19
March 2017, 3rd Sunday Lent & St. Joseph Novena
• Exodus
17:3-17 • Psalm 95 • Romans 5:1-2,5-8 •
John 4:5-42
[__01__] Where
are you going?
Mothers,
fathers, parents ask this question, hoping for an honest answer from their
young people.
Where are you going?
Honesty is the best policy, but
honesty to this question was also a threat, perhaps, to my freedom, my liberty,
my choice of destination.
Where are you going? If I were to
answer truthfully all the time – we say – perhaps parents will know too much.
[__02__] Where
are you going? This is the general question posed by Jesus to the Samaritan
woman. That is, in addition to the specific questions asked about her
relationships and how she has lived, Jesus is asking her – now – where are you
going?
It is a challenging question, and one
that is naturally going to meet some resistance, some counter-intelligence or
counter-insurgency.
[__03__] The
Samaritan woman has a sense, an understanding, that Jesus is a prophet, also
asks him a question, when he asks for a drink from the well that is for
Samaritans only.
Where do you think you are going?
In the exact words of the Book of the
Gospel of John, chapter 4, we read: “How can you a Jew, ask me, a
Samaritan woman, for a drink?”
(John
4: __)
[__04__] We observe that Jesus invites her to
reconsider her life and to repent.
However, he does not impose his ideas
or on her, nor does he make any accusations.
He simply asks questions.
You and I also are called to
remain in dialogue in conversation – in prayer – with God about where we are
going.
If this question of the
destination makes us feel accused or confined, then perhaps we need to remember
that this question is asked out of love and genuine concern.
Where are you going? It also implies
that Christ wants to go where we are going, to be where we are. It’s not a tracking device, but it is the
wireless energy of his grace.
[__05__] This Sunday, March 19, we also conclude
our parish’s annual Saint Joseph Novena.
Saint Joseph, spouse of Mary, Mother
of God and foster-father to our Savior, also had special access and a
particular responsibility to our Blessed Mother and Jesus. Joseph was asked and
and asked himself where to go.
And, we associate with Joseph the questions,
the prayers that might have arisen in his mind about Mary. He brought his
questions to God and listened
carefully.
[__06__] And, isn’t it true that – in our endeavors – whether the endeavor is to learn a subject in school or the endeavor is to strengthen a relationship or friendship, we are required to ask questions. And, we are required to search ourselves for the questions not only for the answers. We might sit in the same classroom, hear the same lecture, and we will have some common questions. But, we also have our own distinct questions.
The Samaritan woman, distinctly and
one-on-one, is bringing her questions to Jesus. The questions lead us to God.
[__07__] Parents
– mothers and fathers – you know this, that your supervision and guidance of
your children is not defined by the ANSWERS you give them. Rather you also
assist them by asking questions and helping them to ask questions.
Jesus does not arrive with a thirst
for a guilty verdict or with accusations for the Samaritan woman. Nor does he
arrive with accusations for you and me. In the questions of our prayer we also
learn and apprehend our true destination and direction and quench our thirst
with living water.
[__fin__]
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