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3rd Sunday of Lent
Mepkin Abbey
March 19, 2017
Vulnerability and Transformation
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Vulnerability
Brené Brown is a Research Sociologist
and, in a recent TED Talk video clip I watched, she states that connection is
why we are here on earth. It’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.
As believers, we understand that well,
for not only is the triune God we believe in about connection, namely, the
connection between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit …
But our lives here each day and
hereafter are about connection, connection with a God who created us, connection
with a son who redeemed us, and connection with a Holy Spirit that sustains us.
Yes, we long to be connected. After
all, no one wants to be alone. Not you, not I, not the Samaritan woman in the
Gospel, we just heard proclaimed.
But a larger question now arises. “What can the connectedness of Jesus and the
woman, teach us about how we might get better connected with Jesus and with one
another?”
The Samaritan Woman’s Vulnerability
For the answer we need to delve into
the Gospel a bit.
As I read and meditated on this very
familiar encounter at Jacob’s well in ancient Samaria, I began to see that the
woman manifests a very important trait, a trait that seems to be what moves the
Gospel story forward.
She is vulnerable! She allows herself
to be vulnerable. How is she vulnerable?
(1) For starters, she a woman and a Samaritan and she is engaging in a
conversation with a man, and a Jewish man at that, for Jews had only disdain
for Samaritans, so she’s opened herself up to possible reprimand and ridicule.
(2) Then, notice, she first sees Jesus as merely a thirsty stranger, then
as a prophet, then as the Messiah. Her vulnerability is seen in her admitting she
has been mistaken several times regarding who he really is.
(3) Following that, she’s confronted with her half-truth. When asked
by Jesus to have her call her husband, she admits she doesn’t have one, but
doesn’t reveal she’s really had 5 husbands and the man she’s living with isn’t
her husband. Here we see squarely her vulnerability in facing the truth.
(4) Finally, she returns home and tells the townsfolk, "He told me everything I have done"
and reveals her vulnerability in risking rejection from her people because of
their hatred of the Jews.
(5) We can say she fits perfectly, the dictionary definition of
vulnerable as, “Susceptible to physical
or emotional attack.” The word is from the Latin vulnerare, meaning “to wound.”
She’s certainly left herself open to
be wounded.
Our Vulnerability
Being weak and vulnerable isn’t a
trait any of us wishes to be associated with, so let’s admit that we do admire
strength and importance. We admire self-sufficiency, autonomy, being a self-made
person. After all, this is the American way.
Yet, the Gospel would have us turn
this kind of strength upside down and instead to make weakness and
vulnerability what we aspire to.
So I ask you, “What makes you feel vulnerable?”
(1) Having to ask someone for help in a task you’re no longer able to
do, like feeding yourself because you are sick?
(2) Initiating an overdue apology?
(3) Waiting for the doctor to call you back with the test results?
(4) Losing your job, your position, your pension?
(5) Avoiding a conflict when someone wants to use the same thing at
the same time, like the car or the computer?
(6) Not responding in kind, when someone has reacted to you harshly?
This is the world we live in and yet,
they are all opportunities for encountering the Lord!
Conclusion
As I quoted when I began, “Connection is why we are here. It’s what
gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Picturing the interaction of the woman
and Jesus at the well, we see how her vulnerability is the birthplace of love,
belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity.
As Lent deepens and moves into
Passiontide, I would invite you to picture how your being vulnerable with one
other person can be a source of hope, empathy, accountability, and
authenticity.
If we want greater clarity in your
purpose, or if you want a deeper and more meaningful spiritual life,
vulnerability with another is the path.
And it can be encountered in your
everyday interactions with each other, as it was with a woman and a thirsty
stranger she met at a well!
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