Here is the text of the homily I shared with the gathered community this weekend, a reflection on our responsibility to be witnesses of Jesus, who gives us living water.
John’s gospel account of the encounter Jesus had with the woman at the well is one of my favorite stories because it is so real. Jesus was travelling with his disciples, and was tired. Every one of us can immediately identify with him because every one of us has been tired out at one time or another by the normal events of our day to day life. John doesn’t tell us why Jesus sent his disciples shopping without him, but it’s important to note that he was alone at the well when the Samaritan woman arrived, as if he knew that she would arrive, as though he were waiting for her. Jesus waits for us, in places and at times that we would least expect to find him, ready and willing to enter into a one-on-one conversation; ready and willing to satisfy our deepest thirst with living water, just as God had satisfied the Israelites' thirst in the desert with water that sprang from the rock. I’m sure that the woman who came to the well that day wasn’t expecting to meet anyone, much less a man, and worse yet a Jewish man. The custom of the day was clear: Jews did not share things in common with Samaritans, so the mere fact that Jesus dared to speak to this woman would have been shocking to her. Then, he asked her to draw some water from the well for him to drink, yet another demand that was totally unheard of.
All of us have had meetings like Jesus did with the woman at the well that day. All of us have had opportunities to invite others to enter into conversation with us. All of us have had occasion to go outside of ourselves, even to the peripheries of our normal routines in order to get to know people who are newcomers to our city, to our places of work, to our church community or to our places of recreation. How many times have we recognized these moments as opportunities to listen to the other person’s story, to invite them to listen to our story, to help another person find his or her way, to invite another person to discover the joy of the gospel? It is by no mere coincidence that Pope Francis’ first Exhortation was entitled Evangelii Gaudium – the Joy of the Gospel, because he has been challenging us all along to courageously demonstrate the joy of the gospel to others, to share the good news of our faith with others, and to invite others to experience a personal encounter with Jesus, like the Samaritan woman did at the well that day.
In the bulletins this week, we have included a copy of a newly-published document from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled The Essential Elements of Evangelization Today. Don’t be alarmed by the word evangelization. Evangelization is the fancy word that the Church uses to refer to the encounter that we are called to live with others, and the process of introducing them to the person of Jesus. The truth of the matter is that we live in a pluralistic society today. Some of us may remember a time when we took it for granted that our friends and neighbours were all Roman Catholic, that they all shared our views about faith, that we all attended the same parishes on Sunday … but such is not the case today. In fact some of our own brothers and sisters and their families might profess to be Roman Catholic but have different ways of understanding religious obligations. In fact, even Christian faith cannot be presumed among our neighbours, our friends and relatives, our colleagues, and even if they are Christian, many of them have become indifferent to the Catholic faith they once may have treasured. When a Jewish man once met a Samaritan woman at a well in the heat of the day, he dared to break the established tradition. I wonder if we too have the courage to dare to break the established taboo of speaking about faith with those who might rather that we kept silent.
The Bishops challenge us to witness to our faith by being open to an encounter. Like Pope Francis, they are encouraging us to meet people where they are, and to dare to speak with them about what we have seen and heard. Jesus met the woman that day right where she was – in the midst of her daily chores. He didn’t chastise her for who she was, but he entered into conversation with her. Likewise, we too must not be afraid to speak with our colleagues, our neighbours, our friends, at times even with total strangers, to share with them the story of our own faith: the joy we encounter in the words of the gospel, in the words and example of the carpenter from Nazareth who dared to call fishermen to share their stories with others, and the testimony of our own encounter with Jesus, a meeting that has resulted in our choice to follow him as his modern-day disciples.
Our encounters with others should lead us to share with them the gift of friendship. The Samaritan woman was cautious when she first encountered Jesus that day at the well, because she didn't understand the gift that he was offering, but as they continued their conversation, she was drawn to share with him the gift of water from the well, and the gift of her heart, and having encountered Jesus, the woman then went in search of her friends and relatives. She introduced Jesus to them, and encouraged them too to enter into conversation with him. Eventually, many of them also came to believe in him. As we encounter others and risk sharing the story of our own lives with them, the Holy Spirit … compels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of faith with others.
Where are the wells in our lives – the places where we meet people today? Are we ready to accept the invitation that Jesus offers to us, to go out and make disciples of all the nations? Are we willing to tell others about our own story of faith, witnessing to the encounter that we have lived with Jesus? When have we encountered the witness of fraternal life that the Lord promises? … and how is the Lord calling us to witness to him through selfless service to those who are on the peripheries of society?
