1st Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
2nd Reading: Ephesians 5: 8-14
Gospel: John 9: 1-41

One day, a man went to visit a church. He arrived early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near him and the driver told him, “I always park there.” “You took my place.”

The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat, and sat down. A lady from the church approached him and stated, “that’s my seat.” “You took my place.” The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing.

After Sunday school, the visitor went into the church sanctuary and sat down. Another parishioner walked up to him and said, “that’s where I always sit.” “You took my place.” The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still said nothing.

Later, as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell with them, the visitor stood and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, “what happened to you.”

The visitor answered, “I took your place.”

I never get tired of this story for it reminds us how we can be at times when looking at others. Do we really look at others and see them for who they are? Do we really know there stories: Why we see them only once in a while at mass or why they seldom receive the Eucharist, why they never get involved in the parish life? Do we really know what is on their minds, or for that matter, what is in their hearts? Do we tend to judge?

This is what is happening in our gospel story for today. The Jews were blind for not seeing the great healing of the blind man by Jesus. The Pharisees believed that Jesus broke the Jewish law by healing on the Sabbath which made him a sinner and the blind man, according to Jewish culture, was blind because of sin or was blind because he was born of sinful parents. Jesus’ disciples thought the same.

You would think that the parents of the healed blind man would step up to defend Jesus and their own son but they were afraid of being banned from the synagogue for seeing Jesus as the Christ and saying that is was Christ who healed their son.

We at times, can relate to the parents of the healed blind man. How many times have we stepped back when hearing others talking about Jesus in fear of being challenged with questions about our own faith?

How many times have we allowed our humanness to overtake our spiritual lives causing our own blindness?

One thing is clear in this gospel story. The blind man’s faith came gradually. He knew that Jesus healed him but he is trying to understand who Jesus is. Maybe that person we tried to judge was in somewhat the same situation. We need to understand that we are gradually coming to know Jesus. That is the beauty of our Christian faith.

The more we know Jesus, the more we are drawn to him, the more we search out to be like him, the more we want to live as he lived here on earth, and the more we want to love as he loves.

We sometimes think we know what is best but are we always right or are we blinded by what we can’t see or understand? Samuel in our first reading thought that he knew who was to be the king of the Jews. However, he saw what he could see physically. He judged by appearance only and in turn, God reminded him so.

We will remain spiritually blind if we hold onto earthly things that keep us from reaching out to God and that prevent us from living a life in Jesus Christ.

There was this little child who would not let go of the pieces of shells that she collected from the beach that lay clinched in her hands. While standing on the shore the little child, still clinching on to those pieces of shells, looked up and saw a beautiful starfish floating on the top of the water just out of her reach. She looked at her parents who in turn gave the nod of approval to wade in the water to get that beautiful starfish. The child stepped into the water and immediately turned around and set foot on the shore.

The parents went over to the child and told her to try again. “You can do it” they said. “Get that beautiful starfish.” So the child entered the water again wading knee deep only to turn around again to seek dry land. The parents, concerned for their little child and knowing that she really wanted that starfish, gave her words of encouragement saying, ” We have faith in you, we know you can do it. Get that beautiful starfish.”

All of a sudden, she raised her head, looked at her parents and released those broken pieces of shell from her hands letting them fall to the shore. The little child went back into the water going waste deep and grabbed that beautiful starfish and came back to shore to show her parents that she did it. She got that beautiful starfish.

What can we learn from this little child on a beach? Our lives are very similar. When we are blind, we hold onto those broken pieces of our human life: our judging others, our envy, our greed, our selfishness, our idea that we know what is best for others when we can’t even figure out what is best for us, giving in to the temptations of sin. Then our lives are like those broken pieces of shells fragmented pieces that cannot make a complete shell.

When we allow the gift of God’s Spirit through Jesus Christ to enter our hearts, we can now open our eyes and see and our lives start to become whole. We can now reach for our savior, who heals our blindness to allow us to see and to be the children of the light not of the darkness and he gives us Himself for strength to stay in this light.

St. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, : “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” We are to live seeing in the light of Jesus Christ and being light to others in a world that seems to be full of darkness. We are being charged to be light for others by good works and by loving others as we love God and ourselves.

