3rd Sunday of Lent

The Woman at the Well
Rev. Mr. Arthur Nave Jr.

Readings: Ex 17:3-7; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42 or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

The Gospel today focuses in on the Woman at the well. Who is this woman? First, she is a samaritan. Jesus is a Jew along with most of his disciples. This is a key cultural point to this gospel text. At the time of Jesus, as is seen today in Modern Israel, the Jews did not get along with the samaritans and vice versa. You could not even eat off the same plate or the same food as a samaritan, because that would make you unclean. However, Jesus interacts with this woman and ask for a drink of water. Her response is you are a Jew. For Jesus, this is the converstation starter. He then tells her that if she knew who He was, she would be asking for living water. She then asks,

“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

For her, the eternal waters first only mean a new water thirst so that she does not have to go out to the well. For her, going to the well was difficult and embarassing. She had to go out to the well at noon because she does not want to deal with the ridicule of the village early in the morning or late at night because of her marriage status. Thus, if she went to the well at noon, no one would be there to bother her because of the scorching heat. However, this was not what Christ had in mind. She soon learned that this person she was talking to was the Christ that she knew would come and she believed. The beauty of the calling of Christ. In the preface from mass, we hear that Christ prepared the way so that she could come to faith. Each one of us has a path prepared for us by Christ that brings us to the eternal spring of Life.

Thus, what is this living water that Christ speaks of? This living water is the waters of baptism that the catechumens are preparing to be baptized in. These living waters, once given by baptism, cannot be taken away, cannot be destroyed. This living water within us is the font that our spiritual life flows from. These living waters lead us to Christ whenever we renew ourselves in them. These waters are what leads us to desire to be fed, nurtured and go out on mission for Christ each and every day. These waters of baptism do not just mark us, but cleanse us from all of our sin committed before baptism. In the case of the woman with five husbands, she is forgiven. She then takes up her baptismal call to participate in the priestly, prophetic and kingly offices of Christ and she goes and proclaims Christ to Sycar. Then all the people come out to see who this person that the village sinner is running around causing a stir about and many came to believe in him. How do we thirst for Christ? How do we share the eternal spring that we gained in baptism with the world? How do we nurture our eternal spring within us?

While, this is not the whole homily, it is the main thoughts and themes behind my ten minute homily that I gave this morning :)

2nd Sunday of Lent A

Since, I am ahead of the game because I have to have my homily for the coming week translated, I am posting the english version here for the spiritual uplifiting of us all as we come up to the 2nd Sunday of Lent.

2nd Sunday of Lent A
Transfiguration of our Lord
Rev. Mr. Arthur Nave Jr.

Today, we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Lent which focuses on the transfiguration of Christ The gospel gives us a glimpse of what is to come for each of us when our bodies will be raised from the dead and rejoined with our soul. The transfiguration though, is not meant for us to focus on what will happen at the end. It is meant to give us courage and reassurance of who Christ is during this season of Lent. Why did Moses and Elijah appear at this time, in this place with Jesus? The answer is in the background of Matthew’s community. His community is made up of mostly Jewish people. Thus, what is being illustrated is that Christ fulfills the Old Testament, specifically, the Law and the Prophets. The Jewish people believed with a passion that the messiah would come. The prophets proclaimed and gave the signs that would show when Christ was here and in Christ all the prophesies were fulfilled.

So, what do the disciples do? They tell the glorified Jesus that they will build tents so that Jesus, Moses and Elijah, could all stay there and all would live happily ever after. This was not the point of the transfiguration at all. The message of the transfiguration is found in the theophany from God: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” This statement from God the Father, made the disciples fall on their knees and they were scared. They were shaking in their boots. They were so scared that the disciples had to be calmed by Christ himself. So what should have the transfiguration done for the disciples? It was probably meant to shock them into a better understanding of who Jesus is. Jesus, our teacher, who is the son of God. Jesus, son of Mary, who we have traveled with over the last three years, is the lamb who is about to suffer so that we can be saved. Jesus, the one tempted by the devil, who would rise on the third day. Why did Peter, James and John need the transfiguration? Because they did not completely understand what is going on. They did not understand what will happen. The point of the transfiguration is to show them that He is the son of God. This moment for them should be a moment of coming to understand who Christ is in a deeper way.

Thus, what does the transfiguration mean for us today in the 21st century? Why is it important to our relationship with Jesus or each other? The simple answer is that we also need to be continually reminded of who Christ is and what he did for us. This is the point of the crucifix hanging in every Church. This is the whole point of Lent. To come to a deeper understanding of who we are and who Christ is and what role does He play in our lives. It is easy to come to mass for an hour a week and then go on living. This is not what we are called to do. We are called to recognize who Christ is and what he did for us. The transfiguration reminds us that Christ should be the center of our lives. The question is, when we encounter Christ today, are we like the disciples and do not want to move from that place and just stay their spiritually? The fact is that this is the temptation. When we encounter Christ in the Eucharist every Sunday, are we just supposed to stay there? When we encounter Christ in the sacrament of reconciliation, are we just supposed to stay there? When we encounter Christ working in our lives giving us hope, consolation or guidance, are we just supposed to stay there? The answer is NO. The answer is that we are called to go deeper in our relationship with Christ and take him out into the world. Each and every day, especially during lent, we are called to go deeper in our relationship with Christ. We are called to not hide or ignore who we are as Christians, but to go out and proclaim him in our deeds and in our lives. This is the point of Lent. Do we take Christ glorified out to the world or do we leave him in the tent?