#45 The Communion Rite Part 5: Communion in the Paschal Mystery of Christ. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

I have already discussed the celebration of the Paschal (Passover) Mystery in the Mass (HERE). But again briefly, Christ calls us to "pass over" from sin and selfishness to a new life of sacrificial, self-giving love. He has made this passover from Death to Resurrection for us and this we call his Paschal (Passover) Mystery. The heart of this Mystery is the Dying and Rising of Christ.
 

"The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life." (Catechism #645)
 

We are immersed in his Paschal Mystery at our Baptism and the pattern of our Christian life is to die to sin and selfishness and rise up to live a life of sacrificial love. (The word "Baptism" means "immerse" or "wash" in the original Greek)
 

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:3-4)
 

Now we are unable by our own power to live the Paschal Mystery. We find it very hard to die to sin and selfishness. But the good news is that living the Dying and Rising of Jesus is not meant to be accomplished on our own. Baptism unites us to Christ and the Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us to live the life of Christ. As the Catechism reassures us:
 

"Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us... We are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as the members of his Body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model:
 

"We must continue to accomplish in ourselves the stages of Jesus' life and his mysteries and often to beg him to perfect and realize them in us and in his whole Church. . . For it is the plan of the Son of God to make us and the whole Church partake in his mysteries and to extend them to and continue them in us and in his whole Church. This is his plan for fulfilling his mysteries in us." (#521)
 

The life of Christ is both a gift and a task given to us. A gift in that Christ lives in us. A task on our part to be continually cooperative with his life in us. Even in this "the Spirit helps us in our weakness." (Romans 8:26)
 

Now it makes sense that when we receive the Crucified and Risen Christ in Holy Communion, we are also receiving his life, his Paschal Mystery within us. As quoted already, the Catechism associates the Paschal Mystery with the liberation of sin and the opening up of a new life. (Catechism #645) In the words of Consecration over the wine, recall that the blood of Christ is "poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins." This is one of the "fruits" of Holy Communion, as taught by the Church:
 

"Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is "given up for us," and the blood we drink 'shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins.' For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins:
 

" ‘For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord. If we proclaim the Lord's death, we proclaim the forgiveness of sins. If, as often as his blood is poured out, it is poured for the forgiveness of sins, I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins. Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy.’(St. Ambrose)" (Catehism#1393)
 

Note: If one is in serious sin, one should go to Confession before receiving Holy Communion." (For more on this go HERE)
 

When we receive Holy Communion, therefore, we can call to mind that we are being put in communion with the Dying and Rising of Christ, his Paschal Mystery, which includes the forgiveness of sin and the beginning of the new life, the Risen life, of Christ in us.
 

Next week: The Communion Rite Part 6: Communion in the Love of God.
 

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#43 The Commuinion Rite Part 3: Communion in the Holy Spirit. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

By receiving Holy Communion we also receive the Holy Spirit along with Christ. We know that it is the Risen Christ that we really receive in Holy Communion in the signs of the Consecrated Bread and Wine. We are not so familiar that we also receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit with Christ. In a beautiful passage from the Catechism we are taught:

 

"When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable." (#689)

 

The Word is the Son of God (see John 1) and the Breath of God here means the Holy Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are always working together. Recall it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Son took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mother to become Jesus the Christ. His very title means "The Anointed One" (in Greek, Christos, in Hebrew Messiah); the One who ‘anoints" him, i.e., consecrates him for his mission is the Holy Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are distinct but they are inseparable. Therefore we receive the Holy Spirit with Christ in Holy Communion.

 

We first received the Holy Spirit in our Baptism. From the Rite of Baptism for Children:

 

"We pray for this child: set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her)."

 

And the grace of the Holy Spirit is increased in us through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

 

 

I like to recall here the teaching of the Gospel of John that the Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, the Helper. The Holy Spirit is "the Best Friend" of the Son and of his Body the Church. As "best friends" are inseparable, so with the Son and the Spirit. (See my entry on this HERE) The Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Advocate, our Counselor, our Comforter, our Defender, our Friend. As St. Paul reminds us, "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us." (Romans 5:5)

 

The Holy Spirit is at work with Christ in the celebration of the Mass.

 

The Catechism teaches that "In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from the ‘communion of the Holy Spirit’ who gathers the children of God into the one Body of Christ." (#1097)

 

Recall that the first act of the Eucharist is to gather together the Body of Christ, the Church. Also in the Eucharistic Prayer (at the Epiclesis) we saw how the Holy Spirit is invoked to come, with the Word of Christ, to transform the Bread and Wine into the true Body and Blood of the Risen Christ, the whole Christ. (See Epiclesis HERE, Catechism #706  HERE)

 

 

Every celebration of the liturgy, especially the Eucharist, is an outpouring (epiclesis) of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, the Mystical and Spirit-filled Body of Christ. (See Catechism #1104 HERE) Yet we become what we receive in the Eucharist by receiving the Spirit-filled Body and Blood of the Risen Christ in Holy Communion. We are given "Spiritual Food," i.e., the Spirit-filled and Consecrated Body and Blood of Christ."

 

Catechism #1392: "What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh ‘given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,’ preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism."

