The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti

Third Sunday in Lent

"Life's piano can only produce melodies of brotherhood and sisterhood when it is recognized that the black keys are as basic, necessary and beautiful as the white keys."   Martin Luther King, jr., 1964

We're all in this together!. In Jesus, in the Spirit and Truth the good news is that we are given the gift of wholeness, of unity. We are being given "good news", that all that has separated us from each other, from the creation and from God is overcome in the gift of Jesus. This is the good new of new life. And like all experiences of good news, it must be shared ! Is that not what the Samaritan women does ? The revelation of Jesus, who he is, what he means is so exciting that she runs to tell everybody--she becomes a missionary like the apostles ! This is life she says, This is the water that we were all looking and thirsting for all our lives, all generations!

Good news is an extraordinary thing. Good news must be shared, in doing so, it is magnified. The story of the Samaritan women at the well points us to the ongoing dialogue with Jesus that each of the baptized are called through in their lives. The waters of baptism call us to a change of heart, a new direction in continued dialogue with Jesus in prayer that will also find expression in a practical Christian life of building peace, reconciliation and justice in this Spirit of Love and Truth. We come to know the Lord as Lord, as the font of eternal life is a life of dialogue with the Lord.

This dialogue takes the shape of personal and communal prayer that leads to the active work to remove all that separates us from God, others, creation and the true self. We are called to drink of the life-giving waters of the lives and examples of others through which Jesus reveals himself to us ! We meet such people in life, in history and we discover the revealing Lord in their lives that have opted for the worship of the Lord in Spirit and truth. They remind us of the good news of the gift of Jesus--they are an instrument of God's gracious presence.

Paul tells us that this gracious presence is on that dies for us. Jesus offers himself for all so that all may find peace with God, others, the world about them and their restless selves. That is one of the striking features of the story we hear today! Jesus sweeps aside all the socially destructive taboos that separate people from one another. he speaks to a woman is public--that's a definite No ! No! He speaks to this woman who is an enemy and a heretic--a Samaritan woman ! In this simple little episode we glimpse the meaning of the life-giving waters--Jesus, the gift of the Father. A gift that reveals to us that the old categories that separate human beings, such as race, gender, and the "enemy" label are not Christian categories. All that keeps us apart are lies, and only produce grief--wounded bodies, hearts and spirits.

That is a reason why the woman runs to tell others of the good news. In Jesus all the things that divide, God is overcoming in the Son. All are accepted. It is no longer, "we and they ", but "us". This is the worship of God in the Spirit and Truth.

Our journey through Lent continues. Our baptismal promises remain before us--we dialogue with the Lord in prayer and a life committed to removing all that separates and destroys human solidarity. It is the life of peace-building.

Everyone has a place on the keyboard. Everyone has a note to contribute--together.

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.
Uploaded January 14, 2000