For all of us who have healthy

February 17, 2008, Second Sunday of Lent

For all of us who have healthy, positive, progressive imaginations that know no limits, the first and the Gospel readings for today from Exodus and John give rise to a lot of possibilities. It is estimated that half of the world’s population does not have potable water and then you have the reality that half of the human family has been and is still, considered second rate and so often deprived of equal rights by the rest of society.

In the first reading we are made very aware of the human need for potable water. The lack of it can produce grumbling as in the days of Moses, and violence in many other situations.

As I was on my daily walk a couple of days ago I was contemplating these readings and the question came into my mind: What if? --and I started applying it to many situations in my life and in human history. The first question was: What if I had been born in Africa, China, Australia or any other place other than New Mexico, what would my life be like? Would I be a Christian, a Catholic? Would I have an education, what would my values be? As a matter of fact I was born in the South Valley here in Albuquerque and have enjoyed a wonderful life. But the I asked myself: What if at 15 I had decided not to go to the seminary? What direction would my life have taken? Would I have had the same fulfilled life? What if my assignments had been different in the 51 years that I was active in the priesthood? What if I had not been assigned to St. Joseph’s Parish in Anton Chico. It was there that I really fell in love with my priesthood serving the people of that parish. It was there that I learned so much that contributed to the happiness that I have enjoyed.

What was much more important in my reflection was the question What if the world had listened to the lesson that Jesus teaches us in the gospel reading? In those days the do’s and don’t do’s were very present. Men were not to talk to women in public, but then you ask, Who said so, who started that story? It is interesting that he was not forced to behave according to those rules. He not only started a conversation, but gave the Samaritan woman the opportunity to do something for him, and in return Jesus had a gift for her. Jesus said, “Give me a drink ... the Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How can you a Jew ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink? --- for Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans? --- Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you “give me a drink,” you would have asked him and he would have given you living water ... everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I give you will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” My what-if surfaced when I read the following portion of that reading, “Many of the Samaritans of the town began to believe in him (because of the word of the woman who testified ‘he told me everything I had done’). When the Samaritans came to him they invited him to stay with them and he stayed there two days. And then many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe because of your word, but we have learned for ourselves and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.’” I asked myself, How different our church would be if all the outstanding women we read about in the history of the church had had the opportunities equal to the opportunities given to men.

We cannot change the past but we can certainly learn a lot from it. I believe we have all heard that when we don’t learn from history it will repeat itself with many of the bad results. I find the tool ‘what-if’ reminding me of the myriad possibilities for each one of us and our society.

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