At this 10am Mass today, we celebrate with those preparing to enter our church, our community, in what is called the First Scrutiny. It means that the readings at this Mass are a little different than the readings at the other Masses this weekend.
In the Gospel reading at this Mass, we have a fascinating dialogue between a Samaritan Woman and Jesus. A dialogue that ended with this woman making a radical change in her life. Which for me begs the question – why did this woman make such a radical change? When Jesus encountered the woman, He broke the normal practice of Jews and asked her, a Samaritan, and a woman, for assistance. A conversation follows between the two which seems to have a lot of give and take, as well as some weighty theological questions. In the middle of all this, Jesus told her that He knew she was living with a man outside of marriage, and that she had been married five times before this. He told her that He knew she had been immoral and was continuing her sinful ways.
This caused the woman to change her life. Why? It doesn’t make sense that a Samaritan woman would be so impressed with the accusations of a Jewish man. There must be more to this. The words themselves seem to be accusations, condemnations.
Or are they?
She must have felt that she was being addressed not as an object of scorn by Jews or an object of derision by men in general, but as a person. Jesus’ tone must have conveyed His concern for her. Jesus’ tone must have said to her, My dear woman, my beloved daughter, you can be better than this. He speaks to her heart and her heart turns to Him. You can be better than this.
Do you hear Jesus saying that to you? You can be better than this.
You can be better than the society that surrounds you and seeks fulfillment in material possessions – all the while condemning itself to the meaningless acquisition of stuff.
You can be better than a society that sees life as a commodity to be terminated when it fails to meet my criteria. A society that sees sex merely as a recreational pastime and morality as a trite vestige of the past.
You can be better than being a person who holds on to anger and lets it change how you see others. How you relate with others. How you judge others.
You can be better than you are when you get your priorities messed up and don’t spend the time you need to with your family and your loved ones.
Jesus is saying to you what he said to the Samaritan Woman. You can be better than this. And if you don’t think that you can, then maybe you are selling yourself short. Jesus transformed the woman at the well because He was concerned about her. He wanted her to be the best person she could be. He told her that she could do it. And she heard His message load and clear in the depths of her heart.
Jesus can do the same for you and me as well. We know that Jesus loves us. We know that He cares for each of us individually. We know that He sees the bumps and bruises of our lives – the injuries that we impose upon ourselves and others. He doesn’t condone our sins, be they big or little. He hurts for us. He wants us to be better. And His Love transforms us. His love makes us want to be better than we are. To become all that he created us to be.
This Lent, let’s take time to encounter Jesus at the wells of our life. This Lent, let’s take time to reflect on our behaviour and actions.
This Lent, let’s become more and more a person of joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith that you were created to be.
This Lent, let’s become less and less of a person filled with fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego
This Lent, let’s take time, make time, to reflect on who God created us to be, to discover the beloved daughter or son of God that God created us to be. Take time to discover God’s great dream for us. Take time to hear God say to us, in the warm tender voice of Love, –
“You can be better than this.”