Holy Spirit Catholic Church
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Third Sunday of
Lent
February 24, 2008
In 1887 a seven-year-old little girl named Helen Keller lived in our neighboring state Alabama. But she was not an ordinary little girl. She was blind, deaf, and dumb. Helen lost her sight and hearing as the result of an illness when she was about 18 months old. Since she could no longer hear, she soon lost her ability to imitate sounds and thus to speak. She was like a little wild animal, with no way to communicate with the world.
Yet before Helen dies, she would graduate college with honors, become a widely acclaimed author, be the White House guest of every American President from Grover Cleveland to John F. Kennedy, and become an inspiration to handicapped people the world over.
The story behind her amazing achievement dates back to a beautiful spring day in 1887 when a 20-year-old woman named Annie Sullivan came to Alabama to be Helen's private teacher. Annie’s first big step in establishing communication with little Helen came several weeks after her arrival. Helen describes it in her autobiography, "The Story of My Life."
She writes: "My teacher brought me my hat, and I knew I was going out into the warm sunshine. This thought made me hop and skip with pleasure. We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle which covered it. Some one was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand my teacher spelled, into my other hand, the word water. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motion of her fingers. Suddenly the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that 'w-a-t-e-r' meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!
"I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me." Helen's experience at the well that beautiful spring day in 1887 changed her life forever!
The story of Helen Keller at the well bears a striking resemblance to the story in today's Gospel. It too took place at a well. It too involved a teacher and a student. In it the teacher also used water to communicate an important message to the student. And that message changed the life of the student forever. As in the case of Helen Keller, it lifted the Samaritan woman out of a world of darkness and opened for her a world of light. Like the life of Helen Keller, the Samaritan woman's life was changed forever.
In the early days of Christianity, the Samaritan woman became a popular image of catechumens. They were adults learning to be Christians and preparing for Baptism at the Easter Vigil. They too would soon meet Jesus at the well. Water would also play an important part in that meeting. Their lives too would be changed forever. Through the beautiful R.C.I.A. Program this wonderful tradition of our Church has been restored.
This brings us to our parish and ourselves. In our parish on the Vigil of Easter and on Easter Sunday, we will gather around a well, our baptismal font. And, as in the case of the Samaritan woman and Helen Keller, the water in that well will change us forever as we renew our own baptismal vows.
And that brings us to the practical message contained in today’s Gospel story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well.
It is important to note what the Samaritan woman did after her encounter with Jesus at the well. The Gospel says: "The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, 'Come see a man who told me everything I have done.'" The Gospel adds that the people left the town and went out to meet Jesus.
And so the woman, who had been a great sinner, became Christianity's very first missionary. After her encounter with Jesus at the well she went off to share the good news about Jesus with her family, friends, and neighbors. Herein lies the practical message in today's Gospel for each and every one of us here.
We too should respond to our encounter with Jesus at the well of baptism the way the Samaritan woman did. We too should do what Helen Keller did. We too should go out of this church and share the good news of Jesus with others.
Statistics tell us that there are over 20 million inactive Catholics in the United States. That averages out to approximately 700 per parish who are not practicing their faith. Statistics also show that 2/3's of all Catholics who eventually return to the Church do so because a family member or friend invited them to return. We all know inactive Catholics, whether they be a relative, a neighbor, or friend. Herein, I believe, lies an area of missionary work in which every Catholic, young and old, in this church today can and should be involved.
This Lent, joined together with our sacrifices and prayers, issue a warm, loving invitation to that inactive Catholic to join us so that they might find their way back to the Church again. God and His Church welcomes them with open arms!