3rd.
Sunday of Lent (A)
(Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; St. John
4:5-15, 19-26, 39-42)
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The
supreme aspiration of ‘former Christians’ who no longer believe in any God is
to be THEMSELVES: A ‘themselves’ that brings
them success? A ‘themselves’ that wins
them the admiration of others? A ‘themselves’,
perhaps more commonly aspired to, is a
‘themselves’ they can enjoy being?
Above
all -- however they aspire to ‘being themselves’ – they want to feel free, FREE
of any overseeing, conscience-like, presence, making itself known in their
personal lives by claiming some authority over the most important decisions and
intimate moments of their lives.
And
today you can often hear such people saying, ‘All that matters is to do
good’. However, the good they mean is, good
as they see it: marriage is for everybody regardless of child-begetting;
sexuality is not to be determined by our birth but is to be subject to whatever
might be our personal will or preference; the practice self-discipline can be made
much easier for anyone finding it too difficult, by all sorts of ‘life adapting’
operations or treatments.
Yes,
modern Western societies are seeking to do various ideas of ‘good’ independent
of religion; but – after having rid themselves of any God -- the most important
thing is to justify themselves before those remnants of ‘conscience' from which
they cannot, as yet, deliver themselves.
Therefore, the ultimate criterion for whatever type of good they adopt
is that it be popular; for promoting popularity enables those post-Christianity
do-gooders to forget themselves and their remnants of individual conscience, by
getting fully involved in promoting, spreading, whipping up, what is popular. And that is not sarcasm but absolute truth …
no ‘democratic’ government, party, or caucus, will readily take up and ‘faithfully’
support what is unpopular.
Well,
dear friends in Christ, in no way should we wilt before such wide-spread and
publicly approved attitudes and opinions; rather, let us today notice Our
Blessed Lord speaking -- very much as a man, as a Jewish man, of His times --
words to the Samaritan woman:
You (Samaritans) worship what you do not know;
we (Jews) worship what we do know; for salvation comes from the Jews.
Jesus
had much fault to find with Jewish practice, but He did not hesitate to tell
this Samaritan woman that ‘We’, the Jews, know the truth about God and His
offer of salvation. Jesus had respect
for Samaritans, as His parable about the ‘Good Samaritan’ shows; and as also
does His delicate reticence when answering His Jewish opponents: and ignoring
their reference to ‘a Samaritan’
The Jews answered
and said to Him, “Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan and
are possessed?” Jesus answered, “I am
not possessed; I honour My Father, but you dishonour Me. (John 8:48–49)
Nevertheless,
He did not flinch from making it quite clear to the Samaritan woman-at-the-well
that they, the Samaritans – as distinct from the Jews -- did not have
the fullness of God’s truth in their teaching.
As one commentator (Saunders) writes concerning this part of St. John’s
Gospel, ‘By rejecting all of the O.T. but the Pentateuch, the Samaritans had
wilfully denied themselves of access to the revelation of God and shown themselves prone to error…. The
old Covenant (with the Jews) may have been incomplete, but it was -- unlike the
Samaritan schism -- on the right lines.’
The
same can be said of the Catholic Church today, dear People of God, and we
should assert aright our Christian pride before all modern, godless,
do-gooders.
Our
old, enduring Catholic Church, our Mother, has made many human mistakes; some
of her supposedly faithful priests and children have made many, much worse,
human ‘mistakes’; and she, Mother Church, is still slow in advancing towards
the youthful beauty and perfection her Lord requires of her. Nevertheless,
she is still on the right lines, and salvation still comes -- despite
all the attacks of her, usually so self-righteous, critics -- through her uniquely
authoritative proclamation of Jesus’ Gospel truth and through her
sacraments which are the unique and inimitable channels of His heavenly-bestowed
saving grace.
The
truth – not religiosity, not sentimental love -- was of supreme
importance in Jesus’ eyes. Why was
this? Because the proof that He was the
Son of God was His knowledge of the Father:
Righteous Father, the world does not know
you, but I know You. John
17:25)
Truly, truly, the Son can do nothing of His
own accord but only what He sees the
Father
doing; for whatever the Father does the Son does likewise. (John 5:19)
As the Father knows Me and I know the Father …
For this reason the Father loves Me because I lay down My life … this charge I
have received from My Father. (John 10:15-18)
People
of God, Jesus came to give us a share in His own sonship, to make us children
of God in Him; do then strive to know your Father, to know your Faith! Sentimental feelings are not enough, as Jesus
Himself said to His disciples:
The Father Himself loves you because you have
loved Me and have come to believe that I came from God. (John
16:27)
Jesus
was, as a young boy-cum-man, found by His anxious parents in the Temple:
Sitting in the midst of the teachers listening
to them and asking them questions.
What
an example for us!! How few, even among
devout Catholics, ask ‘faith and morals’ questions today; how few find the
Faith beautiful and ‘interesting’ enough to want, let alone need, to know it
better, to understand it more, and to just love it! Doctrine is there for us (objectively, so to
speak), faithfully given us by ‘Old’ Mother Church, to be known and appreciated
as God’s gift first of all, before we prayerfully ask God, and calmly consult
our own conscience, or even perhaps humbly ask some others for help and/or advice,
how best to love and live our Faith.
There
are many today, however, who will only pose (not really ‘ask’) a question in
order to open up a field for their own opinions and ideas; Jesus, on the other
hand, was humble, and we are told that He just listened to the teachers and
asked them questions …. with no subsequent ‘but’s, or, ‘it seems to me’, ‘wouldn’t
it be better’ etc. etc.
The
second point I would like to make is, observe carefully the sort of knowledge
of God we should seek: knowledge, and ultimately worship, in Spirit and in Truth.
We
receive the truth in the faith which Mother Church hands on to us; but we have
then, in our turn, to live that faith for ourselves, that truth, in Spirit;
that is, under the guidance, the impulse and protection, of the Holy Spirit of
Jesus dwelling in our hearts nourished by the Eucharist. As I have just mentioned, It is not a faith
for our heads alone … it is a faith we are meant also to treasure in our
hearts, as did our Blessed Lady, until the warmth of the Holy Spirit dwelling
there gradually ignites it and makes it glow, before ultimately causing it to burst
into flames – reminiscent of the Spirit Himself -- giving new light and new
warmth to all around.
Like
the Samaritan villagers in today’s Gospel reading, we believe on hearing
the message of salvation; a message received, in our case, from Mother Church’s
preaching and teaching. However, it is
not meant to stop there, we are called to then live, and stay, with Jesus
(Who stayed two days with those Samaritans; Who invited Andrew and his
companion to come and see, to stay a while, with Him). We in our turn are meant -- in our measure --
to hold and treasure the message we have received, His teaching, in our hearts,
and thus come to know Him from our own experience … a person-to-Person
knowledge, nourished above all from our closeness to and with Him here at Mass
where He sacrifices Himself for us, and gives Himself to us, in Communion. That is how we too can say with those Samaritan
villagers:
We believe and we have heard (learned,
experienced) for ourselves, and we know that this (Jesus) is truly the Saviour
of the world.
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, may our Blessed Saviour draw us, as we proceed
with Holy Mass, to an ever-deeper awareness and appreciation of Himself; and in
Him, with Him, by His Spirit, to a truly filial trust of, and confident self-commitment
to, Him Who is indeed our Father and wills to be our eternal fulfilment.