We have been given many opportunities to live the gospel message. Just look around you and around the world, ones that need help; People who need the comfort of a smile to ward off the pain of illness or a friendly visit to those confined in a prison or jail, or people who need the basic necessities of life because of natural disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, or those homeless sleeping under our local freeways and those who hunger for a bite to eat coming to our local food bank, to those who suffer because of the atrocities of war and injustice.

Father Rick mentioned in his homily last week about how the woman at the well initially saw only physical water and not the living water-Jesus Christ. When we open our eyes and see with deep conviction the love shared by our God our thirst and our sight remains in Jesus Christ. We see Jesus in others. We see the equality of God’s image and likeness in all humanity. We see Him.

My brothers and sisters, now that we can see, I would like to leave you with this final thought: An English football player named Michael Bridges wrote: “When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our heart, the circle of creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open, and love steps forth to heal everything in sight.” How far can we see?

We take water so much for granted here since rain is a common experience. With the turn of the tap, we have safe clean water for drinking, bathing, and washing. Many people in third world countries are not so fortunate. Like the Samaritan woman, they trek to a well with jugs or cans and carry their water back home.

Being essential for survival, who can blame the Israelites for grumbling about the lack of water in the midst of the barren dessert? “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” They were doubting the Lord’s presence and questioning Moses’ ability to lead. Psalm 95 recounts their resentful attitude, urging us not to harden our hearts as the Israelites did at Meribah, yet isn’t that what we do when we find ourselves disenchanted?

In a gospel passage that is full of surprises, we find Jesus quenching the thirst of the Samaritans in ways they didn’t expect.

First of all, a Jew would not customarily travel through Samaria. To travel from Galilee to Judea, Jews bypassed Samaria by traveling along the east bank of the Jordan River. That would be like us bypassing Seattle anytime we drive to SeaTac Airport. Thus, for a Jew to talk to a Samaritan, much less a woman was unthinkable. Jesus was not about to let the customs of his time stop him from showing that anyone who is thirsting for God’s love will find that thirst quenched in him.

As their dialogue reveals, the Samaritan woman initially perceived Jesus’ offer of living water on a purely physical level. Stagnant water from a well sustains life but flowing water is much more refreshing and healthier, which is why it is called living water. At first, she could not see that the living water Jesus speaks of is God’s blueprint to the meaning of life. He tells her, “Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.”

Without anger or rancor, Jesus prodded the woman at the well to face the reality of her life: the missteps and stumbles she had taken, the messes she had made of her relationships, the sins that had estranged her from others. He cautions her that the lasting satisfaction we yearn for in life will not be found in the well of excess, whether it is material possessions, drink, drugs, sex, or work. Five husbands, five cars, five high definition televisions, or five of whatever we yearn for the most will never satisfy our thirst for long. They cannot provide us with what Jesus can, namely, peace that comes from a personal relationship with him, or the joy that comes from knowing him by serving others.

The effectiveness of this “living water” that Jesus is offering us to satisfy our yearnings depends on our willingness to drink of it. If we do little to nurture our relationship with God through prayer, action, and study, what “living water” we have within us will become stagnant. Just as we need to drink water throughout the day to sustain our physical health, we also need to drink “living water” throughout the day to sustain our spiritual health.

Many of us do not drink enough liquid. When we begin to feel thirsty, we are in the initial stages of dehydration. Likewise, many of us may be more spiritually dehydrated than we realize.

Like the Israelites in the dessert, are we hardening our hearts still, refusing to forgive those who have hurt us in the past? Are we testing God still, doubting his love because things aren’t going our way? Lent calls us to renew our faith in God. Are we coming closer to Christ through added time spent in prayer and self-reflection? Are we giving witness to the gospel in what we say and do? The Samaritan woman went away changed by her encounter with Jesus and so can we, provided we quench our spiritual thirst sufficiently through prayer, fasting and works of mercy. So, how thirsty are you?  Make time to meet Christ at the well and allow him to renew you with his “living water.”

On this first Sunday of Lent, we hear about temptations, those of our first parents and those of Jesus.  Temptations are very much a part of life and we all experience them, otherwise we would not be truly human. A man in Alabama learned the hard way that they can really cause trouble. He broke into a house and began bagging the valuables. While handling a pistol, he accidentally shot himself in the leg. Despite the pain, he wasn’t about to seek medical help. Just then, the homeowner walked into the house.

The burglar felt that he had no choice but to tie her up. That added seriously to the original burglary offense. Wounded, the man now needed a car so he stole the homeowner’s car. Now he was also guilty of grand theft. The loss of blood and pain caused him to drive erratically. This caught a cop’s attention.

