God thirsts to be thirsted for

Jn 9:1-41, (3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A)

Christ And The Samaritan Woman, Via Latina Catacomb, Rome, 340 – 350

Have you ever been incredibly thirsty? Water is a basic necessity for human life. When in need of water we all feel thirst, which is one of the most intense and urgent sensations we can experience. In the gospel of today, which tells about the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman, water plays a central role. In His dialogue with the woman, Jesus uses the natural thirst for water to point out a deeper and more vital need of the heart that each of us has. When this need is unmet, we all experience a thirst that is more painful and critical than our bodily thirst for water.

Each of our hearts has a profound desire for love that is longing to be quenched. We all thirst for true, unconditional love that makes us feel accepted for who we are, without having to do anything to earn it. When we lack this in our life, our heart is always restless.  The Samaritan woman came to draw water.  For a moment, put yourself in the place of the Samaritan woman.  You have just left your house at noon, the hottest part of the day.  The sun is beating down overhead and the streets are dusty.  Why have you have gone to draw water at this most inconvenient time? Because you know that the well will be deserted.  You want to avoid people.  You are rejected and an outcast.  Everyone sees you as a sinner because you have been married five times.  Your heart is fragile, wounded and restless.  You have so many desires: for love, for compassion and for acceptance.  Though your body is in need of water, within your soul you experience a thirst that is even more urgent.  The heart of each one of us is not much different than that of the Samaritan woman because like her we thirst for unconditional love.

There are many ways that we try unsuccessfully to quench this burning desire for love.  We are like someone dying of thirst who, finding no water, will try in vain to satisfy their thirst with any liquid. We do this in many different ways. The Samaritan woman has had five husbands and is on to her sixth - she is looking for love in all the wrong places. What are the different ways that we try to fill our thirst for love and acceptance? We can find many example, some may seem extreme and others more ordinary, yet the unfulfilled desire that underlies them is the same. Deep down, why do you think that people get involved in gangs? Why do people become throw themselves into their work as though it were more important than their family? Why do others get caught up in a cycle of broken relationships and promiscuity? Why do we become so dependent on social media that we constantly need recognition in the form of “likes” and “favorites”? Are not these behaviors attempts to fill an inner void that leaves us unsettled, a thirst for love and acceptance that goes unsatisfied. Such remedies are at best temporary.  Jesus tells us, “whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again”.  All of us try in different ways to quench our thirsting souls without success.

Jesus alone can give us the unconditional love that our heart is yearning for. The Living Waters, for which we truly long, can only come from Him.  The Samaritan woman met Jesus at the well.  In the Bible, meetings at the well have deep significance: meetings at the well are meetings of love.  A bride was found for Isaac at the well.   Jacob and Moses both met their future spouses at a well.  On the natural level, marriage is one the fullest way that we can quench our thirsting soul.  But, even with the perfect spouse and kids, it would not be enough to quiet our restless heart.  Today, at the well, the Samaritan woman meets the true bridegroom of her soul.  By cultural standards, Jesus should not have been having this encounter with a woman, and a Samaritan at that. But Jesus wants to meet the Samaritan woman’s need for love. Jesus extends an offer to her, and to each one of us: let Me quench your thirsting soul!  Anyone who drinks the water that I will give will never be thirsty again.  Jesus offers us the Living Water.  Only Jesus, the bridegroom of our soul, can truly quench our thirst for true, unconditional love.

