Second Week in Lent

Sunday's Sermon

Coming of age

It’s hard to describe exactly when it happens, and it happens for everyone a little differently, but there’s a point in a young person’s life, usually around the time they are preparing to be confirmed, that we call their “coming of age” – their transition from childhood to adulthood. And by this we mean not only the changes that are happening in their bodies, although that is part of it, but a kind of emotional maturity that begins to take root.

Think about that time in your own life for a minute – especially if you are living in that time right now. You start to be able to see the world on your own, not only through the eyes of your parents. Your are able to articulate what you really believe and why. You experience love and loss in a way from which no one can protect you, like when you were children. And perhaps most importantly, you are able to make their own decisions and learn from them, even if that learning is painful.

In today’s gospel the Samaritan woman asks Jesus for water, an image of our thirst for God. Jesus offers living water, a sign of God’s grace flowing from the waters of baptism. The early church used this gospel and those of the next two Sundays to deepen baptismal reflection during the final days of preparation before baptism at Easter. As we journey to the resurrection feast, Christ comes among us in word, bath, and meal—offering us the life-giving water of God’s mercy and forgiveness.