Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Sometimes we need precisely that moment where we catch a glimpse of our own reflection and realise that the face that looks back at us is sad, tired and confused and needs to be hydrated from the wellspring of life, the encounter with Living Water, Jesus Christ. After the encounter with Jesus at the well, the Samaritan woman becomes a well-woman. Then, the reflection which she sees is that of a beloved child of God, beloved of the Father. It took a while for her to get to that place where she could feel that. Yet, without realising it, she is like the empty water jug which she carries. It is ready to be filled. She is a container to be filled with the living water which gushes forth from the wellsprings of life. First she hesitates, she focuses on the law. Jesus focuses on grace. Jews weren't supposed to speak to Samaritans. More so, men weren't permitted to address women without their husbands present. And "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman," she reminded...

Even the most courageous people have fears to overcome. Fear does horrible things to us. It makes us doubt those closest to us and it can make us afraid to love because we are afraid of being rejected. If you ask someone what they are afraid of, at first they may answer with something tangible, like spiders or heights or water. If you probe a little deeper, they might volunteer that they are afraid of death, of suffering, of losing a loved one, of failure, of loneliness. Fear about tomorrow is what keeps people awake at night! In today’s Gospel, we see the disciples in the middle of a storm which threatens to capsize their boat. It isn’t long before they are afraid. “The boat arrived at the shore to which they were heading”: On the water, Jesus doesn’t need to get into the boat. Jesus is doing just fine without them or their boat- It’s that they need Jesus. So many people know Jesus is there, just outside their boat, but they won’t let Him get in. He wants to get in, and we’ve esta...