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MAY 28
HIS UNTRADITIONAL CHOICES
“Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s
testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came
to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.
And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It
is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for
ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’” (Jn 4:
39-42)
Two surprising moments here: First, “many” Samaritans believe because
of the testimony of a woman. And not just any woman, but one who had
already had five husbands and was now with a sixth guy, who wasn’t even
her husband. Nonetheless, she was evidently a figure of considerable
authority, whose testimony is trusted within her community. So our
Lord knew what He was doing, choosing her as His messenger. Second,
Jesus chooses to stay with the heretical Samaritans, with whom Jews
were to have no contact at all, for two whole days. Our Lord cuts through
important, yet secondary, issues of tradition and propriety, in order to
bring His light to more people, that they might know “that this is indeed
the Savior of the world.”
How different are His choices from ours today, in matters of evangelization
and church-building. We stumble over these very same, secondary issues.
We hotly debate the “traditionality” of women’s participation in churchmatters,
the status of heretics and the use of the word “church,” while
allowing church-unity to fall by the wayside. We are willing to hinder the
unified voice of the Church, the unified testimony to Him, to be heard in
this world, as we quibble about our traditions. Today I pray that my Lord
help me cut through the secondary issues, and focus on the primary, as
He did on those two sunny days in Samaria.
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