 

Next Week: The Communion Rite Part 4: Communion with the Trinity

 

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#6 Entrance Song, Entrance Procession and Sign of the Cross: Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

Prior to Sunday Mass beginning, a portion of the People of God, the Church, has gathered in the Church building and have prepared themselves in silent prayer. The Mass begins on Sunday with an Entrance Chant (Song).

 

Entrance Song

Anyone who reads the Psalms (which originally were sung in the Jewish Temple’s worship) or other parts of the Old Testament discover that singing was (and is) an integral part of the worship of God by the People of Israel. The early Church continued this practice of vocal singing and later added the instrumental music, as well. As St. Paul exhorted the Ephesian Church: "address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." (Ephesians 5:19) The other religions of the time also used singing and musical instruments. The Church was cautious about instrumental music for some time (because of pagan practices; to this day the Orthodox Church does not use instrumentation in worship); but certainly the worship in heaven, described by the Book of Revelation, involves singing and instrumental music continuously. (For example, there will be the music of harps in heaven as described by Revelation 5:8; 14:1-2; 15:2-3 ).

So on Sunday, we begin with an Entrance Song, sometimes described as a "gathering song," because we are being gathered step by step ever deeper into the Church and her relationship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which regulates the celebration of the Mass, describes this singing in this way:

 

"When the people are gathered, and as the Priest enters with the Deacon and ministers, the Entrance Chant begins. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession of the Priest and ministers." (#47)

 

You may wish to read more about music in the Mass by reading an explanation from our Music Director, Cristina Logn HERE.

 

Procession

This directive also mentions the procession of the Priest and ministers. This is the usual way to begin the Mass, i.e. with the Entrance Procession. Processions were a part of the Jewish Temple worship (again a reference to the worship conducted in the Temple: Catholic liturgy certainly has elements of this Temple worship):

 

"These things I remember,

as I pour out my soul:

how I went with the throng,

and led them in procession to the house of God,

with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,

a multitude keeping festival." (Psalm 42:4)

 

At first the early Church met mostly in large homes. There would be no need for a procession. Eventually, after Christianity became a legal religion of the Roman Empire, the Church grew and worshiped in larger buildings. Then a procession was possible, with various degrees of solemnity. When Christianity came to encompass the majority of the Empire, there were even large processions in the city itself, not just in the Church

 

A Procession signifies a journey from one place to another. In Mass it signifies the journey of Christ with his People, his Body the Church (See my writing on "The Journey of a Lifetime: An Orientation to the Catholic Spiritual Journey," HERE)

 

Another website describes the meaning of the Entrance Procession well:

 

"The entrance procession is not just a means to get to the front of the church and the altar; it has deep theological significance, reminding us all of the fact that the entire people of God are pilgrims – we are a pilgrim people on the road from here (the earth) to eternity (to heaven). The entrance procession symbolized that journey – from the world outside the doors at the back of the church, to our heavenly destination, symbolized by the sanctuary at the front of the church. In that journey, Christ is not only our goal, symbolized by the altar, but He also accompanies us on the way in the person of the priest." (Citation HERE)

 

The People at Mass are processing "in spirit" with their fellow parishioners and Priest who are in the Entrance Procession. Though the ministers may sit in the main seating of the Church building or in the sanctuary, it is highly significant when the Priest and the Deacon (if present) enter the sanctuary, for as quoted above the sanctuary represents heaven and the altar is a central symbol of Christ himself. The Priest and Deacon reverence the altar with a kiss, which is an ancient sign of respect. Later the Gospel will be kissed after it is proclaimed and there is the "Kiss of Peace" which now takes the form of an embrace or a handshake or some other form of exchanging the Sign of Peace before Communion.

Reverencing the altar with a kiss

Sign of the Cross

Once the Priest comes to his chair in the sanctuary, he begins the Mass by making the sign of the Cross and saying "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The people make the sign of the Cross with him. The invocation of the Threefold Name of God is originally a formula of Baptism. Indeed, I mentioned why we sign ourselves with Holy Water when we enter the Church: to remember our own Baptism since it is by that Baptism that we become members of the Church.

 

Sign of the Cross is traced on the Infant's forehead before Baptism

We may recall by this act of Signing with the Cross at the start of Mass that we are to be in Communion with one another in our Communion with the Holy Trinity, what the Catechism says is a sharing in God the Three Persons’ "exchange of love":

 

"But St. John goes even further when he affirms that "God is love"(1 John 4:8,16): God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (CCC#221)

 

So much significance is contained in these three acts of beginning Sunday Mass: the Entrance Song, the Entrance procession, and the Sign of the Cross.

 

Next Week: The Introductory Rites continued.

 

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Do We Really Live the Risen Life?

As I taught last week, we are united to the Risen Christ in our Baptism and so he gives to us his Risen life–even NOW and yet in fullness only after we physically die. He further "reinforces" or "renews" this Risen life in us by giving himself to us in the Eucharist. This gift of both Baptism and Eucharist also gives us the Holy Spirit and the Spirit empowers us to live the Risen life now: a life of transforming, sacrificial love which lasts forever.

