Week Two No. 1
Grace: My Lord Jesus I beg for the grace to accept my life, my world and to trust that God is continually creating me in all of these concrete particulars.
Scriptural Passages:Matthew 1:1-17 Jesus’ family genealogy
Jeremiah 18:1-6 God shapes me as a potter shapes a pot
John 4:5-26 For the first time, Jesus announces who he is
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria 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 said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "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 to him, "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 with his children and his flocks?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you" (Jn 4: 5-26).
Points for Reflection:
Jesus of Nazareth found himself a member of a captive nation. He grew up in a culture tightly circumscribed by its religion, and in a region known for religious fervor (even fanaticism). He was an ordinary worker, living from hand to mouth as laborers did and do. He was invited to say “Yes” to his life, his self, and his world, and to trust that God was creating him in all of these concrete particulars.
He had to decide, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, that God loves you as you are. Not as you might be, or could be, or even should be. But, as you are. He wholeheartedly accepted God’s acceptance of him. Because of this, he could accept people whom others despised: beggars, prostitutes, lepers. He looked upon them kindly. How you feel about such people tells a lot about how you feel about yourself and your Creator.
Like Jesus, you have to face your real self, life history, and life world. You are invited to say “Yes” to all of it. When you do, you are accepting God’s acceptance of you. “You are precious in my eyes, and I love you” (Is. 43:4).
Through faith, you know that your real self has been anointed b the Spirit, as Jesus’ was. Jesus was baptized at the Jordan and the voice of God anointed him: “This is my beloved.” You were anointed, too, at your baptism, and elected by God from eternity to say “Yes” to Jesus Christ as your own redeemer.
The faith that teaches us that God forms each human person at the point of conception, creating this unique life directly and in person. Your parents wanted a child (or at most, a girl or a boy). God wanted, and got, you.
PRAYER: God of my hopes, you weave tiny atoms and mighty forces, you draw out all times and fix every place, you shape my life, my history, and my self. I am astounded, Lord, and can hardly think how surpassingly great you are, beyond my imagining. You are still making a million galaxies, and yet, Lord of hope, you wove me together in my mother’s womb, you have attended to me every instant of my life, you have cherished me in all I have done, and you mean to cherish me forever and ever. All my trust is in you. Amen.
Source: Joseph Tetlow, S.J. (1989). Choosing Christ in the World. Saint Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources.
Week Two No. 1
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria 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 said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "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 to him, "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 with his children and his flocks?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you" (Jn 4: 5-26).
Jesus of Nazareth found himself a member of a captive nation. He grew up in a culture tightly circumscribed by its religion, and in a region known for religious fervor (even fanaticism). He was an ordinary worker, living from hand to mouth as laborers did and do. He was invited to say “Yes” to his life, his self, and his world, and to trust that God was creating him in all of these concrete particulars.
