The Samaritan Woman

This is a homily that I gave at Ecumenical Advocacy Days yesterday.

Men and women are different. That seems pretty obvious! Men and women also have many shared similarities. We have different approaches to life, to our lived experiences, to how we relate to the world around us. These differences are made clear to us as Catholic women and men through our church- “big c” church and “little c” church. This reality of difference I think is especially made clear in our Gospel story of the Samaritan Woman.

The Samaritan woman is continually ostracized in her own community, she goes to the well during the middle of the day- she is dismissed by her own society- the women don’t socialize with her, the men in her community certainly don’t. Yet, when she meets Jesus, in the middle of the day at the well, her entire life changes. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last time that Jesus reveals himself to women. His mother knows him, he already has an entourage of women who are following him (though in most accounts they are “not counted”). It is the women at the tomb whom Jesus will reveal his risen self. The women need no convincing. They approach him for healings, to raise their brother from the dead. The women know what Jesus has to offer.

Jesus redeems her through the act of offering her life giving water, and acknowledging her gender. He references her in conversation as “Woman”- he is acknowledging who she is, her experience as woman. Jesus recognizes how important it is to call her this way. He has not dismissed her, but rather expresses his care and concern for her by calling her woman. In this naming of the Samaritan woman, Jesus has given her dignity- her dignity as a woman, as a human, to claim as her own. The Samaritan woman accepts her dignity and begins her mission when she accepts the life giving water that Jesus offers. Rev. Nunes yesterday reminded all of us that the living water cannot remain in a reservoir- in a well, but it must be moving- it cannot be stagnant. Our baptism is what calls us forth to be moving- to recognize the life giving water that Jesus is!

This is the reality of community for us- the ambiguity and mixed reality of what our sacramental life in the church means. We are all called through the sacrament of our baptism to be a part of this community. We are all baptized priests, prophets and kings. Some people might think we stumble most over the “Priest” part, but I think we are more afraid to be prophets. It is our prophets who die, because they challenge the church, the communities, the governments. Our prophets are challenging us to remember the affect of life giving water- of baptism daily. It is the life giving waters of baptism that calls us to communion- to reconciliation. We find our reconciliation in our relationship with God, each other and the community at large. Our Eucharist, our meal brings us together to be with each other, to share our common expression of faith and commitment to the beauty of imperfection in our church.

But this is not the end of the story for the Samaritan woman nor should it be the end for us today in the church. Our dignity- our self worth is not to be relegated to someone else- this dignity is inherent in our knowledge of Jesus and belief in the paschal mystery. Our dignity is not relegated to their understanding of who we are, rather, our dignity is tied up in our relationship with each other- and ultimately with our God.

Putting Things in Order...

Why is it that it takes so little for things to be put in order? After listening to a friend talk about mint.com for about a year, I decided to investigate and “budget” my money and begin seeing where I am spending my money. I appreciate knowing where my “treasure” is going. Granted, my income is much different from most peoples my age who have a master’s degree and are working for a national organization in Washington, D.C., but I appreciate seeing where the money goes in such an organized fashion.

I find myself participating in life in a very different way when the stress of finances looks differently. I was participating in a meeting last week and one of the conversation pieces that was brought to the attention of the group was the use of the word “poor”. Specifically in relationship to the people who are poor. In the parish that I grew up in we talked about the poor, what we were supposed to do to help the poor and all that … but the conversation at the meeting was challenging us to use a different phrase, other than the poor, because that phrase has allowed to distance ourselves from the reality of “the poor”. Rather than use the language of “the poor” I am encouraging myself to use the terminology of “those suffering in poverty”. No longer will I be able to think in abstract terms, but rather will remember to place the dignity of each person in tune with each brother or sister that I meet.

Labels

That was the message that I got from mass tonight. Labels are a part of our encounter with Christ and with one another. Peter wanted to label his encounter on top of the mountain. What is the purpose of such labels though? Where do labels fit in our lives today? How does a label add or diminish our relationships with others?

I think I have always been a proponent of labels, there is a level of comfort that comes from having a label attached to life. I remember shortly after my divorce, a priest that I had known my entire life growing up approached me and we began to visit. Our conversation went like this:

“So, how is your family?”
“Fine, all of us kids are grown.”
“Now you are divorced, right?”
…long, awkward pause… “Yes.”
“You weren’t even married a year, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”

I remember being so furious, disappointed, angry and well, frankly, pissed off. As I look back on this encounter as the years go by, I wouldn’t say that I am grateful, but rather that I am aware of how the benefit of being labeled has helped me to be real about my life today. There are people that live for the ambiguity of life, what it means to them, and how they are able to interact with others in this realm of ambiguity. I, for the most part am not able to function in ambiguity- but I have to trust that there is a reason for such ambiguity. In the times of solace after my divorce, I am able to relate to ambiguity, to the need to un-define, not put strictures and trappings around my living. It is when I am un-trusting that I find myself burgeoning with the need to label- to affix labels to all points and parts of my life and to place my labels on others. Rather than just noting that I am scared, angry, frustrated, or some other emotion- my reaction is place a label on the situation.

I am interested to know how you avoid labels.

*write*

I have a friend who is a BIG TIME :-) editor for a publishing company who blogs and writes many entries about the importance of words and what they do, how they affect people, who is affected and in turn affects others. I have been listening lately to two of my favorite singer/songwriters- John Legend and Adele. ADELE’S new album is frickin’ off the charts!!!

I myself have written several posts about words and what they mean to me- usually within the frame of a deeper theological or sacramental context, but they are important none-the-less. I was riding the H8 bus this morning with my friend J. We were on our way to a lovely morning coffee and game of quiddler (scrabble for cards) and some light shopping. We got to talk about words, and she encouraged me to start writing on my blog again. I noted how when I was transferring information from my old computer to my new one, it had been such a stretch since I had last posted. I made the correlation that while I was in my master’s program it seemed so much easier to write- because I knew what I wanted to spend my time word-smithing- I had some new theological vocabulary to experiment with, and the easiest way to put this in use, is immediate use. It seems that while I may have more time on my hands these days, I have less to experiment with and put into immediate use.

I have attempted to frame some posts around current readings:
The Measure of a Man
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
The Invisible Bridge

are all books I have read in the last few weeks that have made an impact in my own learning’s and sharing, but that doesn’t seem to be reaching me much these days. At other times, I have taken quotes from a daily calendar that I have:

“Whatever you want in life, other people are going to want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the idea that you have an equal right to it.” ~Diane Sawyer
“We’ve begun to raise our daughters more like sons, but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” ~Gloria Steinem
“Parents know how to push your buttons because, hey, they sewed them on.” ~Camryn Manheim
“You show people what you’re willing to fight for when you fight your friends.” ~Hilalary Rodham Clinton
“In my sex fantasy, nobody ever loves me for my mind.” ~Nora Ephron
“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” ~ Elizabeth Taylor

So, I am going to try to be more constant in my need to write and explore the use of words.
That is the best I can do!