The burglar pulled over and the cop pulled up behind him. Now desperate, the fleeing criminal shot through the windshield of the patrol car and wounded the officer. Once in the woods, he apparently came close to a moonshine still. At least that might explain why someone put three .22 slugs into the guy’s rear end.

By the time the police finally captured him, he had been wounded four times. He faced charges for attempted murder, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and grand auto theft, all because he was initially tempted to simply rob a house.

Hopefully your temptations never get you into such a mess, but they certainly have the potential to do so. As the first reading reveals, temptations have been around from the beginning of human existence.  No one can escape the daily challenges of temptations, not even Jesus.

When you think about them, the temptations Jesus faced after spending 40 days in the desert were much like ours. How often are we driven by the quest for bodily comforts and pleasures, the esteem of others, and/or the pursuit of wealth and power?

Temptations are always lurking, waiting to ensnare us when we least expect them. We can be tempted at any age, with any degree of sanctity. Believe me, Pope Benedict wrestles with temptations just as much as we do. In all likelihood, though, he does a better job of resisting them.

Some of us are not so resistant to temptations.  Instead, we make excuses for our sins, the consequences of giving into temptation. As a confessor, I have listened to a fair number of excuses. We may see ourselves as victims of circumstances, genetics, our upbringing, or hormones. Like Flip Wilson, the comedian who often cracked, “The devil made me do it,” we might blame Satan or others for the wrongful choices we make. Whatever our excuse may be, however, the choice to sin is ours.

When we sin, we are choosing not to act as a child of God by ignoring God’s commands. That was the choice Adam and Eve made when they listened instead to the serpent, who committed the world’s first sin by lying. In his struggle with temptations, Jesus rebuffs Satan by quoting scripture. Finally, he tells him outright, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”

His resistance to temptation is placed before us today as an example for us to strengthen our resistance to temptation. If we want to resist temptation and rebuff Satan, then we need to pray, just as Jesus did. Like him, we need a desert where we can encounter God, away from blaring TVs and other distracting electronics. We need to retreat to our inner space and be still so that we can give God the chance to speak to us. We can create this setting in a quiet corner of our home, in a local park, here in this church, or even in our car on a ferry crossing.

If you aren’t in the habit of examining your conscience, consider making that part of your daily prayer. If you aren’t in the habit of praying alone, start simply, like praying before going to bed or upon waking up. Make prayer a part of your daily routine like brushing your teeth. Take time to thank God for the gift of a new day, then reflect on how you can be more Christ like in what you say and do, thus becoming less likely to give into temptation.

Think of Lent as a forty day retreat. That is why this season began centuries ago. Move beyond praying quickly by putting aside at least 15 minutes of quiet time to dialogue with God even in your own words. Is that really asking too much of your time, considering that all the time you have is God’s gift to you?

Is it possible for you to attend daily Mass, even one day a week? If not, how about Stations of the Cross on Friday afternoons or Taize prayer on Wednesday evenings after the soup supper? If you can’t get out of the house, turn off the TV or the computer and spend time alone reading the bible or other spiritual writings. Prayer enables us to be mindful of God in all that we do each day so that when faced with temptation, we are more apt to follow Jesus’ example and rebuff Satan.

Years ago, there was a campaign against drugs, in which the motto was, “Just say no.” That is the message which Jesus is giving us today. We are responsible for much of what goes on in our lives. We can say no to our bad habits, like laziness or procrastination; our destructive addictions, like gambling or gossip; or our inclination to blame others. We can be as resistant to temptation and sin as we want to be. The choice is ours. We have the power to say no all the time to the things we don’t like or want, so why not say no to temptation by saying yes to God’s invitation to pray as his son did for forty days?  

1ST READING Deut. 11:18,26 – 28,32
2nd READING Romans 3:21 – 25,28
GOSPEL Matt: 7:21-27

This is the last weekend in this period of Ordinary Time and this coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the start of our Lenten season which is my favorite time in the Church year.

What most likely comes to many Catholics minds when they hear the word LENT is; what do I give up this year? What can I give up that is not as hard to give up as this or that? I probably should go to “CONFESSION” at least once; I’ll see what happens when the time comes! I can’t eat meat on Fridays. What a drag!!!!

