+ Our gospel passage today is rich in both descriptive symbolism
and a great reality! The symbolism is of
“water welling up” – the reality is that this
water IS the eternal life that God
offers to those who believe and love
– and the source of this reality is the
pierced Sacred Heart of the Crucified Christ!
God
puts into all hearts – all people, everywhere – an initial drop of this water – just as
a primer to get us to want more and more of it! And to use another analogy that
is equally visual: we all come into the world with a “spark of the divine life
in us!” It is up to us to do all we can to keep that flame alive: and believe it or not – it means that we must douse it with the spiritual water of
God’s grace – what a flame that produces! To those without faith, this makes no sense; to those with faith, it
eventually makes perfect sense!
The
woman at the well (in the gospel passage) – being a Samaritan, a
cousin to the people of Israel, who believe in many of the same things – had
the “spark,” but needed a “bucket of spiritual water” thrown on her by Jesus –
which he did, very gently!
In the dialogue that ensued,
the woman ended up developing her conception of Jesus three-fold in a matter
minutes! First, she saw him as a Jewish
man sitting at well, tired and thirsty! Then, after Jesus – who initiated
the conversation – started telling her about herself and her personal life: she promoted him to Prophet! This man is a true seer! He may have an interesting
handle on “truth!” Everyone, even back then, as is the case today, is searching
for TRUTH! real Truth! (And the truth is none other than that we are invited to
be God’s children.)
After more dialogue now about
religious matters – the contrast between the Samaritan and Jewish take on
things – Jesus reveals himself (promotes
himself) as the Messiah who is to come, the one called the Christ who will
tell all truth to everyone! The tables
are turned and the woman says: “Oh yes, I know that such a one is coming!”
Then Jesus promotes her to believer by telling her outright: “I am he, the
one speaking with you!” Her heart must have leapt for joy in her now complete
act of faith in Jesus! I can see her bowing low in adoration!
What does this have to do with
us? It means that first, we must see if we have completed the stages that the
Samaritan woman has; do we need to open ourselves up more and more to Jesus
telling us about ourselves and himself so to make a very large and generous act of belief and a promise to love as he demonstrated?
Then, we need to imitate the
whole encounter, with other people! Evangelization is bringing Christ the Truth, and the truth of Christ to others – others who
are at the wells of our own day and
age: and in particular, that means for us, this day, this month, this year: the
gathering spots of anyone who is engaged in the runaway, reckless and
potentially suicidal down spiral of the United States government – wherever
others need to be doused!
We are citizens of a promised
heavenly Kingdom – since the day of our baptisms; but we are also simultaneous
citizens of the “patria” the “native-land” in which we find ourselves – by
God’s grace – living. And as Catholic Christians we have the responsibility to
rescue and redirect an errant, and increasingly irrational and unhinged
president and his cohorts – and blind-sighted, tunnel-visioned constituents and
followers who are headed – with their treacherous leader, and all of us – in a
bus, off the edge of a bottom-less precipice!
This is not melodrama – this
is truth! This is the truth that is quite apparent when you face it off with
the Truth, values, morals, integrity, compassion, friendliness and salvific
revelation and message of Jesus, the Christ – who is Truth Incarnate: who is
Love Incarnate, who is Peace Incarnate.
Is there Truth, Love, Peace in
the DC or not? If not, the let’s follow the leader who literally embodies these
vital human realities!
It
ought to be our goal – with Jesus and his Spirit working through us
- for people we encounter – in our
method and mode of parenting errant children, to say, as did the inhabitants of
Samaria, who received the woman’s testimony: We no longer believe [all of this] because of your word; for we have
heard for ourselves, [it resonates deep within us], and we know [beyond the
shadow of a doubt] that this is truly the savior of the world! – and the one
who can lead us out of any personal, family or national catastrophe!
If today
you hear his voice, harden not your hearts!
God bless you!
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