Homily for Lent 3
March 15, 2020
The Transformation
of a Soul
The gift
of being human means that we can change direction in our lives. Perhaps we’re
heading down one path, and then something comes and shakes us up, opening our
eyes and changing our direction entirely. The woman in today’s Gospel had such
an encounter.
When we
meet her in the beginning of the Gospel, she is a woman of shame. Notice how
she comes to the well around noon – this is significant because in ancient
times, women would draw water in the morning and evening, when it was cooler.
No one would go out in the heat of the day unless they were purposely trying to
avoid others. So here she was, an outcast because of her sinful lifestyle, just
trying to get a drink.
You can
almost hear her weary cynicism in her snarky responses to Jesus – “How can You, a Jew, ask me for a drink? Are You
greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us this well?”
She
comes to the well because she is thirsting for water, but Jesus knows she is
thirsting for more: for love, for meaning and purpose, for direction in life.
This is why the woman has gone through men like they were shoes to try on and
then discard – she is thirsting for love. Jesus wants to quench that thirst.
It is so
fitting that the woman’s sin is infidelity. All throughout the Old Testament,
the relationship between God and Israel is described as a marriage. Israel is
meant to be God’s exclusive Bride, fruitful in holiness, and Israel is meant to
be exclusively faithful to God. But over and over again, Israel broke that
marriage bond by worshipping false gods, and failed to give God the fruit of
holiness that should have been the result of such a marriage. So this Samaritan
woman’s unfaithfulness is a living sign of Israel’s unfaithfulness as a whole.
It may
seem strange that the discussion shifts immediately from her sin to where to
worship – is the woman trying to avoid talking about her sinful life? No, not
at all. She recognizes that this Man Jesus is a true prophet, and so who better
to bring your religious questions to! She cannot turn from her sin unless she
gets the first thing right: how to best worship God.
Up to
now, God has been worshipped in Jerusalem in the Temple. But now Jesus says
that there will be a new way to worship. “Spirit and truth” means that it’s not
enough to attend Mass and do external things – we must give our whole lives to
the Lord, from the heart.
The woman is so changed by this
encounter that she goes out and tells others. Notice her transformation –
first, Jesus is just “sir” to her. Then, He is a prophet. In the end, she calls
Him “the Messiah”. She has finally found what she’s looking for. She has made
the conversion from unfaithful woman to seeker to disciple.
So I leave you with two
considerations this morning. First of all, where are you along this journey?
Are you living, like the woman, in a life of unfaithfulness? Those “five
husbands” might look different for you – perhaps they are the greed, lust,
sloth, pride, or unforgiveness that you harbor in your heart.
Or are you a little further
along: a seeker? Do you thirst for love, for meaning, and for purpose in your
life? Do you want to know what it’s all about? Are you willing to sit at the
feet of Jesus and ask Him questions?
Or are you ready to be an Apostle,
like the woman? Are you so convinced of Jesus’ love for you that you are ready
to go and tell the world? Do you believe that Jesus died and rose to reconcile
us to God, and are you thirsting to tell others about Him? Where are you on
this journey – and are you ready to take the next step?
Secondly, I ask you: how do you
worship? Is it just with your lips only, doing just the bare minimum that our
Catholic Faith asks? Or do you truly worship with your whole spirit? Lent is a
good litmus test for that – many people look for “loopholes” to get out of
their Lenten penance, but one who loves God generously seeks to give more,
sacrifice more, spend more time in prayer, love more.
The grace of God can transform
souls. I want to close with the story of St. Mary of Egypt, a saint who
experienced the transformation that an encounter with Jesus can give. St. Mary
of Egypt grew up in a rural community in the late 300s, but as a young teen she
ran away from home so she could experience the excitement of the big city – in
her case, Alexandria. It was the New York of her time – culture, activity,
excitement. But after a short while, realizing that she had no way to support
herself financially, she turned to prostitution and sold her body for food and
money.
She lived as a prostitute for
many years. When she was in her twenties, a church group from Alexandria was
planning a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She decided to attend, only out of
curiosity, and so that she could offer her “services” to the pilgrims! When
they got to the Holy Land, they began touring the various churches. All the
pilgrims began entering into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the
place where Jesus was crucified and buried. Everyone walked through the
doorway, but when Mary tried to enter, she felt herself hit an invisible force
that prevented her from entering the church! Three times she tried to enter,
and each time it was as if a force field did not allow her in. She realized it
was due to her sinful life that she could not enter the sacred space, so she
cried out to the Lord for mercy, promising to repent.
The Lord had mercy on her, and
she was allowed in. She made a good confession and spent 24 hours in prayer in
the church, receiving her first Holy Communion. When the tour group began
heading back to Egypt, she knew she needed to make a complete break from her
former life. She went into the desert, and lived the remainder of her life in
prayer and penance as a hermit. Here was a woman who knew the pain of
unfaithfulness, but when she encountered the Lord in that church, sought to
give everything to follow Him.
So where are you along the
journey? Have you yet given it all to Christ?
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