Above you'll find a video of my homily for March 8. (If a video doesn't appear above, undefined.) The scripture I preached on was the well-known story of Jesus and the woman at the well. And here's the text of my homily...
It
is a great story - the story of the woman at the well. And all this - because Jesus was thirsty.
Because he turned to this woman and said, “Give me a drink…”
As the story
begins, the woman doesn't recognize Jesus. In her eyes, he's just a thirsty guy
with no bucket. But because he was thirsty… and because he asked… and because
she reached out… well, you know the rest of the story…
How would YOU
like to have been the woman at the well?
And suppose you
didn't recognize Jesus either. Suppose Jesus approached you or me in the middle
of our day - looking for something he needed, something he wanted. Suppose he
came in the guise of a stranger, or a friend or a member of our family, or
someone at school or at work or here in the parish.
SUPPOSE he did?
Well, of course,
he DOES.
He Does. Just. That.
Jesus approaches
us, comes to us in the middle of our lives, in the middle of our days - all the
time: telling us what he needs, what he wants from us. And the question is, how
do we answer him? How do we respond? What does he ask for?
Let's try
something.
I invite you to
close your eyes…
and imagine that
Jesus is approaching you…
and you hear him
say…
Give me a drink of water…Give me something to eat…Give me your shoulder to lean on…Give me your word of forgiveness…Give me an ear while I share my troubles…Give me your hand to help me up…Give me a hug to embrace my soul…Give me a smile to cheer my spirits…Give me a sign that I make a difference…Give me the chance of a new beginning…Give me the warmth of being a friend…Give me your presence to ease my grief…Give me your offer to talk things out…Give me support when I'm falling apart…Give me your welcome with arms open wide…Give me your shoulders to share my burdens…Give me a kiss to seal our love…Give me your light to shine in my darkness…Give me the gift of time by your side…Give me your trust to restore my self-worth…Give me a break when I disappoint you…Give me an invitation to reconcile…Give me the blessing of your thoughts and prayers…Give me your wisdom to guide my steps…Give me your kindness when I have been bruised…Give me the strength of your standing with me…Give me a second chance when I fail…Give me your eyes to look into mine…Give me your touch to heal my pain…Give me your truth as a pledge of your word…Give me a place at your table…Give me a place in your heart…Give me the solace of knowing I'm needed…Give me a boost when I'm down and out…Give me a nudge when I'm slow to respond…Give me your patience when I fall behind…Give me a share of your faith when I deal with doubts…Give me a reason to hope when I'm lost…Give me your love to help me survive.
(Open your eyes if you closed them...)
Who knows how
many times - and in how many disguises - Jesus approaches you and me every
single day, asking for something,
needing something, wanting something from us.
How many times,
in just this past week, did Jesus meet us at the well? in the middle of our day?
and ask something of us?
How did we answer
him? How did we respond? Did we engage with him?
Who knows how
many times and in how many situations - and how many disguises - Jesus will
approach you and me in the week ahead of us to ask us for something. How will
we answer him? How will we respond to him? How will we engage with him?
This morning:, WE
come to HIM - at the “well” of his table.
And we come
hungry and thirsty - and we come without buckets.
So we ask him, “Give
us something to eat.” And he gives us
his Body, the Bread of his Life.
And we ask him, “Give
us something to drink.” And he gives us a sip from his cup, the cup of the Blood
of his mercy and peace.
Could this not be
the Messiah, the Christ? The one who has to come here to our table?
Indeed, it IS
him. And we KNOW it is him - because we
have heard for ourselves.
This is Jesus…
The one who came to save us…
The one
who came to save the world.
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