Questions! Do you have questions? This Sunday's readings are full of questions!
In Exodus 17 we hear: "The people grumbled against Moses, "Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?" Do you have questions for God too? Do you wonder why things happen?
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people?
Do you ever ask yourself: What shall I do? What does God want me to do?
The Israelites tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD in our midst or not?"
Of all three questions this is the one that moves me the most. "Is the LORD in our midst or not?"
How many of us struggle to see God's hand in the events of our lives? When things don't make sense, do we ask in faith for insight? For wisdom? For strength? What it comes down to is believing, even though we can't see, that God really truly is their in our midst.
In John's Gospel, Jesus makes a request.
"A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."
The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?"
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink, ' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
I find these words most powerful: "If you knew the gift of God!"
How many times, I don't see the multiple gifts God gives me each day?
How many times I just take for granted what is given to me?
The first step is to see the gift of God, then we would know:
"who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink, '
If we can see the gifts surrounding us, then we'll recognize Jesus when he comes! The key to recognizing Jesus is to observe, to note the gifts He gives. If we see the gifts, we recognize the Giver!
Then we "would have asked him and he would have given living water."
We see here a three step movement:
1. Seeing the Gifts,
2. Knowing the Giver
3. Receiving the Gift of Living Water.
Then "The woman said to him, Are you greater than our father Jacob?
Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
What is this water of which Jesus speaks? What water wells up within us to eternal life? To understand this we need to think the way the writers of the Old Testament thought. We need to think in images. Water. Where do we first meet water? The waters of Creation, when the Spirit of God hovered over the water. Next, how about the waters of the flood, when Noah built an ark? Again, we see the Israelites passing through the waters of the Red Sea. Didn't Jesus' first miracle have to do with water? Changing water into wine? Hmm? Could something be going on here? What about when Jesus dies on the cross and His side is opened, blood and water flow out.
I'm not making this up. Look in your Bible. So water at Creation, flood waters, the crossing of the Red Sea, water changed into wine at Cana, water flowing from the open side of Jesus at His death. What could this living water be, but the movement of the Holy Spirit within us, the movement of God's grace, God's very life filling us and moving us to be more than we ever hoped are imagined.
Why? The Second Reading from 2 Romans gives the answer to that question.
The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
...
God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Wow! All that from asking a few questions! What does that teach us? Don't be afraid of your questions! God is working in them and through them to draw you to His Heart.
If you've been meaning to sign up for the Passion Play, do so ASAP! The bus is almost full!!
Save the dates of our Lenten Mission: April 3, 4, 5, Monday-Wednesday, respectively. Fr. Bill is a gifted preacher and musician. You don't want to miss one night of him! So aim to come Monday night to check him out! Come back for the other two nights!
Blessed Lent! Listen to those questions that rise in your heart! You just may be listening to the voice of God!
Last of all, pray with me for Danielle, Mary, Sophia and Brener for whom this Sunday we celebrate the First Scrutiny at the 10:00 AM Mass.
As Danielle, Mary, Sophia and Brener look into their hearts, we look into our own hearts and try to see those pockets of darkness, sin or whatever is keeping us from God. Soon Danielle, Mary, Sophia and Brener will receive the Easter Sacraments at the Easter Vigil on April 15. Let us thank God for the gift that they are to us!
Praying for you and yours!
Sr. Cora
In Exodus 17 we hear: "The people grumbled against Moses, "Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?" Do you have questions for God too? Do you wonder why things happen?
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people?
Do you ever ask yourself: What shall I do? What does God want me to do?
The Israelites tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD in our midst or not?"
Of all three questions this is the one that moves me the most. "Is the LORD in our midst or not?"
How many of us struggle to see God's hand in the events of our lives? When things don't make sense, do we ask in faith for insight? For wisdom? For strength? What it comes down to is believing, even though we can't see, that God really truly is their in our midst.
In John's Gospel, Jesus makes a request.
"A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."
The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?"
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink, ' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
I find these words most powerful: "If you knew the gift of God!"
How many times, I don't see the multiple gifts God gives me each day?
How many times I just take for granted what is given to me?
The first step is to see the gift of God, then we would know:
"who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink, '
If we can see the gifts surrounding us, then we'll recognize Jesus when he comes! The key to recognizing Jesus is to observe, to note the gifts He gives. If we see the gifts, we recognize the Giver!
Then we "would have asked him and he would have given living water."
We see here a three step movement:
1. Seeing the Gifts,
2. Knowing the Giver
3. Receiving the Gift of Living Water.
Then "The woman said to him, Are you greater than our father Jacob?
Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
What is this water of which Jesus speaks? What water wells up within us to eternal life? To understand this we need to think the way the writers of the Old Testament thought. We need to think in images. Water. Where do we first meet water? The waters of Creation, when the Spirit of God hovered over the water. Next, how about the waters of the flood, when Noah built an ark? Again, we see the Israelites passing through the waters of the Red Sea. Didn't Jesus' first miracle have to do with water? Changing water into wine? Hmm? Could something be going on here? What about when Jesus dies on the cross and His side is opened, blood and water flow out.
I'm not making this up. Look in your Bible. So water at Creation, flood waters, the crossing of the Red Sea, water changed into wine at Cana, water flowing from the open side of Jesus at His death. What could this living water be, but the movement of the Holy Spirit within us, the movement of God's grace, God's very life filling us and moving us to be more than we ever hoped are imagined.
Why? The Second Reading from 2 Romans gives the answer to that question.
The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
...
God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Wow! All that from asking a few questions! What does that teach us? Don't be afraid of your questions! God is working in them and through them to draw you to His Heart.
If you've been meaning to sign up for the Passion Play, do so ASAP! The bus is almost full!!
Save the dates of our Lenten Mission: April 3, 4, 5, Monday-Wednesday, respectively. Fr. Bill is a gifted preacher and musician. You don't want to miss one night of him! So aim to come Monday night to check him out! Come back for the other two nights!
Blessed Lent! Listen to those questions that rise in your heart! You just may be listening to the voice of God!
Last of all, pray with me for Danielle, Mary, Sophia and Brener for whom this Sunday we celebrate the First Scrutiny at the 10:00 AM Mass.
As Danielle, Mary, Sophia and Brener look into their hearts, we look into our own hearts and try to see those pockets of darkness, sin or whatever is keeping us from God. Soon Danielle, Mary, Sophia and Brener will receive the Easter Sacraments at the Easter Vigil on April 15. Let us thank God for the gift that they are to us!
Praying for you and yours!
Sr. Cora