Yet when I look at the lives of so many Christians, including my own, there  doesn’t seem to be much evidence that we are living the Risen life; our lives often seem to be like everyone else’s: like one priest observed, "Most people are just trying to make it to Friday." Why is this?

First we need to know that the transforming Risen life within us is not automatic in its effects. If that was the case, every time we received the Risen Christ in  Holy Communion, we would be automatically transformed by the gifts of his love and be like saints. But I have observed some pretty unloving behavior in people right after Communion and in myself sometimes. A picture is worth a thousand words and here’s an illustration of what I mean:

 

The fact of the matter is that God designed it so that we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit in making the Risen Life real in our lives. The Risen life in us now is gift (grace) and it must be both received and lived. We have been given free will to cooperate with God’s work within or, sadly, to resist that same work.

Second, I recently attended a convocation for the priests of our Diocese. The topic was on the well-being of priests. We examined what sustains well-being and resilency in our lives as priests and what are some obstacles to this same well-being.

In the spiritual life in Christ there is a similarity to this matter of psychological well-being. There are certain actions which sustain or nourish the Risen life within us; and there are certain obstacles that work against the Risen life in us.

Also, the spiritual life of Christians includes our bodies and minds. If we neglect our bodies, our spirit suffers; if we neglect our psychological needs, our spirit also suffers. For example, if one doesn’t get enough sleep, prayer will probably be difficult in the morning and that affects one’s spiritual life.

Now, what are some of the actions which sustain and nourish the Risen life in us?

1. Put love first, i.e. the love of God and neighbor as Jesus taught. The Resurrection and love are synonymous.

"Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are ‘dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’ and so participate in the life of the Risen Lord. Following Christ and united with him, Christians can strive to be ‘imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love’..." (Catechism#1694)

2. Learn about the meaning of the Eucharist, and attend faithfully the Sunday Mass, including receiving Holy Communion.

"The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action." (Catechism#1409)

"What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh "given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit," preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism." (Catechism#1392)

3. Read and reflect upon the Scriptures and supplement with other Catholic spiritual reading.

"‘And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life.’ Hence ‘access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful.’" (Catechism#131)

"The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to [Christians], recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection." (Catechism#737)

4. Pray. If our spiritual life centers upon our love for God first, then we will naturally want to communicate with the One whom we love. There are two "wings" of prayer, so to speak, the public prayer of the Church (such as at Mass) and our more private times of prayer, which must be daily.

"In prayer the Holy Spirit unites us to the person of the only Son, in his glorified [i.e., Risen] humanity..." (Catechism#2673)

5. Companionship in the Church. Fellowship with other Catholics is expected of us and helps nurture our spiritual life in the Risen Christ.

"Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us. From now on, he is called to be subject to others, to serve them in the communion of the Church...Just as Baptism is the source of responsibilities and duties, the baptized person also enjoys rights within the Church: to receive the sacraments, to be nourished with the Word of God and to be sustained by the other spiritual helps of the Church." (Catechism#1269)

The Obstacles to the Risen life within us

We merely need to do the opposite of what sustains and nourishes the Risen life of Christ within us as listed above.

1. Sin. Sin is the refusal to love as God created us to love and as Jesus has commanded us: "Love one another as I have loved you." Serious sin can lead to the death of soul and so is also called mortal sin.

2. Not attending the Sunday Mass can probably lead to spiritual anemia faster than anything else.

3. Ignorance of Scripture. We deprive ourselves of great spiritual nourishment when we don’t read the Scriptures regularly. St. Jerome said, "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."

4. Not praying daily and regularly. Any relationship that doesn’t involve regular communication does not grow and is in danger of becoming distance.

5. Not staying in contact with the Church. If we are not in good company, what influences are we exposing ourselves to instead? The Church fathers expressed a truth: "You can’t have Chrsit without his Body the Church."

 

 

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A Scripture Commentary on the Gospel of the Fifth Sunday of Lent [A]

 

John 11:1-45: Lazarus is Brought Back to Life

This passage from John 11 completes the triptych of the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th Sundays of Lent using the Gospel of John for Baptismal instruction. The other two Sundays mentioned the Woman at the Well and Jesus offering her living water (John 4); and a Blind Man who is healed by washing in the Pool of water called Siloam (John 9). Their references to water evoke Baptism. This Sunday’s Gospel about Lazarus mentions no water but it does mention death and life, realities connected with Baptism (See Romans 6) and the Paschal Mystery: the Dying and Rising of Christ.

"By baptism all are plunged into the paschal mystery of Christ: they die with him, are buried with him, and rise with him." (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 6)

 

The First Reading from Ezekiel sets the stage for the miracle Jesus will perform:

 

"You shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and make you come up out of them, my people!" (Ezekiel 37:13)

 

Also the Second Reading proclaims to us who received the Holy Spirit at "Baptism:

 

"If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit dwelling in you." (Romans 8:11)

The Church sees the Reading from John 11 about Lazarus to be a prefiguring of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection and subsequently ours. In fact, Jesus says in this passage that he is the Resurrection. We must take note, however, that Lazarus does not experience the physical Resurrection in this miracle; rather he is physically resuscitated and brought back to mortal life. In the Resurrection our physical state will become immortal and transformed into a new creation:

"Christ's Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had performed before Easter: Jairus' daughter, the young man of Naim, Lazarus. These actions were miraculous events, but the persons miraculously raised returned by Jesus' power to ordinary earthly life. At some particular moment they would die again. Christ's Resurrection is essentially different. In his risen body he passes from the state of death to another life beyond time and space. At Jesus' Resurrection his body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: he shares the divine life in his glorious state, so that St. Paul can say that Christ is ‘the man of heaven’." (Catechism# 646)

The point of this story about Lazarus does emphasize, however, that Jesus as the Son of God has power over death. As the Paschal Mystery promises, death is not the end of our passage through life.