Once we have received the Living Water from Christ, we become a spring from which others can drink.  Just as we cannot give what we don’t have, we cannot give the true water to those who need it until we first have received it from Jesus.  After Jesus has encountered the Samaritan woman and has meet her need for love and acceptance, what does she do? She goes off to tell others about what Jesus has done for her. She has a natural desire to lead other people to come and find Jesus. This gospel reminds me of a particular image that Pope Francis has been using for the Church. He explained that the Church today often needs to operate like a field hospital. Such a hospital, which operates on a field of battle, concerns itself exclusively with trying to save people from life threatening wounds. For example, a field hospital will be more concerned with a gaping wound in a patient’s side, rather than the fact that they have high cholesterol. Though the cholesterol is a health risk, in comparison to the wound, it is nothing and can be dealt with later. In the gospel, Jesus takes this approach with the Samaritan woman. Jesus acknowledges that the woman has some problems in her life - her five marriages. Yet He does not dwell there. The issue of her marriages is the equivalent of cholesterol in comparison to the wound in the Samaritan’s woman’s heart caused by her need unconditional love that only Jesus can give. Jesus seeks to satisfy this need first. Each day, we meet many wounded people, those struggling in broken relationship, dealing with addictions and maybe deep into sinful behaviors. These difficulties are important, but are secondary to their greater need for Jesus. In order to bring wounded people the unconditional love of Jesus, we have to have received it first. If this has not happened, then we cannot function as good physicians in the field hospital. Once we have received the true love that only Jesus can give, then we can give it to others.

Blaise Pascal wrote that within every soul there is an empty space, a God-shaped vacuum.  Like any vacuum, the soul tries to draw into itself anything that is close by until the space is filled.  The human body has a need for water, there can be no substitute.  The human soul needs the unconditional love that Jesus alone can give.  Today, let us come before Jesus and acknowledge how we try to quench our thirst for love, compassion and acceptance in ways that do not satisfy, and repenting, let us ask Him to quench our thirst. During this Mass, in your heart make this prayer: Jesus I thirst for you. This is such a simple prayer and very dear to God’s heart. As St. Augustine wrote, God thirsts to be thirsted for.

Live well on the mountain (consolation) and in the valley (desolation)

Mt 17:1-9 (2nd Sunday of Lent, year A)

All advertising, whether it be on TV or the Internet, has one thing in common: it tries to portray its product in the best possible light. In our interactions with others, we usually try to advertise ourselves by making the best impression possible. Looking at the gospel of Jesus’ transfiguration, it seems that He does a pretty bad job in advertising Himself. Jesus has just appeared to some of His followers in all His glory and power. Just after His greatness and identity as the Son of God has been manifested so clearly, what does He tell His followers? Do not to tell anyone what you have seen. Jesus wants His power and divine identity to remain hidden. In fact, this is something that Jesus was doing during His entire life.

A central part of Christ’s mission was that He humbled and emptied Himself. He, though rich, became poor for our sake. Jesus was the Son of God, He could have appeared on earth however He wanted. He could have always appeared as He did on the mountain during His transfiguration: mighty, awe-inspiring and so obviously the Son of God. Looking at Jesus’ life, we must admit that there are few times when we see Him as He is on the mountain of His transfiguration. From His birth to His death, Jesus spent most of His time in the “valleys”. He was humble, poor, rejected and persecuted. He spent His time with social outcasts rather than the popular and powerful. In his lenten message for this year, Pope Francis explains that there is a very good reason for this: love.

Charity, love, is sharing with the one we love in all things. Love makes us similar, it creates equality, it breaks down walls and eliminates distances. God did this with us.

Because He loves us, Jesus wants to be close to us in our weakness and our poverty. For this reason, Jesus rarely appears in all His glory as He does on the mountain during His transfiguration. Rather, He is with us in the valleys of our daily struggles, woundedness and weariness. Jesus humbled Himself for our sake.

Similar to Jesus, we spend most of our lives in the valleys rather than on the mountaintop of the transfiguration. In other words, most of our daily experience is not marked by awe-inspiring glory but rather by a less exciting daily grind. In the TV show The Simpsons, there is a Christian character named Ned Flanders whose always appears happy. It seems like nothing ever will get him down. This is probably not a realistic depiction of a followers of Jesus. St. Ignatius of Loyola explains that during our life we spend our time in one of two states known as consolation and desolation.

1. Consolation are those times when you are on the mountain of the transfiguration. These are times when you feel joy, fervour and a sense of clarity in your life. Praying and doing good works comes easily and feels good. Fighting temptation is easy.
2. Desolation are those times when you are in the valley. At these times you can feel discouraged, anxious, restless and a certain heaviness of heart. Praying and doing good is a chore. Temptations feel very strong and hard to fight.

