Third Sunday of Lent, 1st Scrutiny: John 4:5-42
Lent as a road construction zone
Dear brothers and sisters, we continue to follow Jesus on the Road to Hope as our Lenten Journey enters its third week. Our reflection question for this week is, “What does it look like to enter that ‘give-and-take’ exchange with Jesus to let Him shine light in the darkness of our hearts?”
Thus far on our Road to Hope, we have been invited to “let God take the driver's seat on our journey” by fasting from those things that could get in the way of God in our lives. Then, as we reflected on the Transfiguration, we were called upon to identify and embrace “specific prayer practices that could help us better listen to Christ.” We heard the voice of the Father saying, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
As we listen to Jesus, he does not talk to us in a one-way communication that leaves us without any opportunity to respond. He is not a broadcaster. Rather, as the Gospel passage of this weekend shows, Jesus invites us into a give-and-take exchange, an ongoing conversation through which he not only makes himself known to us personally but also leads us to deeper self-awareness, to know ourselves better.
Jesus engages us as an intimate companion, one who knows us well, even better than we know ourselves, and can point out rough parts in our lives, in our hearts, that need reconstruction. He not only sees who we are now but also knows our potential; he knows clearly who we can become.
So, brothers and sisters, the Road to Hope with Jesus as our companion is a road of conversion – of reconstructing our hearts. Thus, this week, we are reminded that as we engage in the give-and-take with God, “there will be construction zones.”
Let us for a moment recall a road construction zone … and how we approach it. First, we slow down. Second, we pay attention, close attention to posted traffic signs (stop, yield, detour, slow down, etc.). Thirdly, we respond to the road signs by shifting as needed. That is the kind of exercise we are invited to undertake this week: to slow down, recognize the signs God presents to us, and respond as called upon.
A concrete tool on the Road of Hope that our community is invited to take advantage of this week is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is one of the most powerful tools for our spiritual reconstruction.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation does for us what it did for the Samaritan Woman. She went away from her give-and-take with Jesus transformed, renewed, and filled with the Joy of the Gospel. May it be so for us as we continue on the Road of Hope with Jesus. Amen.