Episodes
Sunday Mar 15, 2020
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent
Sunday Mar 15, 2020
Sunday Mar 15, 2020
In Wyoming, there’s an inspiring natural phenomenon: a tree growing out of solid rock. Near it is a sign that that says: "The original line of the Union Pacific Railroad passed within a few feet of this point and supposedly was deflected slightly to avoid the destruction of this tree. The firemen of each passing train never failed to drench the tree with a bucket of water.”
How many people are there who, like that struggling tree, would have withered away and died, if it hadn't been for the care that other people freely bestowed on them.
There is an old adage: "Bloom where you are planted.” Like most old adages – easier said than done. Our backgrounds are very different and some environments in which we live will encourage a full and prosperous life while others will stifle it.
There are people in this world who live in some difficult situations, who cannot begin to bloom where they are planted or even survive without the generous help of other caring people.
The strong and the rich and the healthy also need help from time to time, especially in spiritual matters. Even Jesus, the most self-sufficient person to ever walk this earth, in today's Gospel, asks for a drink of water from some unknown Samaritan woman.
We all know the story quite well: She was out in the noonday heat because she couldn't very well show her face at the well in the morning when the so-called 'respectable' women were there to gather water. The Jews of the time absolutely hated the Samaritans and considered them to be half-pagan heretics and religious infidels. Jews who were traveling would rather go around Samaria, even though it took much longer, than to step foot in that land.
And, here we have Jesus actually talking with her – a woman who probably considered herself to be very lowly. After their initial greetings and conversation, Jesus' love finally gets through to her and she opens up her heart to Him. Thirsty for the gifts of 'living water', she welcomes Jesus into the deepest part of her heart.
We, too, may consider ourselves to be very lowly when it comes to recognizing our dignity as children of God. The experience of the Samaritan woman is our own. When we were baptized, we, too, were washed with Jesus' living water. At every Easter vigil, we are washed again and forgiven and transformed.
However, sometimes we continue to doubt that such a radical transformation in us is possible.
Lent should be a life-altering season. All Jesus asks of us is a cupful of faith. Trust in Him and He'll show us exactly what He wants of us this Lent and in the days to follow.
We should never give up or despair that we can't change ourselves. We must allow Jesus to help us bloom where we are at any given moment, to transform our hearts into hearts filled with love and hope, and to give us new minds filled with openness to what He wants of us. We must let Jesus transform us by His love.
All of us go to the well of God’s grace: sometimes to drink from the well and sometimes to offer a cup of faith to others. The act of giving what we have received from God – as the Church of God, the Body of Christ on Earth – inextricably linked to our celebration of the Eucharist – God giving Himself to us – is the very heart of what we are as Church.+
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