St. Ignatius explains that the times when we experience consolation are relatively fewer. When we follow Jesus, consolation and desolation are both important parts of our spiritual life. Neither is necessarily better than the other. They are not indications of our closeness to God, but rather of our felt experience at a given time. The important thing is that we learn the best way to act when in desolation and consolation so that we can best make use of these times to grow closer to Christ. As was the case for Christ, more often than not we live in the valleys rather than on the consoling mountaintop.

Like the transfiguration itself, times of consolation are given to us by God to strengthen us as we follow Jesus. Our life as Christians can be compared to a long journey on a bus. As anyone who has been on a long bus ride can attest, it is absolutely necessary to make stops along the way, not just to gas-up the car, but also to let the passengers have a break to stretch their legs, get food and drink and visit the washroom. Without these rest-stops, you wouldn’t be able to continue towards your destination. As followers of Jesus, we are on a journey to build up the kingdom of God and grow in unity with Him. Along this journey, times of consolation are like rest-stops. The transfiguration was such a time for the followers of Jesus. Immediately before and after the transfiguration, we find Jesus talking about the demands of discipleship and His own upcoming passion. They required a time of strengthening. Seeing Moses (the one who gave the law) and Elijah (the greatest prophet), in conversation with Jesus, they could better understand that Jesus was the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. The voice they heard from heaven convinced them that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and Messiah. The transfiguration strengthened and encouraged the followers of Christ. Times of consolation function the same way in our own life. St. Ignatius explains that during times of consolation we should do two things:

1. Give thanks for this gift from God
2. Take strength and courage for what lies ahead.

Times of consolation are like moments at an oasis in which we are refreshed during our journey to follow Jesus.

Times of desolation are moments for growth. Returning to our bus analogy, though it is nice to be at rest-stops, if we are always at one, we would never reach our destination. Likewise, times when we are not in consolation are moments to grow as a follower of Jesus.  The important thing is knowing how to live these challenging times well so that they can be times for growth and not moments which crush our spirit. In order to do this, St. Ignatius gives some guidance. I find it helpful to remember his advice for how to live well during times of spiritual desolation with the acronym ERGO, which in greek means work. This is a fitting acronym as living well during times of desolation does requires work!

Encourage: We need to encourage ourselves to be patient by remembering that this difficult time will pass. Recall times when you were in consolation before and recall that, just as there is a calm after a storm, consolation will return. 

Regularize: Do not change decisions taken in time of consolation. Remain firm in prayer and works of charity. 

Generosity: During times of desolation we will not want to pray and do good works. In order to face this challenge, St. Ignatius gives some counter-intuitive advice: go against what we are feeling (agir contra, in latin). Feeling tired and want to stop praying? Pray five minutes more. Frustrated with a particular individual? Go out of your way to be kind to them.  

Openness: It is very important during desolation to be open with a friend about what you are experiencing. Receiving encouragement can make all the difference.

If we follow these helpful tips, we can make sure that times of desolation become moments for growth.

When someone first explained to me the fact that as Christians we go through these cycles of consolation and desolation, I was very encouraged. Before, I felt guilty that I would even experience desolation. Now I see that it is a normal part of our Christian life. When we see Jesus’ transfiguration in the context of His entire life, we see that it is normal to spent more of our times in the valleys than on the mountaintop. The important thing is that we learn to live well during both these times. This is particularly true for the more difficult times of desolation. Try to remember the acronym ERGO: encourage, regularize, generosity, and openness. Never forget that all moments in our life - if we are in a valley or on the mountaintop - are opportunities to grow closer to Jesus.

Gollum, Aragorn and true freedom

On March 14, 2013, St. Joseph the Worker Parish hosted Freedom, a Reconciliation event for youth and young adults in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. The event was incredible, thanks in large part to the many young volunteers. The following the talk is from the end of the night, after hundreds of youth and young adults had the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

In one of his short stories (Capital of the World), Ernest Hemingway describes an incredible parable. In Madrid there was a young man named Paco. In Spanish “Paco” is short for “Francisco” and is a very common name. For various reasons, Paco had become estranged from his father, run away from his home and was living on the streets. His life was on a downward spiral towards destruction. This was the last thing that Pacho’s father wanted. He desperately wanted to find his son but knew that he could never do this just by wandering the streets of Madrid, and so he made one last desperate attempt to locate his son.  He paid good money to publish a large advertisement in Madrid’s largest newspaper “El Liberal”.  The ad, which took up nearly a page, read as follows:

"Paco, meet me at the Hotel Montana at noon on Tuesday. All is forgiven! Love, Papa."

