Jesus: Our Source of Eternal Life

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well

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Each Sunday in Lent reflects on life as in a prism. First Sunday, a hungry Jesus tells the tempter what nourishes life: not bread alone but every word from God. Last Sunday, Transfiguration, the disciples saw the unique and awesome presence of God in Jesus.  They saw the future of Jesus and theirs. And that's ours as well. This Sunday, Jesus is life-giving water for the woman at the well.

Sunday's word of God carries us back to the exodus: the deliverance or freedom of the Hebrews from their oppressors in ancient Egypt. They are wandering and complaining! Our favorite past-time. Where is God, they wonder. Moses cries out to God, and God demonstrates his presence among them. Water suddenly flows from a rock and quenches their thirst.

The life-giving waters allude to our baptism and the promises made to God. Now Baptism is a rite of initiation into a global Catholic faith community of disciples of Jesus. Water can be death-threatening (think, e.g., of a hurricane) or life-giving (imagine, e.g., you're in a desert).  Baptism symbolizes a dying to a self-centered life and a rising to an other-centered, God-centered life. The author may be asking whether we live a God-centered life.

Paul in his letter to the Christian Community at Rome speaks about the saving work of Jesus Christ. Through him we have friendship with God whose love and life is poured out upon and into us in baptism so that we can reflect the presence and glory of God in our lives.

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus asks for water from a woman of questionable character and from a despised people (the Samaritans), only to engage her in a conversation about thirst. Jesus reveals who he is. He is a prophet, the messiah, the source who gifts us with eternal life, living water who can satisfy our quest for meaning in life. In faith, this woman discovers new purpose in life through her encounter with Jesus, and she heralds the good news to her townsfolk.

We all thirst like Jesus and the woman at the well, don't we? But what are we thirsty for? Some simply thirst for a decent livelihood. Others for health, wealth, pleasure, power and fame. Still others, like the Samaritan woman, seem to thirst for purpose.

Today Jesus urges us to live our everyday lives to the fullest. This Lenten season is a time for deciding what we believe to be truly important and meaningful, and then acting upon it today.

We can participate in God’s triune life not only here and now but hereafter by living a life of regular prayer, by fasting from attitudes and behaviors that jeopardize our relationship with God and one another, and by living a life of generous service.

Lent: a Time to Draw Nearer to God

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness

Our Lenten journey from ashes to Easter has begun. Last Wednesday we heard, “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.” Dust represents human life: transitory and fragile. But the sign of the cross with ashes on our forehead symbolizes that Jesus Christ has redeemed our “dust.” God lives within us and we live within God.

Lent is a forty-day retreat: a time to ask again what are our most important priorities.  Yes, it time to follow Jesus into the wilderness, not only to get our priorities straight in light of our ultimate purpose in life but to replenish ourselves with the gifts of the Spirit (for example, wisdom, intelligence, good judgment, courage). Lent is a time to recall how the Hebrews of old saw the desert: not only as an abode of wild beasts but a place where a person encountered God and where God encountered the person.

In today’s busier-than-ever world, with its many distractions and temptations, we need this retreat more than ever.

So, what are we bringing into the wilderness. Maybe we feel dissatisfied. Things are OK, maybe you're building an impressive resume, but what does it all mean in the end? Maybe you’re facing challenges, have to make tough decisions. Listen to Jesus's response in the wilderness when He confronts the devil: God instead of material things, a God-centered instead of a self-centered life, service instead of power.

In the beginning, the Book of Genesis says, God fashioned a magnificent universe and created man and woman to enjoy it. Enter the snake, setting people against one another and against God. The man and woman wanted divine status, to be self-sufficient. They lost their friendship with God; they fell from grace.

Ever since, although we are intrinsically good, we have a tendency to choose evil. Human beings have cried out for God’s healing power.

And then, God became one of us in Jesus, so we could experience God's friendship anew. Paul observes that, just as we fell from grace through the first Adam, so now through the crucified and risen Christ, we have God's friendship again.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, would Jesus simply satisfy his physical hunger at the expense of his mission in life? No. Would he work signs and wonders simply so people would puff up his ego? No. Would he seek power so that people would kowtow to him? No. Jesus will not make a god out of material goods, celebrity status or political power.

Lent reminds us that it is time to ask God for the grace to get our priorities straight. It's a time for prayer; a time to do without unnecessary things so that the needy can have necessary things; a time to reach out with a helping hand through volunteer service or charitable giving or whatever.
For hundreds of years, Lent has focused on these three disciplines: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Re-discover and re-treat yourself to these age-old disciplines again this Lent.

Secrets to Happiness

Christ Preaching at Capernaum by Gottlieb

I came across a book titled The Power of Meaning, which may be edifying reading during Lent (beginning Ash Wednesday, February 26).