Lent is not a time of confusion in what to give up, or what to do, as some people find it is. Lent is a time to look at ourselves, to look inward at our most deepest thoughts, to see our souls. Lent is a time to reflect and to contemplate on our lives and if we have built a solid foundation for our day to day lives by accepting the Father’s will which leads us closer to him.

And so, we gather here today to hear God’s inspired words, to hear the stories of people past on their journey in this earthly life. We hear of their trials, their sacrifices, their shortcomings, their blessings in order that we might see ours knowing that God is always here for us as he was and will be for all of humanity, past, present, and future.

When we hear God’s inspired words in scripture, de we accept God’s will for us by letting him transform us bringing us ever closer to him? What happens if we do? What happens to us if we don’t?

To have a solid foundation is to accept God’s love. Like Fr. Rick stated last week, we need to let go and trust Him. God’s love is the only foundation that is rock solid and is manifested and revealed to us through His words and in the word made flesh, Jesus Christ.

This brings us closer to God as we journey through the Lent and Easter seasons and beyond this earthly life until we are with Him in paradise.

In the first reading today Moses is setting before the people two very distinct paths: that of a blessing or that of a curse. It is their choice.

They are heading into their future, the land promised them, the land of Canaan. But they will have to keep remembering by keeping the traditions and activities which have and will continue to form them.

And so, the long trek of forty years through the desert has reached its conclusion. Moses would not be going into the Promised Land himself, so he has to impress upon the chosen people God’s love for them, brought to lite in God’s fidelity to them through the Commandments he gave them, not only etched in stone but hopefully in their hearts.

Since God guides us toward what is truly best for us, God’s Commandments are like a key into the storeroom of God’s blessing.

Use the key and the blessings flow. Ignoring God’s Commandments results in a loss of potential blessings, not as a punishment from God but rather the result of one’s own refusal to use the key.

As Moses reflects on their journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land of Canaan, he realizes one thing. God has always done his part. He has broken the power of Pharaoh and delivered them from slavery.

They faced annihilation at the Red Sea and the Lord rescued them. In the desert he had provided them food in the form of manna and quail. Even the rocks gave forth water when thirst was the enemy. This was their lesson; believe in the one true God and make the choice to live within His Commandments and he will always be there for them. He will be their solid foundation on which they will build their lives.

Now, Jesus comes on the scene. Jesus Says: “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven”. It is easy to say we believe. But the blessings come when we live what we profess to believe!

This is the lesson Jesus gives us in the gospel today “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and ACTS on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”

Jesus is teaching the importance of building one’s life on the solid foundation of hearing God’s word and putting it into practice. In order for this to happen we must accept God. And to accept God means to accept his love. And to accept His love is to accept His will for us by a life lived in the image of his son, Jesus Christ.

This is what Paul was telling his listeners in his letter to the Romans, that a new justification comes with faith in Jesus Christ, that this faith does not replace the law but brings a new grace to it through the redemption Jesus Christ has won for us through his sacrifice on earth which is really the sacrifice of love.

The Christian way of life , however, isn’t always the easiest and most attractive. More worldly life styles can be very tempting but are usually built on sand. The storms of life still come. How will we come through times of financial setbacks, health problems, marital difficulties, or the death of a loved one?

How will we and especially the generation coming of age deal with the lure of drugs, alcohol, pre-marital sex, and accumulation of material things? That will depend largely on the foundation which you have set for your life and as parents began and encouraged for your children and upon which they continue to build by their own decisions, their own choices.

And all of us here, whether we have had children or not, have a stake in all this. We, as the body of the church, have the responsibility to set the example of our faith built on a solid rock foundation by living what we hear every Sunday in scripture, taking it to heart by allowing ourselves to be transformed by the words, to live them out in our daily lives.

We gain the strength to do this by receiving Jesus in us through his body and blood in the Eucharist. Again, another reason to be here every Sunday.

We are not so different from the Old Testament nation of Israel who on their journey to the Holy Land of Canaan faltered along the way. We to falter along our journey to God all the while finding him there to help us, to save us.

At the beginning I said that Lent was my favorite time in the Church year. The reason is this: I find spiritual growth through the contemplation and reflections on my life. I learn much about my relationship with God. I also realize what I need to grow more, to make my foundation more solid in order to weather all that this life throws out.

But the most important reason for me is the realization that Jesus, on his journey, was alone. I have Jesus accompanying me on my journey which can lead me down roads I thought not possible.