That Tuesday at noon the father made his way to the Hotel Montana. When he reached the hotel he discovered something incredible. A huge crowd had gathered, it filled the lobby and spilled into the street. Over 800 young men named Paco were waiting for their fathers and the forgiveness and reconciliation they never thought was possible.

We have come here this evening like so many Pacos. This Church has been our Hotel Montana. We have come and received the reconciliation and forgiveness that we never thought was possible. We have been reconciled with our Father. We have also been reconciled with each other. Being in such a large group has been incredibly encouraging because realized that we are not alone in our desire to be forgiven. Together we have received Freedom from Jesus. We have been set free.

Where do we go from here? When we leave here this evening, how do we continue to live this experience of freedom? St. Paul gives us some important advice:

It was for freedom that Christ has set us free (Gal 5:1)

We have received freedom tonight so that we can go and live in freedom. A critical question is: what is freedom?

For many people freedom means the ability to choose anything. I am only free if I can go in any direction, if I can choose to do anything that I want. When we think this way about freedom, any laws or rules - whether they come from parents, government or the Church - seem oppressive and negative because the constrain our freedom. True freedom, some people say, is just the freedom to choose whatever you desire.

This, however, is not the true freedom. This is not the freedom for which Christ has set us free. When we look at our lives we find that it is not true being able to choose to do anything we please makes us free. On the contrary, our experience teaches us an important lesson. When we choose bad things and actions, it does not make us free but rather slaves. On the other hand, it is only when we choose good things and good actions that we become truly free. To help illustrate this, I want to compare as an example two different characters from the Lord of the Rings series: Gollum and Aragorn.

When we look at the life of Gollum we see clearly that making bad choices does not make us free. When Gollum choose to take the ring, this bad decision turned him into a slave or the ring. He became addicted and was unable to live without it. The same thing happens to us when we choose to sin or simply become over attached to something which is not bad in itself. The sin or that thing that we are attached to become our precious. Social media is an example of this. In itself it is neither good nor bad. You probably find that it can become addictive. You need to constantly check if people liked or favorited your posts or tweets. You hesitate to go places where you do not have WiFi access. It can make you less free. We can become addicted to all kinds of things. For example, we can become addicted to un-forgiveness. If we refuse to forgive somebody, we are a slave to our grudge, we are not free from the hurt that person has caused us. Through our choices we can get enslaved to many things: gossip, pornography and even laziness. In the life of Gollum and in our own life we discover that choosing to sin or choosing to get attached to certain things does not make us free but rather enslaves us.

When we see the life of Aragorn, we see just the opposite. Unlike Gollum, Aragorn does not make choices based on what is easiest or most attractive at the moment. Aragorn chooses the path of virtue. He chooses to be humble, to serve other and defend the weak. This is a difficult path, but in the end it leads Aragorn to be truly happy and free. Aragorn becomes king, not just of Middle Earth, but of his own being. He is not enslaved to any behaviour or sin. In our own life, following the path of Jesus is not easy. Following the ten commandments and the sermon on the mount is no easy task. Forgiving our enemies is extremely difficult. Growing in virtues like humility, charity and justice takes hard work. When we live this way, however, we become truly free. The saints are the freest people in the world. In the life of Aragorn and in our own life we find that when we choose the good, regardless of the cost, we find true and lasting freedom.

So, where do we go from here?  Let us follow the path of Aragorn and not Gollum. Perhaps there are areas in your life, whether it be relationship or behaviors, in which you feel enslaved. Never loose hope! Take courage from the experience that we have had here together this evening! We are in this together so let us encourage one another! If we continue to strive to make good choices with the help of Jesus, we will experience more and more the true and lasting joy and freedom of being beloved sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. Pacho, all is forgiven! Let us rejoice in this amazing gift and calling: it was for freedom that Christ has set us free.