\u00c2\u00a0 February 24, 2008<\/p>\n
Third Sunday of Lent<\/p>\n
Ex 17: 3-7; Rom 5: 1-2, 5-8; Jn 4: 5-42<\/p>\n
Dc. Larry Brockman<\/p>\n
“Shorten the distance between our heads and our hearts”. \u00c2\u00a0That quote from a prayer by Pope John XXIII came to mind as I heard the gospel today.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, there are two kinds of thirsts in this world:\u00c2\u00a0 Horizontal thirsts, and vertical thirsts.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Horizontal thirsts are for the things around us.\u00c2\u00a0 They are driven by our heads.\u00c2\u00a0 You thirst for food, drink, companionship, money, and all the things of this world because your head tells you that you want or need them.\u00c2\u00a0 They are things you need to survive; things that give you pleasure; things that put you in control.\u00c2\u00a0 Implicit in the search for them is your own will.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the exile, the Israelis had food and water, and they had security.\u00c2\u00a0 What they lacked was freedom, the ability to worship their God and to choose their own destiny.\u00c2\u00a0 They saw the need to pursue the second kind of thirsts.\u00c2\u00a0 These are the “vertical thirsts”; the things of the heart, things that truly lift spirits.\u00c2\u00a0 Vertical thirsts are for life’s higher meaning.\u00c2\u00a0 The Israeli’s were slaves, and had no hope for a future.\u00c2\u00a0 They prayed for freedom, for meaning to life; they prayed for salvation from slavery.\u00c2\u00a0 And because they put their trust in the Lord; God answered their call; God delivered them from the Egyptians in the Exodus.\u00c2\u00a0 They followed his commands, and did as he commanded them through Moses.\u00c2\u00a0 But soon after their deliverance they forgot how important God and God’s will was.\u00c2\u00a0 As they traveled through the desert, they craved water, food, and security.\u00c2\u00a0 They held back when God nudged them on their way.\u00c2\u00a0 They hardened their hearts toward the Lord, grumbling against the Lord and Moses.\u00c2\u00a0 They even dreamed to be back in Egypt where they had food and water and security.\u00c2\u00a0 They did not trust in the Lord to provide for them.\u00c2\u00a0 Their priorities became messed up.\u00c2\u00a0 The Israelis had shifted from the Lord’s will as the priority to their own will, the will to be comfortable.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Consider now the woman at the well in the Gospel.\u00c2\u00a0 Most people went to get water from the well early in the morning, before the heat of the day or late in the day, after the hot sun was gone.\u00c2\u00a0 We find this woman going in the middle of the day- perhaps because she wanted to avoid others, and the scandal of her situation.\u00c2\u00a0 She had gone through 5 husbands, and was living with someone else- a sixth man.\u00c2\u00a0 She thirsted for happiness, and tried to find it in companionship.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, clearly, the companionship she chose did not make her happy.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, we find that she is not a happy woman at all.\u00c2\u00a0 From the conversation she had with Jesus, she is anxious for the “living water” that would give her eternal life- still hoping to find the magic worldly solution to happiness.\u00c2\u00a0 Again, her priorities were messed up.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, the worldly solution to happiness is an illusion- the illusion that the longings of our hearts can be satisfied with earthly treasures.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Jesus has another view.\u00c2\u00a0 The things your head tells you you’ve got to have; when these are your primary focus, then your priorities are not straight.\u00c2\u00a0 They are not what will make you happy.\u00c2\u00a0 The things of the heart are what really make you happy.\u00c2\u00a0 These are the spiritual water and food that Jesus speaks about.\u00c2\u00a0 Note that when the disciples returned from the market with food, Jesus tells them that He already has food to eat.\u00c2\u00a0 He tells them that “My food is to do the will of the Father”.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus makes his top priority striving to follow God’s plan in his life knowing that if He does that, God will provide all else.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Likewise, all of you need to follow God’s will for you and not the illusion of worldly happiness.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
And what is that- God’s will for you?\u00c2\u00a0 It is a reflection of God’s attitude towards all of us.\u00c2\u00a0 God loved us by sending His own Son to suffer and die for us.\u00c2\u00a0 As St. Paul says, through that act of love, we have all been justified,\u00c2\u00a0 God loves all of us that much.\u00c2\u00a0 So, God’s will for you is that you love one another, as He loves us.\u00c2\u00a0 That means that you care as much about the needs of the people around you, both spiritual and material, as you do about your own needs.\u00c2\u00a0 You do that by speaking well of others; thinking well of others; and acting on behalf of others in their needs.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lent is that special time of the Church year when you are all called to reflect on life, reflect on your relationship with God, and reflect on your priorities in life.\u00c2\u00a0 Are you buying into the illusion of happiness through the things of the world, through horizontal thirsts motivated by your own will?\u00c2\u00a0 Are things and comforts what is driving you?\u00c2\u00a0 Or is your priority doing God’s will, by spreading your love in your families and relationships with others?\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, are you shortening the distance between your head and your heart?\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0 February 24, 2008 Third Sunday of Lent Ex 17: 3-7; Rom 5: 1-2, 5-8; Jn 4: 5-42 Dc. Larry Brockman “Shorten the distance between our heads and our hearts”. \u00c2\u00a0That quote from a prayer by Pope John XXIII came to mind as I heard the gospel today.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, there are two kinds of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}