 

"Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, a the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill." (John 11:1-2)

Right from the beginning this story alludes to the Death of Jesus by mentioning Mary of Bethany and her anointing of his feet. This anointing and her drying of Jesus’s feet is described in John 12. Jesus interprets Mary’s anointing as a preparation for his death and burial (See John 12:7).

 

 

Since Lazarus also dies in the story of John 11, the death of Jesus is connected with every person’s death.

So the sisters sent word to him, saying, ‘Master, the one you love is ill.’ When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’" (John 11:3-4)

There is foreshadowing here: the illness of Lazarus is not to end in death–even though Lazarus does die, Jesus brings him back to life. This will be for the glory of God. St. Irenaeus said, "The glory of God is the human person fully alive."

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was." (John 11:5-6)

The Gospel of John gives several windows into the humanity of Jesus as well as his divinity. Jesus had friendships when he dwelt among us. He loved the particular people named here: Lazarus and his two sisters. This might also be an allusion to a later passage and saying of Jesus: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13)

Something, however, doesn’t sound correct in this passage where love is mentioned and yet Jesus remains two days more where he was while his friend is ill. Jesus knows that he will revive Lazarus and so Jesus had to wait for Lazarus to die. It could also be teaching us that God’s timing is not always our timing and this can cause us to complain as Martha and Mary will do in this story.

Also, sometimes in our illness or the illness of others, it may seem that Jesus is absent. But Jesus will come.

"Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.’

 

"He said this, and then told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.’ So the disciples said to him, ‘Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.’ But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, ‘Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.’

 

"So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go to die with him.’" (John 11:7-16)

The Gospel of John uses Light images a great deal. Last Sunday Jesus had described himself as the Light of the world. (See John 9:5) He also spoke about doing the works of God while it is day:

"We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:4-5)

Jesus keeps mentioning a "night." Compare this to the beginning of his Passion when Judas betrays him. Jesus tells the disciples at his last Supper that he would be betrayed. He gives Judas a part of the meal and tells him to go and do what he intended. Then somberly the Gospel says:

"So [Judas] took the morsel and left at once. And it was night." (John 13:30)

May we who partake of the Lord’s Supper never betray him!

Death and darkness are connected; but there will be a new Day, a Day of everlasting light: the Resurrection.

Some say Thomas is showing his loyalty to Jesus by exhorting the other disciples to also go and die for Christ. I don’t see it this way. It sounds more like Thomas is being ironic. But perhaps unaware, Thomas actually is stating a rule of discipleship, i.e. a requirement for following Jesus: "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 44)

With the help of Christ and the Holy Spirit, we must die, i.e. put to death sin and selfishness in order to live the new life of Christ, the beginning of the Risen life. This is part of living the Paschal Mystery.

 

 

"When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days." (John 11:17)

According to Jewish culture at the time of Jesus, it was believed that the soul hovered near the body for three days after death, but after that time there was no hope of resuscitation and decay would begin. (According to the Anchor Bible: Gospel According to John, 424)

"Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

 

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.’" (John 11:18-22)

Martha voices a complaint that many make in suffering: "Where is God in this suffering? Why didn’t Jesus do something?" If we are to grow in spiritual maturity we must wrestle not with God’s Presence but with God’s seeming Absence at times. A ministry student, Damon Garcia writes:

　

"Even though the void in our soul may be painful, Christianity widens the void and digs it deeper as we thirst and hunger for a God we seek to know, but cannot ever fully grasp. We seek the infinite knowledge of this God’s character, that his presence and absence breaks open. We seek for this void to be filled that may not ever be entirely filled. Even when God fills the void he also widens it the more we desire God. As the psalmist writes, ‘Deep calls out to deep.’ His presence brings wonders, but the feeling of his absence opens us up for that wondrous presence."

(www.whoisdamon.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-absence-of-god-part-1)

We might wonder what exactly Martha meant by saying "[But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." If Martha’s brother is dead, what more can there be in this life? Someone like St. Augustine, however, sees this as perfect faith on Martha’s part. In other words, it is as if she is saying, "If you had been here this tragedy would not have happened, but I still believe in you, Jesus."

"Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise." Martha said to him, ‘I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.’

 

Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

 

She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.’" (John 11:23-27)

Jesus speaks of the Resurrection: that he is the Resurrection. "Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: ‘I am the Resurrection and the life.’" (Catechism #994) If we are united to Christ, then we are already participating spiritually in the Resurrection. This will culminate in a physical Resurrection after we die, called "The Last Day." St. Augustine taught that there is this two-fold Resurrection, of the soul and of the body:

 

"See how here He delineates that twofold resurrection. "He that cometh unto me" immediately rises again, being made humble in my members; but I will raise him up again on the last day also according to the flesh." (Homilies on John, XXV, Ch. 6:15-44)

 

St. Augustine is also correct when he said Martha has "perfect" Christian faith: Here she makes the same confession as St. Peter in the Gospel of Matthew (see Matthew 16:16 ): "You are the Messiah, the Son of God."

