"Is the Lord with us, or not?" (Ex 17, 7)

This verse from the first reading of today's liturgy for the 3rd Sunday of Lent is one that challenges deeply. It may be the question on many people's lips.

Is God with us?
Where is God in the events which are bombarding our world at present?
Where is God in the fear and anxiety, the sickness and the death?

These following lines (redacted) have been seen on many social media pages but it may remind us exactly where God is. He is here with us, walking with us every single step of the way. He is in the brother and sister whom we encounter, be it physically or digitally given the current situation.

"All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing."

The second reading from today's liturgy is from St. Paul to the Romans who says to them: "Hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been pouted into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us". We keep hoping for better days, when we can hug our loved ones, when the elderly and the sick don't have to worry about being a 'high-risk category', when we can gather for Eucharist in our churches, when we don't have to worry about social distancing. But for the moment we keep caring for each other by being physically distant but in communion with one another. We keep trusting that our God will not go back on his promises that He is with us and that He hears our prayers.

The Sunday Gospel has a strong message for us about relationship. We are presented with the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman- an encounter which according to the norms and taboos of society should not have happened, for many reasons. She was a Samaritan, he a Jew. She was a woman collecting water at midday, so she already had stigma attached to her which didn't allow her to collect water at other times during the time when the sun was not at its highest. Jesus encounters her as she is, where she is but does not leave her where she is. He asks for a drink of water, very simple. Yet it changes her life. In expressing his thirst, Jesus helps the Samaritan woman understand that she is thirsty for the things which do not pass away. The encounter with Jesus never leaves us in the same spot! What do we thirst for? When the Samaritan woman realises that Jesus has filled her soul with the living water, she drops her water jug and leaves it behind as she goes out to tell others about the life-changing encounter. The water jug could be seen to be symbolic of all that she carries which weighs her down and prevents her from breaking the vicious circle and moving on from her many dysfunctional relationships. What weighs us down from moving on from toxic or malfunctioning relationships? 

The woman at the well had 5 husbands and was now with another man- what was she seeking out in all these relationships? What do we seek out in relationships? She was seeking to be loved and to feel that she was beloved, worth fighting for, worth something.  In a world where some many relationships in the home disintegrate because of hectic lives, busy schedules and self-absorption in activity, maybe these days are golden opportunities to re-establish relationships which are healthy and wholesome. Relationships which say by words, actions, silence and gestures;  "You are precious, you are beloved." Again going back to the Gospel today, Jesus says to the Samaritan woman: "If only know you what gift God is offering." It might be hard to see the 'gift' in what is happening at the moment but with the eyes of grace, we can seek out the gift in everything.

Yes, we are living in times where it's hard to know what the future holds. A virus in a single cell has paused our world. However to quote again the reflection above: "All over the world people are waking up to a new reality: to how big we really are. To how little control we really have. To what really matters." We are big because we are living, breathing, experiencing, suffering, struggling, overcoming as a people, as humanity, as a world in solidarity. So maybe over the next few days, in whatever situation you find yourself, you might ask yourself: What really matters and above all Who/who really matters?