MARCH 18-19, 2017
4:30 PM (SAT), 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
According to a longstanding Christian tradition, Sacred Scripture can be interpreted in two particular ways. These two are called the literal and spiritual senses of Scripture.
Looking at our three readings today literally, we get that at some point during the 40 year Exodus in the desert, the people of Israel complained about not having water, Moses prayed, God answered, Moses struck a rock, and water came out of it.
The same can be said about the Gospel. Jesus took a shortcut through Samaria, met a woman, had a “he said, she said” conversation about religion, proceeded to exceed her expectations, and converted a whole Samaritan town; all while His disciples were out grocery shopping.
And finally, St. Paul wrote a letter.
The literal sense doesn’t always give us much to look at, and certainly doesn’t make for much of a homily.
The spiritual sense, however can be broken down further into three divisions.
(1) the allegorical - which are the signs that point to God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, (2) the moral - which tell us how we should or should not act in our daily lives, and finally (3) the anagogical - which are the signs that point us to eternity.
These are the interesting aspects of Scripture. Where the rubber hits the road. And where, if we dig a little deeper, we get spiritual treasure.
In the reading from Exodus, the Israelites are complaining that they don’t have any water. OK. They’re in the desert, and they’re thirsty. Sounds logical. But realize that they’ve already witnessed the Plagues in Egypt, crossed the Red Sea on dry land, seen God defeat the entire Egyptian army, and have been eating Manna and Quail that God sends them daily. Can anyone think of a better option besides complaining?
It’s not like they haven’t been on the receiving end of some pretty awesome miracles. But, nonetheless, here they go again. Maybe it’s just human nature to complain.
In his 1st Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul points out a striking allegory: the crossing of the Red Sea foreshadowed Baptism, the Manna and Quail foreshadowed the Eucharist, and the Rock – which he tells us, not only poured forth water, but followed them around the desert – symbolized Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
He goes even deeper into moral and anagogical senses, but you can look that up – if you want – it’s 1st Corinthians Chapter 10.
The real beauty in this week’s readings is the Gospel from St. John, Chapter 4: Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. It’s long. Even the short version is long.
I’m sure that we all have some sort idea that the Jews and Samaritans were not friends. Jesus is called a Samaritan by the Scribes and Pharisees; and it’s not a compliment. Jesus, in turn, returns the favor with the Parable of the Good Samaritan – where the Priest and Levite walk right by their own countryman on the side of the road, leaving him there to die, but a Samaritan goes out of his way – and in fact, he goes WAY out of his way – to help not just a stranger, but an enemy.
The division between Jews and Samaritans springs out of what we might call religious purity. Way back, during those various conquests, occupations, and captivities of Israel, the Assyrians purposely settled the area of Samaria with five different pagan groups – each with their own language, customs, and religion (cf. 2 Kings 17). So, in the end, the Samaritans ended up with a syncretic – or a mish-mash religion involving not only the God of Israel, but also a melting pot of other pagan gods.
The Samaritans weren’t welcomed at the Temple in Jerusalem, and so they went and built their own. They edited down the Torah to a bare minimum of only the Five Books of Moses (the first five books of the Bible) purposely ignoring the histories and prophets which condemned what the Samaritans were doing.
So, with this background, we find ourselves in today’s Gospel, in the middle of town, in the middle of the day, with Jesus, looking for a drink of water. So that’s the literal sense; but what about the spiritual sense? After all, St. John loves to hide spiritual signs and gems in his Gospel, and he doesn’t disappoint us here.
The five husbands – or as the word can also be translated, five “masters” – are the five pagan gods whom the Samaritans worshipped alongside the One True God – the God of Israel. Along the way they had picked up (1) a god of fertility, (2) a god of war, (3) a god of fate, (4) a god of storms and rain, and (5) a moon goddess. These they inherited from those 5 pagan groups the Assyrians moved there several hundred years before. (cf. 2 Kings 17)
The one husband who was not her “master” – but whom she needed to take more seriously – and submit her life to – was God almighty … the God of Israel.
She gets it. And she tells Jesus that He must be a prophet – but we just heard that the Samaritans rejected the prophets. So, what is she talking about here? Well, the only prophet mentioned in the first five books of the Bible is the Messiah. And so she proclaims, just like St. Peter does in the other three Gospels, that Jesus is the Christ!
In one fell swoop, the hammer falls, and we get all three spiritual senses at one time. And this is how and where today’s Gospel story should speak directly to us.
Morally: we can have no other gods besides God Himself. Sex, power, luck, weather, time – these are all created things, not gods to be worshipped. God must come first.
Analogically: Jesus alone can save us, and we need to put all of our trust in Him – and in Him alone. For only Jesus Christ can give us the Living Water – the Holy Spirit – which in turn can transform us to truly be His disciples – configured to Him in all things.
And finally, anagogically: whatever walls and barriers that we may think divide us from others – those things that make us “us” and them “them” – are obstacles to our true worship of God – what Jesus calls “worshipping [God] in spirit and in truth.”
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – let us pray to cast aside any created things that stand between us and God; let us cry out to Jesus, our Savior, to “save us”; and let us join together as one body, one Church – united in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit – to the praise and glory of God the Father.
[From above the altar at St. Apollinaris in Ravenna, Italy.
At the base of the cross are the words: "SALVS MVNDI."
Translated from Latin, it means "The salvation of the world."]
