Kaukauna Catholic Parishes

Did you ever feel like saying, “There must be something more to life”? Whenever we hear someone say that, it shows we need more Jesus in our lives. Having Jesus in the center makes our entire life better. When we focus on Christ, our entire life falls into place. A father wanted to read a magazine but was bothered by his little girl. She wanted to know what the United States looked like and kept turning the page to look at the map. Out of frustration, he tore the sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to her and said, “Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our entire country today.” After but a few moments, she returned and handed him the map correctly fixed and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she finished so quickly. “Oh,” she said, “on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I put Jesus how He belonged, then our country came together.” When Christ is our center, then our life falls into place. This Lent is a gift to put God in the forefront. In our Gospel reading today, the Samaritan woman, who met Jesus at the well, was looking for something more to life. After she spoke with Jesus, she went back to her town and le# her water jug. How odd! She made the effort to travel to the well, yet she does not leave with any water. It is hard to imagine that anything would be more important than the physical necessities of food, shelter and water. In our first reading, the Israelites grumbled in the desert against Moses. Moses was the very man who freed them from slavery in Egypt. Some needs, like water, are just that important. What the woman needed was altogether different: she needed a divine presence. The need for God is our deepest longing. The living water we receive from God guides us and shape all of our other needs. The Samaritan woman thirsts for a deeper faith. She needed Jesus. Jesus also thirsts for her faith and all of our devotion. During the conversation, Jesus gradually helped the gift of faith to grow in her heart. We see this increase in faith by the way she addresses Jesus, the titles she uses for Jesus. First, she says “you, a Jew.” Then she calls Jesus “sir.” Later, she calls Jesus a prophet. Finally, she refers to him as the “Christ, the Messiah.” All the Samaritans of that town called Jesus the Savior of the World after the two days he spent with them. Finally, she had the complete picture of the Messiah. At the end of Lent, we want to have our picture of Jesus assembled correctly, like the Samaritan woman. Jesus is the “something more to life” we are looking for. When we put Him as our center, then the second reading of today comes true. Paul tells us that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, we have obtained access to this grace, in which we stand and we rejoice in our hope of sharing in the glory of God.”