Message from Augie

In today’s Gospel Jesus simply begins with: ”Give me a drink.”

He does not open with a lesson.  He does not correct her theology.  He asks her for water.  He places himself in need.  And in doing so, he crosses several boundaries at once, between Jew and Samaritan, between man and woman, and between teacher and stranger.  The conversation that follows unfolds slowly, even awkwardly.  Questions are asked.  Misunderstandings surface.  Defenses rise.

As the conversation continues.  Jesus shifts the meaning of the moment.  “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,” he says.  “But whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.   The water I shall give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

            Jesus is not denying the reality of physical thirst.  He is pointing to something deeper.  There is thirst that returns again and again, no matter how carefully it is managed, and no matter how often is t is addressed.  And there is another kind of water, he says, that does not simply satisfy for a moment, but changes the source.  We see what Jesus is doing at the well.  He does not rush to repair the women’s circumstances.  He does not offer a plan.  He does not prescribe improvement.  He speaks truthfully and stays present.  And in that encounter, something begins to heal, not because it is fixed, but because it is finally seen.

Lent invites us to linger at the well a little longer.  To pay attention.  To listen.  To trust that God is already present in the places we have learned to avoid.

                    SO THE QUESTION:    WHERE IS THIS PLACE FOR YOU?

PRAYER TO ST. JUDE:  St. Jude, apostle of Christ, the church honors and prays to you universally as the patron of hopeless and difficult cases.   Pray for us in our needs.   Make use, we implore you of this powerful privilege given to you to bring visible and speedy help where help is needed.  Pray that we humbly accept the trials and disappointments and mistakes which are a part of our human nature.   Help us to see the reflection of the suffering of Christ in the trials and tribulations of our lives.   Let us see in a spirit of great faith and hop the part we even now share in the joy of Christ’s resurrection and which we long to share fully in heaven.   Intercede that we may again experience this joy in answer to our present needs.   If it is God’s dire for us (here make your request)  we know our prayers will be heard through your intercession.  AMEN