Greetings, SBT Readers!

If our Lenten observance is the same today as it was on Ash Wednesday, then we are missing the urgency of the moment. The world is on fire -- and not with the love of God. Rather, violence, tyranny, greed, and the lust for power have brought us to the edge of WWIII. Some prefer not to watch the news; others watch the horrors unfolding but feel detached from events taking place on the other side of the world; still others are numb with shock as each day brings more atrocities and greater loss of life-- the blitzing of Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, for example; or the torpedoing of the IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship that was participating in multi-national peacetime naval exercises as a guest of the Indian navy; or the esclating bombardment of Lebanon...

As I write, a school friend and her family are "sheltering in place" in their home in Beirut, watching from their balcony as rockets and drones strike southern Lebanon, filling the air with an acrid mixture of toxic smoke, pulverized concrete, and burnt metal. Together, they pray The Stations of the Cross, not knowing if evacuation orders will come, or where to flee if they do. Just two weeks ago, another friend gifted me with an icon from an ancient church near his home in Beirut; a surgeon recently returned from visiting his family, he saves lives here while not knowing whether his loved ones will survive from day to day in Lebanon. Other friends have relatives in Tehran and in Doha, Qatar...

Given the escalating scope of this conflict, it is impossible to carry on "as usual." The world is burning, not with a refining fire but with hatred and destruction; as more countries become involved, peace becomes increasingly elusive. History has proven over and over again that the flames of war cannot be extinguished with weapons; the only antidote is prayer-- prayer without ceasing. This calls for a different kind of Lent than the one we may have envisioned three weeks ago.

Lenten Blessings,

Elizabeth

LINK TO SCRIPTURE READINGS

A Samaritan woman came to draw water.

Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman replied, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”

(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).

Jesus answered, “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 woman said, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket, and the cistern is deep. Where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself, along with his children and his flocks?”

Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst. 

The water I shall give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

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

Jn 4:4-42



It is interesting that the Samaritan woman trekked to Jacob's well at the hottest time of day. Perhaps she wanted to avoid the other women and their looks of disdain. As a woman who had been married to five husbands, she was either a notorious social outcast for having outlived them all or because they each chose to divorce her. Then there was her lover to consider, another topic for cruel gossip...

We can assume that the Samaritan woman's life was both hard and lonely. Her very direct conversation with Jesus suggests she was used to speaking her mind, even to men and to a stranger at that -- in fact, there is a rather caustic tone to her comments. She was quick to point out that, for all his talk of living water, Jesus lacked a bucket. "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" she asked, clearly amused by his claims.

Something about Jesus' presence must have disarmed her. Within minutes, she moved from ridicule to active listening; then, when Jesus brought up her relationship history, she began to believe. He was undoubtedly a prophet ... perhaps the Christ... Jesus' self-revelation left such an impression on her that she abandoned her water jar — symbol of oppression — and headed back into the town to proclaim the good news. Amazingly, the townsfolk listened to her, no doubt sensing a profound change in her...

The Samaritan woman is nameless, yet her encounter with Jesus speaks to anyone who feels like a misfit or on the fringes of society. She gives voice to those who "do not belong" or who feel judged because of their lifestyles, personalities, beliefs, or idiosyncrasies. She is clearly a non-conformist, one who is not afraid to voice her opinions or break conventions. But beneath her tough exterior is the desire for something more. Tired of the inconvenience of drought, worn out by back-breaking labor, the blistered hands, the heavy burden, the weary heart, she thirsts for true intimacy -- the intimacy that only God can give.

Jesus sees her for who she is, and because she is seen, she knows love, perhaps for the first time... May we see with the eyes of Christ and may his seeing set us free from all that binds us...

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

• What do you thirst for, and how does God satisfy that thirst?
• What burdens block you from experiencing God's love?
• At what times are you most open to receiving the love of God that has been "poured out into our hearts"?
• How might you learn to see as God sees?