Ebb and Flow

Ebb and Flow

"The one who drinks of the water I will give will never be thirsty"

Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent: John 4.5-42

Today we heard the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. Please click on the link above and prayerfully read the passage from John's Gospel. 

For me, this is encounter reveals the depth of God's mercy made flesh in Jesus Christ. All barriers that were prominent in Jesus' time were broken by that mercy:

• the cultural barrier of a man in conversation with a woman alone;
• A Jew speaking to a Samaritan;
• the religious barrier of where one must worship

What is striking about the conversation is that it is the Samaritan woman who brings up the barriers, but Jesus continues to move the dialogue deeper. "Living water" is beyond culture, religious ritual or gender inequality.

Jesus is offering her living water. He offers her new life.

And in the ebb and flow of the conversation Jesus doesn't give up. Even when she doesn't get it. ("Sir give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty, or have to keep coming to draw water...)

Finally, the woman admits to faith that the Messiah is coming, one who "will proclaim all things to us". At that moment, Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah.
She drops everything and runs home to proclaim the news, news that she herself does not fully understand. ("He can't be the Messiah, can he?") 

This is the ebb and flow of conversion.
Like the Samaritan woman, we put up our barriers, mostly ones that are propped up by selfishness and ego, that keeps us from freely submitting to God's mercy.
Maybe we feel we don't deserve the living water that is life in Christ. Maybe we feel we are too far gone.
But God, in his infinite love, knows the ebb and flow of our hearts. And he is there for us, waiting for us to return again to him.

And that is why, as Catholics, we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, especially at this time during Lent. In the Archdiocese of Edmonton, we had a day of Confession last Tuesday. And there will be celebrations of Reconciliation is all the parishes in the coming weeks as well. Take time to celebrate this sacrament.
Consider the ebb and flow of your spiritual life during Lent. And prepare to drink of the living water, a new life in Christ, this Easter!