February
27, 2005
Third Sunday of Lent
Dry
mouth, dry soul
Report
from the Windy City
LI
mentioned last week that I would be traveling to Chicago this week.
It’s my first trip here and I’m visiting a pastor friend
of mine. So far while you had more snow on Long Island, I’ve escaped
the legendary cold, wind and snow Chicago winters are famous for.
Temps in the mid thirties. No wind. A little sun. Compared to Manhattan,
there are only a few blocks of skyscrapers here. The rest of the city
reminds me of Queens -- vast expanses of neighborhoods with row housing
that are broken into ever-changing ethnic neighborhoods. When I ride
the subway it feels like St. Brigid’s - people of every color
and language on a trip together.
Here are some
photos of the trip.
And
I’ll be back this week ahead. Looking forward to seeing you.”
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Past Columns:
February 20: Good to Be
Here
February 13: And he was
hungry?
Ash Wednesday '05
February 6: Ashes Already?
January 23: Catholic Schools
Week
January 16: Continued Charity
January 9: Migration
January 2:All is bright?
December 26:
A Blessed Christmas
December 19: Here comes everybody!
December 12: The Journey Continues
Columns from 2004
Columns from 2003
Columns from 2002
I
recently had a bit of a cold -- you know the kind where you’ve got
a stuffed up nose and find that you’ve breathed through your mouth
through the night? When waking, the first overwhelming sensation is that
of “dry mouth.” Not the most comfortable way to greet the
day. This third Sunday of Lent brings us the story of dryness and thirst
of a deeper kind.
True, the story begins with a thirsty
Jesus who’s seeking some water in the middle of a hot middle-eastern
day. But he soon comes across a woman whose thirsts are deeper. She’s
been through a number of husbands so far in her life -- that means she’s
been “dumped” from their lives. The fact that she’s
getting water in the middle of the day suggests that she’s avoiding
the other women of the town (who would normally get water in the cool
of the morning).
So, she is thirsty for love. Thirsty
for acceptance. Thirsty for something that resembles “normal.”
And she finds this in Jesus who doesn’t judge her. He accepts her
for who she is -- her broken marriages, her differences from his culture
(he’s a Jew, she’s a Samaritan), their differences in faith
-- he accepts it all. She is, after all, a child of God. And he is, after
all, God.
Our thirsts can lead us to turn
inward, just as she did. Our encounter with Jesus can lead us beyond our
thirsts to be connected with others -- just as in today’s gospel.
So perhaps this week it would be good to make a list of what we thirst
for. For a thirsty soul that does not recognize what it’s thirsting
for may seek relief in things or activities that cannot quench the thirst.
Then, bring that list of thirsts to Jesus. See, through prayer, how Jesus
can lead us beyond our dryness into new communion beyond ourselves --
with others and with God.
Receiving the Eucharist is one
excellent way to relieve our thirsts. When we eat the Body of Christ and
drink his Blood, we are then filled with the “Living Water”
who helps us find our soul’s desire.
You are Person
