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.

Forever Gloriously Alive

Raphael's Transfiguration

This second Sunday of Lent, the liturgical color at church is purple. But the “wearing of the green” is common as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day today, honoring Ireland’s patron saint and indeed Irish and Irish-American culture. The legends about Patrick are many. The facts are few. But one fact stands out: the missionary Patrick preached the good news, the Gospel, to Ireland. Jesus Christ is alive. And because He lives, we live.

 Perhaps you have read “The Irish in America” or have seen the PBS film. Both begin with a riveting account of the Irish potato famine of the 1840's. An estimated 1 million people died and another 1 million went to America. These “huddled masses” enriched our politics, literature, music, and much more. It's a fascinating story.

The word of God today takes us back almost four thousand years to the land we know as Iraq. Abraham hears the call of God. And because he trusted God, he set out for an unknown land.

Many of us can relate to this challenge. Going off to another state, another nation? We didn’t quite know how things will work out. I’m sure Abraham was anxious. And yet because he trusted completely in God, God made a covenant with him and promised Abraham would prosper.

God also speaks to us and calls us to be men and women of faith, to trust in God, especially as we face everyday challenges.

In the Gospel according to Luke, the disciples experienced the transfiguration of Jesus; they saw the unique and awesome presence of God in Jesus of Nazareth. They saw a vision of the “glorious” Jesus beyond the flesh and blood Jesus of their everyday lives. They saw the face of God in their midst: the Father’s beloved Son.

The Jesus of the Gospels was a real historical person like ourselves. He experienced fatigue, hunger, joy, friendship, disappointment, and loneliness as we do.

But he was more than human. He had a unique relationship to the God of ancient Israel; he was one with God. And what did Jesus teach? That the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst and that you and I can share in this kingdom by living a life of discipleship with Jesus here and now: a life of regular prayer; a life of fasting or giving up attitudes and behaviors that can break or fracture our relationship with God and with one another; and a life of almsgiving or generous service to one another.

And finally, Jesus taught that God is our Father. The God of this magnificent universe, who became flesh in Jesus and is alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit—yes, this triune God--creator, redeemer and sanctifier-- lives and breathes within us by virtue of the waters of baptism.

Let us rededicate ourselves to Jesus the Christ in regular prayer and attitudes and behaviors. Let us live life in generous service to one another so that we can participate fully in the kingdom of God—yes, forever gloriously alive with the glorious transfigured Christ.