put him in it and stone him to death. It also seems that Moses is having his own problems trusting in God. But God gives assurances that He is always with Moses. God continues showing the elders and the people His continued care. Imagine the scene: Moses goes to this huge boulder with the leaders of the community and touches it with his staff, the instrument of all the miracles in Egypt, and water gushes out. The water is enough for all the people and the livestock. I’ve been in drought areas and seen the people jump up and down when the rains come … so much joy and singing and dancing. The Israelites no longer fear their own death and they are filled with the realization of God’s care for them. Names are given to this place in the desert: Massah, which means "test," and Meribah, which means "complaint." Both names reflect the failure on Israel’s part to realize that God is actually with them, cares for them and protects them. Do we realize that God has done this continously for each one of us many times? Do we take time in gratitude to thank God? Or do we say, "Well, that’s what God is supposed to do?" Do I return God’s closeness with my own closeness in prayer and thanksgiving?
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he explains that sin alienates us from God. As with the Israelites, our own complaining, lack of trust, hurting, being miserable, and not caring isolates us from others … it also isolates us from God … makind us think that God doesn’t care. Lent encourages us to look at the love of Jesus who suffered and died for each of us even while we continue to sin and hurt, being unforgiving and selfish and prideful. Is God’s love plain for us to see?
The Gospel from John contains the dramatic account between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Some points we don’t consider:
- The woman came alone in the heat of the day. Why? Normally the women came to the community well with their children early in the morning. Evidently she was shunned by the women.
- Jesus is in the foreign and forbidden land of Samaria. Did He have to go through Samaria to get to Galilee? No, there were other routes.
- As a Jew, Jesus should have nothing to do with Samaritans. As a male, He was never supposed to talk to an unaccompanied female in public.
- In Mosaic law, it is the husband who divorces the wife, so this lady has already been cast off five times.
- Jesus' speaking and interacting with this woman is yet another example of his emphasis that all are equal in God’s eyes and we are to love all.
So I reflect on:
- Jesus entrusts His thirst to us. He needs you and me to come to Him to be filled and to share that fullness with others. He has no bucket but ours. Am I conscious that I am on a journey designed by God?
- I reread the Gospel to hear Jesus’ tenderness. He is not belittling ... He is not pointing an accusing finger … He is not looking at how this lady has sinned, nor how I sin. He is loving. Can I feel this?
- I remember how Jesus has refreshed me even in the most difficult times.
- How real is God for me? What changes am I working at this Lent to be aware of my God who ‘loves me each and every moment of the day?’
“Jesus begins with His own physical thirst and ends up talking about the woman’s soul thirst. What can I learn from this conversation about sharing the Good News?
“In speaking with a woman to whom He was not related, and to a Samaritan, who was considered apostate by the Jewish community, Jesus crossed two cultural boundaries. What boundaries do I face in a normal day?”
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