Celebrating 100 over years in Irondequoit
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Cycle A
- Come, bet us bow down in worship
- Q308: St. John always speaks his spiritual message in symbols and images. How does the story of the “Woman at the Well” speak to us today [Jn 4:5-42]?
- Q.464: The first reading (Exodus 17:3-7) seems to provide a contrast with the Gospel about mankind’s need for “water.” What are these levels of understanding?
Come, bet us bow down in worship
During the early years of the Catholic Church in America, our immigrant ancestors shared a devotion to Sunday Mass that was often heroic. Although almost lost in a new world when Catholics were few and Catholic churches fewer, they took great pains to get to Mass Sundays, no matter how long the trip or hard the road. In doing so they were heeding the psalm of today's Mass: "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord who made us; for He is our God."
Each of us may have family traditions of our forefathers' devotion to Mass. Here is another example of their hardy piety.
Around 1830, Michael and Patrick Owens, William Lysaght, Martin White and a couple of other friends left Ireland and settled in Canandaigua, N.Y. Now, the nearest church to Canandaigua in those days was St. Patrick's in Rochester, some thirty miles to the northwest. Rochester was too far to drive on Sunday, so they made a weekly overnight trip of it, returning home on Sunday afternoon.
One Saturday this toilsome journey over uncertain roads was marked by a curious mishap. The men had piled into their wagon as usual and said "Giddyap" to the pair of mules. All went well until they neared Dave Baker's farm near Penfield, a township adjacent to Rochester. At that point (to quote the storyteller), "the off-mule took a cramp in his nigh leg." The driver halted, and Pat Owens climbed down to examine the mule's leg. While he was doing so, the cramp suddenly ceased, and the critter gave Owens a smart and ungrateful kick. Too disabled to go farther, Pat agreed he'd better forego the Mass that week and stay overnight at Dave Baker's.
When his comrades returned from Rochester on Sunday afternoon, they found the victim sufficiently recovered to go back to Canandaigua. The mule must have kicked poor Pat in the face, for the storyteller went on to say, with stalwart humor, that after this mishap Owens was never so handsome, but a good deal wiser.
Joke as they might about Owens' rather serious accident, these pioneers considered it as happening in the line of duty. Only serious hardship could excuse them on Sunday from their conscientious duty to praise "the God who made them."
-Father Robert F. McNamara
Q308: St. John always speaks his spiritual message in symbols and images. How does the story of the “Woman at the Well” speak to us today [Jn 4:5-42]?
The story of the “Woman at the Well” is the story of everyone’s faith journey. It is especially relevant to the RCIA journey of enlightenment, progressing from initial Inquirers, then to the formation of Catechumens, and finally to a Profession of Faith and Baptism into membership in the Body of Christ. Also, in our five-week “Returning Catholics” program at our parish, at one point we plant seeds in a pot, and then if they are properly nourished with water, they will sprout and grow strongly and rapidly. The visual message we are trying to convey is allegorical. It is a reminder that we have all been damaged on our journey of faith; we have all made bad decisions at one time or another, and we all need tender love and care and mercy. If we turn to the right source, and “re-root” ourselves in this true source of life, we will receive the proper “faith nourishment” and growth can resume.
Water from deep wells can provide temporary relief from physical thirst. However, we have an even deeper thirst, a thirst for eternal truth and eternal life. That kind of thirst can only be quenched by the author of truth and life, the living God who revealed himself to us through his Son, Jesus Christ. This “living water” is pure gift, and always involves an encounter with Christ which demands humility and courage. We need the courage to face our selves, to ask the right questions, to listen to the Lord’s answers, and then have the humility to make the needed course corrections. Then we become enabled to participate fully in His mission, and share the Good News of the “living waters” that bring us eternal life.
Know Your Catechism! The “gift of God” is sanctifying grace that God gives freely to us at our Baptism (CCC #1999) – it is Christ himself. Thirst for God can only be quenched by God himself (CCC #2557). Christ alone is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth (CCC #1179).
Q.464: The first reading (Exodus 17:3-7) seems to provide a contrast with the Gospel about mankind’s need for “water.” What are these levels of understanding?
“Thirst” is a basic dynamic of every human life. We need water to survive, to replace the water that we lose through normal physical processes. Chemists tell us that our muscle tissues contain 75% water; our blood contains 83% water; body fat and bones are almost ¼ water. But there is another “water” that we need even more to survive. This is the “living water” that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God – the source of living water for eternal life.
Israel failed their test in the desert and grumbled about God’s apparent absence. The Israelites on their desert journey away from slavery in Egypt had their physical thirst satisfied by God, who provided water for them to survive. This was a “type” of the living water that would be provided later by the Messiah. We must learn from their mistakes; recognize our dependence on Jesus, on his indwelling Spirit; and live by the truth that he is indeed the Savior of the world and is always present to us.
Today’s gospel (John 4:5-42) is a magnificent mirror of the spiritual journey that each of us makes – and, to the benefit of our RCIA catechumens and candidates, it illustrates the stages of that journey. We come to enlightenment slowly, as God reveals himself to us in response to our search for Him. Only gradually did the woman at the well come to understand that Jesus was the promised Messiah; and at that point she became a disciple and led many other Samaritans to share in her “discovery.” Clearly, only Jesus can satisfy our hunger and thirst for happiness. This calls for humble trust, surrender and transformation on our part. He is the “living water” that wells up to eternal life.
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! The Book of Revelation at the end of the bible presents “the river of the water of life…flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb,” one of the most beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit (CCC #1137). Water signifies the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism, welling up in us to eternal life (CCC #694).