What can be better than to realize there are more ways to God than what we have experienced so far. This life is a journey and one that, with faith and trust in God, building a solid foundation for our lives, will lead us to the promised land of heaven.

In these difficult times when jobs are scarce and homes are being foreclosed in record numbers, Jesus’ advice about not worrying may seem naïve and even insensitive yet as always, he has a timeless message for us to heed. He is cautioning us not to let our pursuit of worldly goods push God aside.

“No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”  Mammon? Now, that’s a word we rarely hear, even in scripture.  It was a Hebrew word for material possessions, not just money, in which a man would place his trust. Jesus is challenging us to ponder where we are placing our trust. Might we be guilty of idolatry?

Idolaters are people who overemphasize human values. They worship technology, bravery, sexual love, prosperity, relaxation or communication. Each of these human values can be associated with an ancient Greek god: Vulcan, Mars, Venus, Pluto, Bacchus, and Mercury. Do any of these “gods” matter more to you than Jesus?  Before answering that question, consider your priorities. What really matters to you? Is it having the latest bit of technology? Is it working out daily at the local gym to be in top shape? Is it surfing the internet to indulge in certain fantasies? Is it playing the local casino or stock market to fatten your portfolio? Is it lounging on the beaches of Maui? Is it mastering the latest communication gadget?  Today as back then, Jesus knew that human values commanded the attention of his listeners, so much so that God could easily become second fiddle to the many gods that are more appealing to some people.  While any of these gods can make life more interesting, do they enrich our lives in the long run?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.”  Let’s not kid ourselves. Often caused by external circumstances, worry is something that affects all of us.  Worry comes from an ancient Anglo-Saxon word that meant to strangle or to choke. Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles. Worry chokes off the opportunity to live the present moment, leaving us prone to a life of feeling bad. Worry is another god that commands center stage in some people’s lives. Instead of worrying, Jesus invites us to turn from our idols and to trust in God. “Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?”

I suspect many anxious persons would think so, but worrying in itself doesn’t add a single moment. In fact, worry is needless, useless, and even dangerous to one’s health. Just ask anyone who suffers from ulcers. Worse yet, it’s an example of bad faith.

Urging his listeners not to worry about what they are to eat, drink or wear, Jesus then points out, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”

Notice the verb that Jesus uses is need, not want. A German mystic, Johannes Tauler, who lived 800 years ago, shares this story to highlight the difference. Upon encountering a beggar at the front door of his church, he said, “God give you a good day.” The beggar replied, “I thank God, sir that I never had a bad one. I thank God that I am never unhappy.”

Tauler asked him what he meant. “Well, when it is fine, I thank God; when it rains, I thank God; when I am hungry, I thank God; and since God’s will is my will, and whatever pleases him pleases me, why should I say I am unhappy when I am not?” said the beggar. Tauler then asked him, “Who are you?” The beggar replied, “I am a king.”  “Where then is your kingdom?” asked Tauler. The beggar answered quietly, “In my heart.”

Freed of the idol of worry, the beggar was a king because he had learned to live in the present moment, savoring what God has blessed him with.  The devil on the other hand wants us to live in the future, fearing something that might happen or dreaming of a time when all will be perfect. The crisis in the Middle East, for example, is jacking up the price of oil. Are you already worrying about what will happen to your budget when gas hits $4 per gallon? What will such worrying accomplish?

Can anyone think of believing in God without trusting Him? Is it possible to trust in God for the big things like forgiveness and eternal life, and then refuse to trust Him for the little things like clothing and food?

To trust God does not mean sitting back and acting irresponsibly as if food, money, and clothes are not important. Without food, there is no life. Without clothes, the body is unprotected against the elements of nature.  Jesus isn’t advocating reckless living. As stewards, we are to make good use of our resourcefulness and plan our lives in a responsible manner. However, worry, which arises from being overly concerned with our own welfare, is a wasted effort, unbefitting of one who claims to trust in God.

When we put God first, our happiness is no longer dependent on the contents of our closets, our bookshelves, our garages, or the people that move in and out of our lives. When we put God first, our happiness flows from the experience of the presence of God’s love in our lives. When we put God first, we have the time and the ability to enjoy life, to look at the birds in the sky and the wild flowers and say, “God, how beautiful they are. How good you are. How caring you are. How blessed I am for in your love, you have not forgotten me.”