Challenges To Religious Life
Challenges To Religious Life
Challenges To Religious Life
Religious Life
Context
The struggle for interiority and
prayer inside of a culture that
constitutes a virtual conspiracy
against depth and serenity -- to
keep our eyes set against an
infinite horizon.
The struggle to cope with
personal grandiosity, ambition
and pathological restlessness,
inside of a culture that daily
overstimulates them -- to live
inside the torment of the
insufficiency of everything
attainable and to accept that in
this life there is no finished
symphony.
Samaritan
Jn.4:5-29
Lk.10:25-37
John 4:6-7 Jacob's well was there, and
Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting
by the well. It was about noon. A
Samaritan woman came to draw water, and
Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."
John 4:9 The Samaritan woman said to
him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink
of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do
not share things in common with
Samaritans.)
John 4:22 You worship what you do not
know; we worship what we know, for
salvation is from the Jews.
John 4:23-24 But the hour is coming, and is now
here, when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth, for the Father
seeks such as these to worship him. God is
spirit, and those who worship him must worship
in spirit and truth."
John 4:29 "Come and see a man who told me
everything I have ever done! He cannot be the
Messiah, can he?"
John 4:39 Many Samaritans from that city
believed in him because of the woman's
testimony, "He told me everything I have ever
done."
Barriers, markers, borders
It was about noon. Time barrier
scandalous time. No one is there.
a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of
Samaria gender and ethnic barrier.
for salvation is from the Jews religious
barrier.
All these barriers and markers are all
against her. Big reasons to ignore her.
Jesus crosses all these barriers.
Luke 10:30-37
Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped
him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now
by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he
saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a
Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by
on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came
near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and
wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought
him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took
out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take
care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you
whatever more you spend.'
Which of these three, do you think, was a
neighbor to the man who fell into the
hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one
who showed him mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Harm him by
Rob him Pays for him
inaction
Promises to
Abandon him Neglected him
return
The Samaritan man gave
freely of both his time and his
money to help a Jewish man
who was not only a stranger,
but also was of a different
religion, a foreigner and an
enemy of his people.
Samaritan man and Samaritan woman powerful
symbol of a new world, of a new community, of an
alternative world.
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.
Today's trouble is enough for today.
The transcendental
orientation is what
moves us beyond all
forms of self-
distraction and self-
centeredness.
A window is nothing but empty space. You may
put all sorts of frames to adorn them, but in the
end a window is just an empty space. It may be a
square, it may be a rectangle, it may be a circle,
but it is a square or rectangle or circle of --
nothing.
Our transcendental
orientation can be solely
selfish and materialistic.
We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.