Happiness, the book proposes, results from living an other-centered life. The author, Emily Esfahani Smith, describes ingredients for a meaningful life:
First, a sense of belonging, whether family, friends or colleagues. Belonging makes us feel that we matter and that we have people where we can be our true selves. The second ingredient, purpose, motivates and energizes us to do something for others. The third ingredient: storytelling. We are all storytellers in that we try to make sense out of our lives and form an identity. The final ingredient: transcendence -- living for someone or something greater than ourselves.

But I would add one more ingredient: there's within every human being a subconscious if not conscious quest for what is ultimately good and true and beautiful: we call this God. To paraphrase St. Augustine in his classic "Confessions" of the fourth century: our  hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O God.

Now what does God's word say? Jesus in today’s Gospel asks us to love our enemies. The real challenge is to love people we live and work with -- to create and nurture a friendly, helpful and welcoming environment. Jesus instills within us a vision that sees beyond stereotypes, politics and appearances and recognizes the “spark of the divine” in everyone.

In the Greek text of Matthew’s Gospel, the word for love is agape. That indicates an open, unconditional love for our fellow human beings, wishing them all good. You don’t have to like someone to love them. The agape that Jesus asks us to have means that, no matter how much someone upsets us, we will never let bitterness close our hearts to them nor will we seek anything but their good. Agape recognizes the humanity we share with all people.

Jesus makes radical demands upon us: “give to everyone who asks.” Who can do that? How understand these teachings? First, Jesus connects our love of God with our love for one another. We can’t say we love God and yet neglect fellow human beings in need.

Second, these ethical teachings have to be linked to the mission of Jesus. Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God is in our midst. Yes, the kingdom is here but not fully. You and I live in-between the historical coming of Jesus centuries ago and the final coming of Jesus at the end-time. We live in the tension between.

Jesus indicates the goal or thrust of our behavior, the direction of our lives: be generous.
To the person who strikes you on one side of the face, Jesus says, offer the other as well. But sometimes we have to stand up against wrongs. The teaching of Jesus indicates again the thrust or direction of our lives, that is, we should try to be peacemakers, healers, bridge builders, reconcilers.
The genuine disciple seizes the many opportunities to do good today.

Wishing you blessed days this Lenten season.

Finding our Way to God

Doing good as long as ever you can

GPS apps are a splendid way to navigate, and to route around obstacles. It’s a powerful spiritual metaphor. We have a “voice” to guide us: our conscience, informed by the bible, the guidance of the church, and the wise counsel of holy women and men.

As I have learned to trust the GPS electronic voice while driving, so I need to learn to trust my informed conscience, as I navigate to my ultimate goal: eternal life with God.

Sunday’s word of God carries us back to a defining moment. Moses experiences the awesome presence of God in the image of “fire flaming out of a bush.” God reveals himself as the creator of this universe: “I am the one who causes to be all that is,” as one biblical author translated this mysterious phrase. And then God empowers Moses to free the Hebrews from their oppressors.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Corinth, compares the Hebrew Exodus experience to our baptismal experience; just as God was a rock in the wilderness, out of which flowed life-giving waters, so too Christ is our rock, from whom comes our salvation, eternal life.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus deals with the question of evil. There is of course no satisfactory answer. Why mindless killings in New Zealand, why so many people suffering violence? Evil is ultimately a mystery.

And then Jesus speaks about a barren tree. The point of the parable: yes, God is patient, but God will hold each of us accountable for our life, our attitudes, and our behaviors. Jesus urges us to repent now, to turn to a God-centered/other-centered life. Yes, live in light of your ultimate purpose, life in relationship with God here and beyond.

Often people live in the future. Some imagine, My life will begin when I get a new job, when I rebuild my home, etc. Life will begin in the future? Naomi Levy, in her book Hope Will Find You, wondered, while caring for her critically ill daughter, when could she realize her dreams and goals. She wrote: “… just then something snapped inside my soul:…all of us have to learn to live inside the imperfect lives we have here and now.”

Lent is a time to re-assess our lives again, to decide what we believe to be truly important, and then act on these priorities now.

Our Christian faith proclaims that life has meaning, that there is indeed an all-good, compassionate, and merciful God who seeks us out in our everyday experiences. This God became incarnate in Jesus, and renewed God’s covenant with us through his death/resurrection and thereby opened up to us life beyond this earthly life. This same God is alive among us today by the power of the Spirit.

We can participate in God’s triune life: by regular prayer, by fasting from attitudes and behaviors that jeopardize our relationship with God and one another, and by living a life of generous service.


