3rd Lent: God of Options

Although we are preparing for Easter, think back to the novel “ A Christmas Story” (seems fitting with the snow). Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, through which he is devastated. His life is revealed to him, the pain caused to him and the pain he caused to others. What can he do? What will he do?

I think we can mostly agree, some of the most powerful prayers that we can pray are those moments in which we are most in need, or at our lowest. Moments when our egos have been deflated, when we see few other options, we have no other place or person to go to. And our words can simply be, “God, help me.”

They can come in moments when someone we love is very sick, dying. Moments in which a dear relationship comes crashing down upon us. Moments in which we have been shown how we have failed; failed as friend, spouse, parent, sibling, priest…

Despite the pain, these can be moments of beauty; moments of transformation. What will we do?

Faith means to trust, to have hope, to believe that God remains at work to provide new ways, different options. The difficult part is to open ourselves to this. We can say we have faith, but do we truly have the faith? Will we be willing to do what we need to do?

The Hebrews had witnessed incredible miracles done by God. The most extraordinary was their escape through the Sea, from slavery, from Pharaoh’s army. They were singing songs that rejoiced in God’s great miracle for them. And now, when they see no water, they grumble; they start to revolt. They fear they will die of thirst; they fear that maybe they have made the wrong decision to leave slavery. Maybe they even fear of misplacing their trust in God? The same God that just did amazing things for them, providing them a future. God shows them more.

God will show them and give them what they need.

A Samaritan woman is in a difficult place too. We are given signs that her life is not easy, being alone in the midday sun, having to get water; no help, no other community there to assist and be with her. We also will find out her relationships are a mess. We do not know what her attitude towards God is, but we know that it is not according to Jewish customs.

Jesus comes into her life.

And in this amazing scene Jesus takes down her defenses, breaks down her misunderstandings, and builds up something new. A deeper awareness of God’s love, and the option for life it can bring. This woman will be transformed.

In our darkest moments, in our own moments in which our lives are turned upside down, in our moments of life when all that we believed is shown to be not wholly correct… as Disciples of Jesus Christ, we can open ourselves, and Trust that God remains present. As disciples we must not despair, but trust that God will show us a way.

God remains and will be present, in that Spirit of love, in the Spirit of Truth and Wisdom. And if we can trust, be humble and accept that there can be different answers to the ones we thought would be true, then we can be lifted up and renewed.

We can be changed so as to live differently, even better.

I have seen relationships come back from the brink, and what seemed unfixable became healed. And yet, some too, when the relationship did fail, some found the capacity to love still and again. I have met with those in recovery from addictions, who have pieced back their lives together again; found that power to live day by day. I have met men and women who lost their spouses; devastated by the grief, and then began to engage in a different life afterwards. Recently a friend of mine who has gone through some traumatic events but was obstinate in that he needed no help, finally made a decision to get help. He is a friend that needs that help, that healing.

And of course, this is all encapsulated in the Resurrection; that utter event of desolation and violence that God turned around. That event in which we are saved and transformed, in which we are shown the power of forgiveness. The resurrection, which we celebrate each mass, and in which we are invited to participate in through Communion. The Sacrament of God’s continued presence in our lives; offered to us for our growth, offered for our trust and strength, offered to us in our moments of need and darkness, giving us new life.

It is that fountain of hope when we see little. That means though we must live it. If we only give superficial attention to our faith, then that is what we will get out of it. The more we enter into faith, the more we contemplate scripture, pray, dig deeper, the more we will be satisfied, the more hope we can experience.

And when those difficult moments come, and they will, we will not be so devastated, nor haunted by our pasts, but rather flexible, hopeful; and then we will rejoice.