16-Mar-2014 Dear Friend,
When we read the news or watch TV we are targeted by all kinds of advertisements that guarantee to satisfy our needs. We may have tried all kinds of drinks advertised and have yet to find one that satisfies. Perhaps they do meet a momentary need but the deeper thirst is not allayed, because what we really need cannot be satisfied by material goods. Only God can give us that which satisfies our hearts. May His word make us thirst for ‘living water’. Have a satisfying Lenten weekend! –Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Third Sunday of Lent Thirsting for a drink that satisfies! 23-Mar-2014 Exodus 17: 3-7; Roman 5: 1-2, 5-8; John 4: 5-15, 19-26, 39-42; In the first reading from Exodus we see the Israelites as they journey to the Promised Land as Moses leads them. Now in the wilderness, uncertain of the future, they grumble against Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die of thirst?” But God does not abandon his people. “Strike the rock and water will flow from it for the people to drink.” Moses did so and their need was satisfied. We identify with the Israelites in so far as we complain against God when our needs are not met instantly. We are tempted to go back to the past, to stagnant pools that momentarily satisfied us, rather than to the running stream that only God can provide. Drink from a running stream There was a college student who was working in the college dining hall and who, on his way to work early in the morning, walked past the home of one of his professors. Through a window he could see the light on and the professor at his desk, morning after morning. At night the student stayed at the library until closing, and on his return trip again he would see the professor’s desk light on. One day, after class, the professor was walking along the courtyard when the student approached him with several lecture questions to clarify. Finally the student asked, “Would you mind if I ask you a more personal question?” “Of course not,” replied the professor. So the student asked, “Well, every day I walk by your house and you are so intent at work. What keeps you studying? You never seem to stop.” The professor answered, “Well you see, I would rather have my students drink from a running stream than a stagnant pool.” Howard Henricks In today’s passage from John’s gospel we read of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Jesus’ approach to this outcast woman is a gentle one. He begins from a position of weakness, a request for a drink of water. God appears to be more in need of us than we of God! As they enter into conversation her curiosity is aroused when he offers her the possibility of living water. “You have no bucket, sir, and the well is deep: how can you get this living water?” Jesus does not answer her objection but leads her to be more disposed to the gift he wants to give her. ‘Living water’ has a profound double meaning, for it can mean fresh flowing water, not well water, but also that water which is life-giving. This profound statement of Jesus is again misunderstood by the woman. “Give me that water so that I may not need to come to this well again.” In order that she might receive the gift he wishes to give her, Jesus gently confronts her personal life. He treats her with great respect, with not a hint of judgement or condemnation. Jesus is able to see within her secret being where she thirsts for love which her broken relationships and affairs with men have not satisfied. She is a deeply wounded woman and yet when Jesus confronts her he does so with care and love so that she does not feel convicted but accepted. She is open to him. “Sir I can see you are a prophet.” When the conversation gets too personal the woman diverts to a safer issue of debating the true place of worship. Jesus, while answering her query leads her back to the gift he desires to give her, that she is now ready for, the gift of himself. “I am the Messiah, I, who am speaking to you, I am he.” After the interlude, when Jesus speaks to his disciples, the narrative returns to the woman who has forgotten her need for water from the well and has gone to tell her villagers the good news of meeting Jesus. From being a seeker she has now become a missionary, from seeking momentary pleasure outside her she has found the well within. Source of living water Some years ago, Hurricane Andrew devastated southern Florida. Houses were leveled, trees were uprooted, human lives were severely disturbed. To cope with this chaos, the National Guard was called out to restore a semblance of order and respond to immediate human needs. One of the first things the Guard did in the midst of people whose lives had been devastated by water and wind was to supply clean drinking water. In the midst of so much loss, clean water was absolutely necessary to sustain life and health. More recently, we saw scenes in Rwanda, on TV, of thousands who died of cholera until the UN could get America and other nations to set up clean water systems to supply life-giving water to the dying. –Do we go to Jesus, who alone can satisfy our thirst, as our fountain of water springing up to eternal life? Gerard Fuller in ‘Stories for All Seasons’ The inner well Once there was a woman who had to make a daily trip of a mile to draw water from a public well. Over the years she grew weary of the journey. No matter how much water she brought home, she always ended with an empty container. Then one day she was doing some work in her own garden when in a remote corner she came across a large flagstone lying on the ground. The flagstone was completely covered with moss. Her curiosity flared up. She cleared away the moss and then removed the flagstone to discover a lovely well. She was thrilled. Never again would she have to make the tiresome journey to the public well. She now had an unfailing source of water of her own. – Christ made people aware of their own emptiness, but did not leave it at that. He showed them how to begin to fill this emptiness, not from without, but from within. Oh, that we might find the inner well, the well that lies hidden under the moss of our hearts. Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies’ Gifts from the heart According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart. Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?" The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter. Heartfelt gifts deserve the return gift of gratitude." Michael Josephson May we thirst for God who alone can satisfy our every need! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected] PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