"When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, ‘The teacher is here and is asking for you.

 

As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

 

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’" (John 11:28)

Mary of Bethany sits at Jesus' feet

Such a beautiful invitation is made to Mary of Bethany: "The Teacher is here and asking for you." Sometimes Jesus comes to where we are, as he did to the Blind man in last Sunday’s Gospel. Sometimes we seek him and we can seek him because he has called us to do so. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Mary has the same complaint as her sister, Martha: basically, "Where were you?" However, like her sister, she is still depicted as a disciple who believes, for she falls at the feet of Jesus. She is depicted in a similar way in the Gospel of Luke 10:39: "Mary sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak." Students sat at the feet of their teachers and we still use that phrase today.

 

Obviously we can question and even complain to God in prayer and still believe. Prayer is real when we are real in our communication with God.

 

"When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Sir, come and see.’

 

"And Jesus wept.

 

"So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him.’ But some of them said, ‘Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?’" (John 11:33-37)

Jesus is deeply distressed at the grief of his friends and at the way death seems to rob us of our loved ones. With those who have died, we must also deal with their presence and absence–mostly their absence. Jesus shows that he truly shares our humanity as he weeps at the grave. But did he not already know that he would perform a miracle for Lazarus? Yes, but he can still grieve at the devastation death brings.

Jesus is also criticized; it probably shouldn’t surprise us when we are criticized!

"So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’

"Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, ‘Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone.

"And Jesus raised his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.’" (John 11:38-42)

The tomb with a large stone blocking the entrance might remind us that Jesus was buried in a similar tomb from which he would rise from the dead: "But at daybreak on the first day of the week they [some women] took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus." (Luke 24:1-3)

Martha reminds Jesus that the body had been in the tomb for four days and decay had set in with its stench. This detail reinforces once again that Lazarus is really dead. Jesus reminds Martha to trust him and take him at his word: "If you believe you will see the glory of God." Then Jesus prays. He is perfectly in line with God’s will, but he prays to give us an example. He is also concerned to generate belief in others. This was the goal author of the Gospel of John also:

"Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."  (John 20:30-31)

 

"And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth.

"So Jesus said to them, ‘Untie him and let him go.’

"Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him." (John 11:43-45)

 

 

 

Jesus calling out in a load voice fulfills what he had said earlier in the Gospel, John 5:28-29a: "The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out..."

 

The command of Jesus indicates an additional ministry to Lazarus now brought back to life: the burial clothes which bind Lazarus (similar to that of a mummy) must be removed, so that he can be free.

"St. Augustine gave a beautiful analogy comparing Lazarus coming alive out of the dark tomb to the repentant believer through confession who ‘comes forth’ from the darkness of sin and into the light of grace: ‘For what does come forth mean if not emerging from what is hidden, to be made manifest. But for you to confess is God's doing; he calls you with an urgent voice by an extraordinary grace. And just as the dead man came out still bound, so you go to confession still guilty. In order that his sins be loosed, the Lord said this to his ministers: ‘Unbind him and let him go’ [Recall what Jesus said to his Apostles:] What you will loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven. [that is, what sins you forgive will be forgiven; see Matthew 18:18]’ St. Augustine: The Gospel of John 49.24" (From Agape Bible Study)

For a good explanation of this correspondence of "being untied" and Confession see "The Confession of Lazarus," by Fr. Paul Scalia HERE.

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A Scripture Commentary on the Fourth Sunday of Lent [A]

John 9:1-41 The Healing of the Man Born Blind

The Gospel story this Sunday was used in the early Church as an instruction on Baptism and an example of progressive conversion. A washing in water (cf. Baptism) is described and a healing of vision comes from that washing. One of the names of Baptism in the early Church was photismos, Greek for "enlightenment."

The First Reading from 1 Samuel 16 is related to this Gospel by contrasting how humans see (by outward appearances; we might say, by externals) and how God sees (the inward heart, a spiritual vision). The Second Reading exhorts us to "live as children of the light." (Ephesians 5:8) Jesus calls himself "the Light of the world" in the Gospel (John 9:5)

While this story involves a healing of the Man born blind, the great majority of the narrative involves the Man’s conflict with the Pharisees and their persecution of him because Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath (violating the prohibition of work on the Sabbath). Rather than discourage the Man, this conflict and persecution only makes his faith stronger. This is an encouraging story for any Christian going through trial and persecution.

As he [Jesus] passed by he saw a man blind from birth." (John 9:1)

In the Old Testament the phrase "passing by" is used to mark the onset of God revealing himself and his salvation. For example, in Exodus 33:19, God reveals himself to Moses: "And the Lord said, ‘I shall pass before you and proclaim my Name to you.’"

