Before there was law there was love. Before there was doctrine, there were persons, Before there was religion, there was relationship. It’s about love. It’s about persons. It’s about relationship. The rest is an afterthought...a development. - Father Satish Joseph
For the third Sunday of Lent the Gospel reading was the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan women at the well. When I hear this Gospel I often think of the story of Nicodemus and his conversation with Jesus. The stories are night and day. When I came across this sermon on Nicodemus by Anna Matthews, who served as Vicar for 12 years at St Bene’t’s in Cambridge. I found her observations insightful.
Lent is a time of change, to see ourselves in a different light. The story of Nicodemus begins with him having answers. “[He] begins his conversation with Jesus certain of what he knows: that Jesus is a teacher who has come from God. Jesus’ reply shakes his certainty. He starts out with what he thinks he knows. By the midpoint of his conversation with Jesus his certainty is gone and he’s left with his unknowing, his lack of understanding. With questions rather than answers, just a perplexed ‘how can these things be?’” In other words, “What is settled becomes unsettled. Our certainties get shaken as the Spirit of God blows where it wills, upending convention, expectation and habit as it goes. Lepers can be touched. The condemned are given a future. Hearts shrunk in grief can swell again. Captives can go free. Respectable Pharisees might just become disciples. The dead can live. That’s the sort of new life the Holy Spirit will give as it makes of us new creations.”
Lent is a time we can let go of knowing and embrace unknowing. We can let the Spirit lead us to look for answers, or maybe ask new questions. Lent can be a time to let ourselves be befuddled and confused like Nicodemus as we search for new insights. In doing this we can be like the Samaritan women at the well or Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday—we can be open to embracing something new, risking change because we know we have encountered something good; the “wild unruly spirit of God."
Showcasing SHA talent: May the Holy Spirit descend on us as Martin in 4th shows the Spirit descending on Jesus.
God bless,
Mrs. Alhadef
Campus Minister
4th Grade Aide
Jr. High ELA Aide