Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 27, 2011 - 3rd Sunday of Lent - A
[Exod 17:3-7; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42 or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42]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."
The things we take for granted are often unrecognized. This is especially true if we enjoy the benefits of something that was begun long ago and in which we had no part except to enjoy the continuing benefit of it. Jesus' words to the Samaritan Woman form the theological basis for most of the parish mission preaching that I am doing this Lent: If you knew the gift of God.....
The hand of a master dramatist is evident in this story from today's gospel scripture! The Samaritan Woman is brought step by step to recognize the gift of God which is right in front of her. It is no wonder that this gospel is used in the RCIA process during Lent. Those who participate in that process learn an appreciation of the gift of God - their conversion in faith - in ways that we "cradle Catholics" simply do not experience. At the first mission service, I ask the congregation how many remember their baptism? Very few hands go up. I also ask them what it is that most Catholics do when they enter a church? A good number realize that before they even genuflect, they reach for the Holy Water that is usually in a stand by the door (except in some parishes in Lent). Then they make the "Sign of the Cross" with the words (maybe) "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!" These are the words with which they were baptized in water!! This very habitual gesture is a reaffirmation of our baptism - the gift of God! Since we often see baptism as a past event in our lives instead of a present reality, the connection at that Holy Water font is lost. The gift (if recognized at all) is seen as given when we were babies and the sacramental affirmation we received in Confirmation is also seen as a past event with a bishop! (I even ask from time to time how many remember the name of the bishop who confirmed them?!)
Baptism is - in the trite old saying - the gift that keeps on giving! We are baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and commissioned to preach the gospel far and wide! All other sacraments depend on this one! (We may remember the necessity of getting a "baptismal certificate" in order to receive First Eucharist or Confirmation or Matrimony!) If we see it only as some initiation ritual that gets us into a club, we miss most of its meaning! The "gift of God" is something we bear within us but with the responsibility to live our faith in a way that will "evangelize" the world around us.
That makes many Catholics uncomfortable, but baptism has a "horizontal" dimension as well as a "vertical one." Our relationship to our neighbor becomes an essential part of our faith as well as our relationship to God! An abstract "church" is no church at all! The Body of Christ has skin and bones! The Gift of God requires that we put "skin" on it. The sacraments, as important as they are, are not all there is to being a Catholic Christian. Baptism is the gift that keeps on giving because it is a "present" reality. Wonderful things can happen if only we recognize that gift! AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
93 ms
4