John is using traditional religious language to indicate that Jesus is going to reveal God’s salvation in this blind man’s life. Also note that Jesus sees the Blind Man who cannot see. Compare to Hagar in Genesis 16:3: "She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’" The blind man could have said this, as well, after his healing.

This Man, like the Woman at the well, is not named and so could be any man (or any woman).

"His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’"

(John 9:2-5)

Most Jewish thought at the time saw physical suffering and disabilities as the result of sin. The sin of one’s parents could result in their children suffering (which is a reasonable proposition, not because God passes on the punishment but because what parents do can affect their children). The disciples pose the only two possibilities they can think of regarding the situation of the Man born blind: either his parents sinned or he sinned. That the Man sinned before birth is absurd, but the disciples seem to be asking is that possible?

Jesus answers that neither the Man nor his parents sinned, thus teaching us that suffering and disability is not automatically the result of sin, though Jesus does not rule this out in other situations.

The second part of Jesus’ answer, as given in this Bible translation is problematic. In most translations of John, such as this one of the New American Standard version (NAB; used for the U.S. Catholic Lectionary), it seems to be teaching that God had this Man born blind so that (in order that) Jesus could manifest the works of God in him. It seems cruel that God would do such a thing to an innocent person (Jesus said he was so), to make him suffer blindness all those years, only to do a miracle in his life later.

We need to spend some time on this important issue.

 

Sample of Greek New Testament (No punctuation)

 

For those who study the Bible, it should be noted that the Greek New Testament text does not have punctuation. Punctuation in English is very important. Again, the NAB version reads:

"His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’

Jesus answered, ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day.’"

But the Greek didn’t have a semi-colon or periods. So with a slight variation of punctuation we could read:

"His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’
Jesus answered, ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned.
But, so that the works of God might be made visible through him,
we have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day.’"

That word "But" is indicated in the original Greek.

This passage is a good example of how important the translation of the Greek text of the New Testament is, and how a literal translation is not always the best translation. In this case, linguist Iver Lasen notes:

"It is difficult to handle this construction in a literal translation, so most English versions are more or less misleading or at best obscure. The Contemporary English Version (CEV) has made the meaning clear, because its translation philosophy allows for a less obscure rendering of the intended meaning: [It translates 9:3 thus:] "But because of his blindness, you will see God work a miracle for him."

In other words, God doesn’t cause the blindness so that God may do a miracle. It is because of the occasion of blindness, and Jesus present, that a miracle will be done.

In a unique translation of the New Testament called The Message, that is more a paraphrasing of the original Greek, its translator Eugene Peterson sought "to bring into English the rhythms and idioms of the original ancient Greek—writing straight out of the Greek text without looking at other English translations." (See a description of this version HERE). See, then, how he translates 9:3:

 

"Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do."

"When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and he said to him, ‘Go wash in the Pool of Siloam (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and he came back able to see." (John 9:6-7)

There are various speculations as to why Jesus used spit in performing this healing miracle. It could be because in that day spit was thought in some cases as medicinal. There could be a deeper symbolic meaning. We can note here that this use conforms to the "sacramental principle" where an earthly reality is used to convey God’s salvation.

It is possible that Jesus’ use of clay was meant to parallel God’s original creation of humankind: "The LORD God formed the man from the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7). Jesus will make of each of us a new creation through Baptism. (See Romans 6:4; also 2 Corinthians 5:17: "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!")

Jesus had said that he must do the works of the One who sent him. Then he sends this blind nan to wash in the Pool of Siloam which means "Sent." Through Baptism we share in Christ’s mission (from Latin, "to be sent") of bringing salvation to others.

Artist's Rendition of the Pool of Siloam

The Pool of Siloam was also used in Jesus’ time for ritual purification by Jewish pilgrims to the Temple. They needed to purify themselves before participating in the Temple worship. Compare this to Baptism: "Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship." (Catechism#1273) Indeed, at the end of this story the healed Man worships Christ. (John 9:38)

"His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, ‘Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘It is,’ but others said, ‘No, he just looks like him.’ He said, ‘I am [he].’ So they said to him, ‘[So] how were your eyes opened?’ He replied, ‘The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, "Go to Siloam and wash." So I went there and washed and was able to see.’ And they said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’" (John 9:8-12)

We will see the progression of this Man’s faith. He first only knows that Jesus, "the man," healed him. This Man born blind was obedient to Jesus and he was healed. He needs, however, deeper spiritual vision, as we will see.

"They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a Sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, ‘He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.’

 

So some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.’ [But] others said, ‘How can a sinful man do such signs?’ And there was a division among them.  So they said to the blind man again, ‘What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’" (John 9:13-18)

The religious experts (the Pharisees) were called in; why? The act of Jesus making the clay salve was seen as an act of work on the Sabbath, when no work was permitted. Such an act is sinful in their expanded religious system, though Jesus is never actually charged with law-breaking in this story. It is ironic that the Pharisees disregard the wonder and joy that this Man born blind now could see. Jesus on several occasions chastised the Pharisees for putting their Sabbath rules above human need and liberation. (See Mark 2:23-28)

Notice that under questioning, the Man begins to realize and confess that Jesus must be a prophet, not just any ordinary man. The world will ask us for a reason for the work of jesus in our lives. This Man becomes "a witness."