Lessons from the encounter in Samaria
John’s gospel account of the encounter Jesus had with the woman at the well is one of my favorite stories because it is so real. Jesus was travelling with his disciples, and was tired. Every one of us can immediately identify with him because every one of us has been tired out at one time or another by the normal events of our day to day life. John doesn’t tell us why Jesus sent his disciples shopping without him, but it’s important to note that he was alone at the well when the Samaritan woman arrived, as if he knew that she would arrive, as though he were waiting for her. Jesus waits for us, in places and at times that we would least expect to find him, ready and willing to enter into a one-on-one conversation; ready and willing to satisfy our deepest thirst with living water, just as God had satisfied the Israelites' thirst in the desert with water that sprang from the rock. I’m sure that the woman who came to the well that day wasn’t expecting to meet anyone, much less a man, and worse yet a Jewish man. The custom of the day was clear: Jews did not share things in common with Samaritans, so the mere fact that Jesus dared to speak to this woman would have been shocking to her. Then, he asked her to draw some water from the well for him to drink, yet another demand that was totally unheard of.
All of us have had meetings like Jesus did with the woman at the well that day. All of us have had opportunities to invite others to enter into conversation with us. All of us have had occasion to go outside of ourselves, even to the peripheries of our normal routines in order to get to know people who are newcomers to our city, to our places of work, to our church community or to our places of recreation. How many times have we recognized these moments as opportunities to listen to the other person’s story, to invite them to listen to our story, to help another person find his or her way, to invite another person to discover the joy of the gospel? It is by no mere coincidence that Pope Francis’ first Exhortation was entitled Evangelii Gaudium – the Joy of the Gospel, because he has been challenging us all along to courageously demonstrate the joy of the gospel to others, to share the good news of our faith with others, and to invite others to experience a personal encounter with Jesus, like the Samaritan woman did at the well that day.
In the bulletins this week, we have included a copy of a newly-published document from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled The Essential Elements of Evangelization Today. Don’t be alarmed by the word evangelization. Evangelization is the fancy word that the Church uses to refer to the encounter that we are called to live with others, and the process of introducing them to the person of Jesus. The truth of the matter is that we live in a pluralistic society today. Some of us may remember a time when we took it for granted that our friends and neighbours were all Roman Catholic, that they all shared our views about faith, that we all attended the same parishes on Sunday … but such is not the case today. In fact some of our own brothers and sisters and their families might profess to be Roman Catholic but have different ways of understanding religious obligations. In fact, even Christian faith cannot be presumed among our neighbours, our friends and relatives, our colleagues, and even if they are Christian, many of them have become indifferent to the Catholic faith they once may have treasured. When a Jewish man once met a Samaritan woman at a well in the heat of the day, he dared to break the established tradition. I wonder if we too have the courage to dare to break the established taboo of speaking about faith with those who might rather that we kept silent.
The Bishops challenge us to witness to our faith by being open to an encounter. Like Pope Francis, they are encouraging us to meet people where they are, and to dare to speak with them about what we have seen and heard. Jesus met the woman that day right where she was – in the midst of her daily chores. He didn’t chastise her for who she was, but he entered into conversation with her. Likewise, we too must not be afraid to speak with our colleagues, our neighbours, our friends, at times even with total strangers, to share with them the story of our own faith: the joy we encounter in the words of the gospel, in the words and example of the carpenter from Nazareth who dared to call fishermen to share their stories with others, and the testimony of our own encounter with Jesus, a meeting that has resulted in our choice to follow him as his modern-day disciples.
Our encounters with others should lead us to share with them the gift of friendship. The Samaritan woman was cautious when she first encountered Jesus that day at the well, because she didn't understand the gift that he was offering, but as they continued their conversation, she was drawn to share with him the gift of water from the well, and the gift of her heart, and having encountered Jesus, the woman then went in search of her friends and relatives. She introduced Jesus to them, and encouraged them too to enter into conversation with him. Eventually, many of them also came to believe in him. As we encounter others and risk sharing the story of our own lives with them, the Holy Spirit … compels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of faith with others.
Where are the wells in our lives – the places where we meet people today? Are we ready to accept the invitation that Jesus offers to us, to go out and make disciples of all the nations? Are we willing to tell others about our own story of faith, witnessing to the encounter that we have lived with Jesus? When have we encountered the witness of fraternal life that the Lord promises? … and how is the Lord calling us to witness to him through selfless service to those who are on the peripheries of society?
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