Catholic Ragemonkey

Jacob's well: Homily Third Sunday of Lent
I don't usually make a post regarding my homilies, simply because I normally don't have a script and I don't want to take the time to type one out. Today, since the gospel was very long, I had some simple thoughts and so I feel that I can manage to share them without getting bogged down in typing. Actually, I will post the ideas and the story of my homily, rather than the homily as it was given.

I chose to focus my thoughts on the rather simple statement at the beginning of the gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent, a statement that set the scene: "Jacob's well was there." This simple sentence, so easy to pass by, struck me because of what I read a few years ago while doing homily preparation as I was reading a scriptural commentary. The commentary mentioned that if John (the gospel's author) was trying to consistently use "Jacob" imagery in this selection from the fourth chapter of his gospel, we can note that the well was a place of courtship in the story of Jacob's life. To understand this you have to go back to the Book of Genesis 29:1-12. It was at a well where Jacob first laid eyes upon Rachel and fell in love with her, rolling back a large stone to release water to relieve the thirst of the flock that Rachel was tending. Jacob kissed Rachel there and sought to marry her.

The well as a place of courtship really struck me. Now, PLEASE, in my application of this notion from Jacob's story to the gospel of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman, I am NOT trying to say that Jesus was courting her in a way that relates to marriage. I'm not writing the Da Vinci Code here! Rather, I think we can make an application that the well is the place where Jesus courts the soul and seeks to give it to drink of his abundance. Jesus (who really is the rock that gushes forth water and, indeed, the very well itself) at the well is an image for us of the love of God in the flesh who courts our souls.

I think most of us have some idea of what it is like to fall in love and to court someone. I think by examining some of what we do when we fall in love and court someone, we can see how we ought to respond to the love of Jesus who courts us. With no intention of giving scandal, I am going to share some sense of love and courtship from my own experience, recognizing that we often don't think of our priests as human, as persons who fall in love. [Note: Let me say in this forum, that the examples I am going to give from my own experience describe, at best, "puppy love" and may seem rather juvenile to many readers. I realize that I could have made all sorts of other examples, more mature examples, of things we do when in love and when courting someone, but the key to my homily examples was that it was my own experience. Since I entered seminary at 19 years of age, I don't have many "more mature" examples, other than the simple ones I gave. In other words, I can only share from my experience and since I wasn't dating in more mature years, I don't have anything to offer from personal experience other than "puppy love" examples. I hope this little note makes sense.]

1. When we fall in love and court someone, we desire to get information about the "other". We ask questions. We see what our friends know about the other person. We learn about the other. I can recall asking, "What are her likes and dislikes?" "Does she like U2?" "Does she like the same kinds of things I like?" We do this quite easily with natural love. What about applying this to our spiritual lives and the love with which we should respond to Jesus who courts us and our faith? Do we seek to get information and to learn about Christ through the Sacred Scriptures? Do we study our faith? Do good books about our faith gather dust at home or do we even own good books that help us learn about the faith? Is our faith taught in the home? I am amazed by the number of misunderstandings I encounter about our faith, even among "life-long" Catholics! If Jesus loves and courts us, shouldn't we respond in love, seeking to know him better, seeking information about him, seeking to know his likes and dislikes?

2. When we fall in love and court someone, we clean ourselves up, we pay attention to hygiene, to how we dress, we use cologne. It is rather embarrassing, but I can remember in high school trying to impress the girls by how I dressed. I would think about what I should wear and, well, if it is this shirt, then the sleeves have to be rolled up, and, oh yeah, the shirt has to be untucked -- that will really attract the girls. I can also remember driving in my car, seeing that I was about to pass a young lady in the other lane ... Suddenly, I was sitting up more straight, and making sure my sunglasses looked just right! We do this quite easily with natural love. What about applying this to our spiritual lives and the love with which we should respond to Jesus who courts us and our faith? Do we take care of what we might call our "spiritual hygiene," seeking to keep our baptismal garment, our baptismal dignity, unstained? We put on cologne to impress others. What about putting on the odor of sanctity as a response to Jesus' love? Recognizing that each and every one of us struggles with temptation and sin, do we get ourselves to confession, to have freedom from sin and to have our baptismal dignity restored?

3. When we fall in love and court someone, we try to be where the other is, near, close by, somewhere where we might catch a glimpse of the other or be seen by the other. "Hey, is she going to be at the party Friday night?" Maybe I wasn't planning on going before, but I will now. And why not go to the mall, and hang out near the pizza stand, because she just might walk out of the movie theatre any second. We do this quite easily with natural love. What about applying this to our spiritual lives and the love with which we should respond to Jesus who courts us and our faith? Do we seek to be where Jesus is, to be near to him, to catch a glimpse of him? What about Sunday Mass? Do we gather where Jesus is present and where his people gather? Do we recognize that we encounter Jesus each and every time we come to Mass and so, we should be here at least every Sunday, not just once in a while, not just regularly (meaning once or twice each month) but each and every Sunday? Do we make visits to the church for adoration? The Lord's Real Presence is here all day and sadly very few people are present. What about Stations of the Cross? Do we come to catch a glimpse of Jesus as he passes by on his way to Calvary, his way to our salvation?

4. When we fall in love and court someone, we talk to the other. We pass notes or send e-mails. We have friends deliver messages to the one we love. We do this quite easily with natural love. What about applying this to our spiritual lives and the love with which we should respond to Jesus who courts us and our faith? Do we recognize prayer as our talking with Jesus, as our communication with the one who loves us and who calls us to respond to him in love? Do we spend time communicating with the Lord, in a sense sending him notes? Do we ask saints and friends to pray for us, to send messages to the Lord on our behalf? Prayer is our privileged communication with Jesus. The catechism, using the imagery of today's gospel, gives a beautiful description of prayer: "The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God's desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God's thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2560).

The well is the place of Jesus' courting of the Samaritan woman's faith. Jesus courts our souls too, seeking our faith. In this season of repentance and conversion we should practice some of these natural responses to love in our relationship with the Lord who loves us, who thirsts for our loving response, and who comes to us as the Savior of the world!