 

 

 

"Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?’

 

"His parents answered and said, ‘We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for him self.’ His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, ‘He is of age; question him.’" (John 9:19-23)

This interrogation of the Man’s parents may make an important point that they knew their son, of course, but they were afraid to say how he was healed (implying they knew). The Christian audience may have been challenged to not act like these parents when persecuted.

"So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, ‘Give God the praise!’ We know that this man is a sinner.’ He replied, ‘If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.’ So they said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’

"He answered them, ‘I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?’ They ridiculed him and said, ‘You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses!" (John 9: 24-28)

The Pharisees begin to ridicule the Man. They are religious elitists, respected and admired by the people. This Man cannot say whether Jesus is a sinner or not at this point, but he has his experience which cannot be contradicted. And as he persists he is called " a disciple of Jesus."

"[The Pharisees said,] ‘We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.’ The man answered and said to them, ‘This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.’ They answered and said to him, ‘You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?’ Then they threw him out." (John 9:29-34)

The Man in the fire of being questioned and persecuted comes to realize that Jesus cannot be a sinner (remember, he wasn’t sure earlier), but is from God. The questioning and rejection of the Pharisees only highlight that they really don’t know how God is at work in Jesus and that they are spiritually blind.

The reference of being put out of the synagogue may refer to what had happened by the time the author wrote the Gospel according to John: Christians had been excommunicated from Judaism around 85AD.

"When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered and said, ‘Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘I do believe, Lord,’ and he worshiped him." (John 9:35-38)

This is the second time Jesus comes to the Man. He comes to the Christian in time of trial and persecution and rejection.

The Man also comes to the fullness of faith regarding Jesus: Jesus is God and he worships him. Compare this to Thomas after the Resurrection:

"Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’" (John 20:27-29)

 

Belief can be the highest manner of sight, greater than those who saw Jesus on earth and believed. Notice how the Pharisees have seen Jesus but lack the insight of belief, i.e. faith. Thus Jesus concludes:

"Then Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.’Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not also blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, "We see," so your sin remains.’"(John 9:39-41)

In this case sin leads not to physical blindness, as Jesus refuted in verse 2, but rather to a spiritual blindness.

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A Scriptural Commentary on the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent [A]

John 4:5-42 Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

By Il Guercino 17th Century

Since at least the fourth or fifth century, the Gospel Readings for the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent have been taken from the Gospel of John: Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, from John 4; Jesus and the Man Born Blind, from John 9; and Jesus and the Raising of Lazarus, from John 11. These Gospels were and are used to prepare the Catechumens for baptism at the Easter Vigil and also prepare the already Baptized to renew their Baptism at Easter. Water imagery is used in both John 4 and John 9.

 

"Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, 
near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there,
and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.
It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water,
Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’

(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)" (John 4:5-8)

It is intriguing that the Gospel of John records that Jesus had to go through Samaria. The fact of the matter is that his journey could have been made avoiding Samaria. There had been centuries of political, racial and religious separation between the Jews and the Samaritans (Samaria was a region of ancient Palestine). So Jews did avoid Samaria, "like a bad neighborhood," and considered Samaritans to be unclean and not a part of God’s people, i.e. the Jews.

 

That Jesus felt that he had to go through Samaria indicates that there was something important, or in this case someone important, that he needed to attend. It had to be this Samaritan Woman.

 

Jacob and Rachel at the Well
by William Dyce

Second, the details that Jesus is at this well, Jacob’s well, is significant. John’s Jewish readers would expect to then hear a love story, for a man at a well and a woman who came to draw water was the scene for several Old Testament encounters that resulted in marriage: Isaac (represented by his father’s emissary) and Rebekah, at the well (Genesis 24) , Jacob and Rachel his future wife at the very well Jesus is at in this story (Genesis 29), and Moses and Zipporah his future wife at the well (Exodus 2).

 

It would be like our hearing that there was this sleeping princess who could only be awakened by a kiss. We would expect a handsome prince to come along and kiss her and then they would live happily ever after. The man-at-well-and woman-there-to-draw-water would set up certain expectations of the readers for a future marriage in the making.

 

One final note: near Sychar was the town of Schechem. Here, Joshua renewed the Covenant which God had made with his People in the desert. The name "Jesus" is a variant of the name "Joshua." This "new Joshua," i.e. Jesus, comes to bring a New Covenant. The relationship that is used to illustrate a covenant is very often marriage:

 

"And in that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘my husband’....
And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me
in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord" (Hos 2:16, 19-20).

"The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.
How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink,
you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.
Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?’

Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life.’"   (John 4: 9-14)

I have already mentioned the animosity between Jews and Samaritans. There was also the convention that a righteous Jew, especially a Teacher, would not address a woman in public: that would be unrespectable. Obviously, Jesus puts aside these barriers to relationship in order to be able to interact with this woman. This type of unconventual behavior often got Jesus into trouble. A complaint made often about him was that he ate with tax collectors and sinners. (See Mark 2:13-17, for example)

 

Jesus has revealed that he is thirsty by asking for a drink. The Woman is surprised by this and doesn’t immediately give him a drink. Jesus further draws her into this encounter by offering her "living waters."