 

Lent: Getting Our Priorities Straight

Rembrandt's Sketch of Jesus in Wilderness

We have begun our Lenten journey. It is a time to slow down and remember our purpose in life and get our priorities straight.

This weekend, many of us heard the Grand Prix cars racing through downtown St. Petersburg. In our high-speed world it’s a challenge to slow down, remember our purpose and get our priorities straight.

Last Wednesday we had our foreheads smudged with ashes and may have heard a prayer,  “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.” Dust symbolizes nothingness. It’s commonplace. Yet God became dust in Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus charged dust with the grandeur of God through his death/resurrection.

Lent tells us that it is time to get our priorities straight. It's a time for prayer; a time for doing without unnecessary things so the needy can have what’s necessary;and a time to reach out with a helping hand.

The word of God carries us back to the early history of ancient Israel. Deuteronomy focuses on identity, reminding the Hebrews of their roots: they were once at-risk nomads; exploited as cheap labor in Egypt; brought to a place of abundance; and now grateful to the God who saved them.

And our Christian identity? In baptism, we were branded and transformed into a “new creatures,” sons and daughters of God our Father, called to live a god-like life. That’s our identity.

Paul, in his letter, proclaimed fundamental truths: Jesus is our Lord to whom we owe our allegiance. Through faith, we have eternal life.

In the Gospel according to Luke, the devil appears as a seductive voice in the wilderness, tempting Jesus with earthly power and prestige. In some form, these are temptations that many human beings face. God’s word may be asking us how true we are to our identity as baptized Christians.

Yes, Lent is time to consider again our priorities. Leo Tolstoy can be a good resource. Many of us know of Anna Karenina and War and Peace. But Tolstoy also wrote shorter, profoundly religious novels. A Confession, for example, expresses his search for meaning and purpose.

Perhaps Tolstoy’s masterpiece was the 75-page novel The Death of Ivan Ilyich. A man on his deathbed realizes he wasted his life. In exchange for luxury and status, he sacrificed his authenticity and integrity. The result is a spiritual barrenness. Now he faces a mortality he never acknowledged, and he's terrified.

Avoiding thoughts about death, in favor of superficialities, is not reserved to nineteenth-century Russians. It's the story of everyone.

20th American writer Frederick Buechner gives us an examination:

 If you had only one last message to leave to the handful of people who are most important to you, what would it be in twenty-five words or less? Of all the things you have done in your life, which is the one you would most like to undo? Which is the one that makes you happiest to remember? If this were the last day of your life, what would you do with it?

It can be depressing business, Buechner notes, “but if sackcloth and ashes are at the start of it, something like Easter may be at the end.”

As we enter the Lenten season, let us ask God for the grace to pursue single-mindedly the priority in life: eternal life in relationship with God and one another.

Doing The Right Thing

A Quote from Adlai Stevenson

We’re approaching the holy season of Lent, beginning Ash Wednesday, March 6 this year.

Today’s word of God takes us back to the second century before Jesus.  The wisdom of Sirach is one of Israel's many spiritual guides. Here the author writes that our words, for better or worse, reveal who and what we are.

Do our words build people up or tear down?  Are we constructive or destructive?

St. Paul in his letter to the Christian community in Corinth waxes eloquently about the resurrection. Yes, our faith proclaims that good ultimately will triumph over evil, light over darkness, life over death. Because Jesus Christ is risen. He lives and because He lives, we live.

Paul urges us to focus upon God and the things of God; live a godlike life.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus says: don't be too quick to point out the shortcomings in others while blind to your own shortcomings. Don't be hypocrites, saying one thing and doing another. Let your inner attitudes be in sync with your outward behaviors.

Yes, be men and women of integrity, of moral character, true to our inner selves.

One of my favorite quotes about moral character is from Norman Schwarzkopf, who led the allied coalition that drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf in 1990. Schwarzkopf said this:

“Leadership is a whole combination of different ingredients – but by far, by far, the single most important ingredient of leadership is your character. …  Integrity: that is the linchpin.”

So what is character?

First, there’s a difference between personality and character. Personality on the surface puts us in a category – e. g. cheerful, or moody, or excitable, etc. Character, by contrast, is singular and defines who we are, at the core of our inmost self.  It's what we do when no one else is looking.

Personality is emotional. Character is ethical. Personality is neither good nor bad. Character, by definition, is either good or bad. By character, one stands out. That takes courage.

A person of moral character will choose dignity, respect, a willingness to go the extra mile. A person of character will speak up for what is right and defend what is fair, will take a stand on principle and an informed conscience. A person of character will show courage, and not simply “get along by going along.”

A person of character, in short, will try to choose what is true and good and right in all decisions, small and great.

Each of us is called to this. And having found what is right and true and good: as the advertisement says, “just do it.”