 

We know that this is not just a literal discussion about water–though the Samaritan Woman thinks so. The Gospel of John constantly operates at two levels: the literal and the symbolic. Jesus is talking at the symbolic level about "living water." Of course, this could be literal water, "water of life," for water is essential to our life and like all gifts is a gift from God above.

 

Jesus, is speaking of a spiritual gift, a spiritually life-giving water. He is the one who gives the gift. Elsewhere in John the "living water" refers to the Holy Spirit (See John 7:37-39). The Holy Spirit is not something but someone, a Person. When Jesus gives the Spirit, he also gives himself. And where there is given the Son and the Spirit there is given God the Father.

 

So Jesus is offering this Woman himself–just as one would expect in a love-story. However, he is not giving himself to her in a sexual way, but rather as Spiritual Lover, i.e. Lover in the Spirit.

 

Psalm 42:1-2 "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? "

"The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty
and have to keep coming here to draw water.’
He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband.
The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.
What you have just said is quite true.’" (John 4:15-18)

The Woman still doesn’t understand what Jesus is talking about regarding living waters (why should she at this point?) Perhaps Jesus senses that he must go in another direction to get the Woman to understand (he did say, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.")

 

So Jesus speaks to this Woman about her husband. Some commentators observe how this conversation with this Woman sounds like a man trying to "pick up" a woman, if we didn’t know that this is Jesus who has a different agenda. If a man says to a woman he doesn’t know "what does your husband do?" he could be fishing to see if that woman has a husband without coming right out and asking it.

 

Jesus says to the Woman, "Go call your husband." She says, "I have no husband." The Woman has stayed with Jesus long enough to reveal this truth about herself. In our journey with Jesus this can be important information: we come to know Jesus personally a step at a time usually. A relationship where we trust him must come about. We see here that the Woman begins by knowing Jesus only by externals: as a Jew and as a man; she comes at this next stage to see that he is a prophet.

 

But what is the significance about 5 husbands and the one she is living with who is not her husband? Is this a case again of John’s two levels of meaning: literal and symbolic? John Shea notes: "As water imagery was used [in this story] to symbolize spiritual life in the first part of the conversation, marriage imagery will be used to symbolize spiritual life in the second part." (On Earth As It Is In Heaven, p.120)

 

In fact, the matter of the 5 husbands and the one who is not her husband is barely mentioned and next a discussion ensues about worship. Some say the 5 husbands represent the 5 pagan gods worshiped by Samarians in their past. Yet by Jesus day, Samaritans were strict monotheists. On the other hand, if Jesus is actually pinpointing the woman’s marital history, it would have been a story of rejection of the Woman by five men (only men could divorce in that society) and the unwillingness of the sixth man to commit to this "broken woman." If that was the case, Jesus is opening her to her own need for true love "in the desert of her life"which would be found in the living water of Christ.

 

The Woman comes to see Jesus as a prophet and the story continues; now she is going into the spiritual level Jesus wants her to be at.

 

"[The Woman said,] ‘ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,
but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’
Jesus declared, ‘Believe me, woman, a time is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans worship what you do not know;
we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit,
and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.’ 

The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming.
When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ 
Then Jesus declared, ‘I who speak to you am he.’" (John 4:20-26)

Finally, with this discussion of true worship which is the expression of God’s People to their Covenant Relationship, the woman receives direction for her life and the invitation to enter into the relationship Jesus will establish with those chosen: He will be the Bridegroom and the Church will be his Bride. (See Ephesians 5:25-27) This Bride will not just be Jews nor will it only be righteous people who are eligible to be members; instead, all invited–even Samaritans!–and people broken and rejected are more than welcome to have this personal relationship with Christ and his Church. Entry into this relationship is by Baptism, and the use of this story of water and marriage imagery makes it a perfect story to speak about Baptism and the relationship it brings.

The Woman is brought into the revealed identity of Jesus: he is the Messiah.

The next section of this story is like a "Part 2" and it is permissible to omit it as we will do at Holy Faith this Sunday. It is John 4:27-38. It deals with food. The nourishment of Jesus comes when he can bring others into God’s love. Jesus both hungers and thirsts to have this love relationship with us.

 

We will include verse 28-31:
" Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town
and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.
Could this be the Christ?’
They came out of the town and made their way toward him."

The Woman leaves her heavy water jar behind, perhaps representing laying down her burdens at the feet of Christ. It is also reminiscent of the disciples who left their nets to follow him and become "fishers of men," i.e. evangelists (See Matthew 4:18-22) . This Woman goes to share her new-found knowledge and relationship with her townspeople, the very ones who probably shunned her before.

 

 

"Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’
So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them,
and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. 
They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said;
now we have heard for ourselves, and we know
that this man really is the Savior of the world.’"  (John 4:39-42)

The identity of Jesus is further revealed: He is the Savior of the world. This knowledge on the part of the townspeople began with listening to the testimony of the Woman, but became personal as they came to know Jesus themselves: "now we have heard for ourselves."

 

This story gives us many insights into the depths of love Jesus wants to bring us into, so that we might not thirst and die but have his life-giving waters. We come to know him gradually as did this Woman. And he comes to where we are at, to speak to our hearts.

 

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