Eating Grass

Satisfying our need for love in Jesus alone

03/19/2017

John 4:5-42 Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink, ' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

          Is everyone still enjoying the fond memories of St. Patrick’s Day we celebrated two days ago? Or, should I ask: are you still recovering from the ill effects of too much green beer? Someone sent me an Irish joke I’d like to share with you so we can prolong St. Paddy’s Day a little longer. A wealthy Irish lawyer is driving home from work and he sees a man eating grass by the side of the road. He hollers, “Whatcha doin’ there, friend?” The man replies, “I’m hungry and starvin’, haven’t had any food fer days now, nuttin’ but this grass.” The lawyer says, “Aw, fer the love a Jesus! Come on, then, I’ll take ya to me house. Come on, get in the car.” The relieved man answers, “Oh, God bless and keep ya, sir, but…can I bring me wife and kids? They’re starvin’ too, eating the grass we’ve all been…” The lawyer doesn’t hesitate to say, “Oh ya, bring ‘em along, too. I’ve got the room, now don’t worry. We’ll all be fine!” The man asked again, “And perhaps me poor old uncle as well…” The lawyer laughed and said: “Oh my, yes! Bring ‘em all, yer all welcome, every last one of ya. Heck, the grass out at me home is a foot high!” If you didn’t get that, blame the green beer. When we’re that hungry, it’s amazing what we’ll eat (even grass), and it’s also amazing what other people will try to feed us (more grass). We don’t always nourish ourselves with what’s best for us.

          In the gospel today, we witness another scenario of someone who’s thirsty and another person who promises to satisfy them. In John chapter four we hear the episode of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. John’s literary artistry is on full display as he weaves this story on multiple levels and reveals depths far deeper than Jacob’s well. On the surface of the story, Jesus pauses at a well and casually asks a woman for a drink. That’s the surface level of the story: Jesus is thirsty. When she retorts that Jews don’t talk to Samaritans – much less a Jewish man and a Samaritan woman – Jesus takes the conversation to another, deeper, level. He says, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The Samaritan is smart and answers, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Notice what Jesus did: on a secondary level, Jesus has helped this woman to see her own thirst, and who can satisfy that thirst, none other than Jesus.

          On yet an even deeper level of the story, we learn how this thirst will be quenched. It’s no coincidence that this encounter occurs precisely at Jacob’s well. That well is no insignificant detail. In the Old Testament wells were places of romance, betrothal and marriage. Jacob found his wife at a well, Moses met his wife at a well, Isaac was introduced to his wife at a well. Well, well, well, now that’s a deep subject! So, knowing this backdrop, it should come as little surprise that Jesus changes the subject of their conversation to love and marriage. He says, “Go call your husband.” The woman answers with a half-truth to the One who is Truth Itself (bad idea).  So, she stammers, “I have no husband,” which was only partially true. So, Jesus helps her remember that she has in fact had “five husbands,” but he adds mysteriously, “and the one you are with now is not your husband.” If you’re catching on to John’s literary genius, you know Jesus rarely says something with only a surface meaning; he always means more than he says. Therefore, when our Lord says, “the one you are with now” he really means himself. The only one who could completely and eternally quench the woman’s thirst for love was Jesus, the true Husband. Jesus had come to be not only her Savior but also her Spouse. You see, the woman had been feeding on the “grass” of human love (which always disappoints), but Jesus invited her to satisfy her hunger and quench her thirst forever with his love.

          My friends, are you hungry or thirsty? I’m not talking about eating corned beef and cabbage and drinking green beer. I don’t have any literary skills like St. John, but ask yourself: what is my heart hungry for? May I suggest to you that it’s the same “food” and “drink” the Samaritan woman sought, namely, love. We are all starving for love. But where do we search for satisfaction? Sometimes, we’re like that poor man eating grass by the road, and try to fill ourselves with the passing pleasures of this world, the pseudo-loves that say they will satisfy but never do. Poor lovers like pornography, one night stands, getting one hundred “likes” on your Facebook homily (that’s me!), alcohol and drugs, our jobs and our jet-skis, our good looks and our good grades, the cult of the body and vanity, amassing money and wealth, our political persuasions preventing us from loving the poor, our cars and computer games, our ambitions and our accolades, our food and our phones. Children on the playground sometimes tease each other saying, “If you love it so much, why don’t you marry it??”  Have we married these lesser loves in our hearts?  Compared to our many lovers, the Samaritan woman was doing much better with only five husbands. But Jesus directs his words to us as much as to the Samaritan: “The one you are with now is not your husband.” In other words, the one we are with right now (at this Mass) is Jesus, and we need to make him our Husband and our true love.

          Do you remember the haunting lyrics of that Johnny Lee song, “Looking for love”? They perfectly summarize the Samaritan’s life, and the perfectly summarize your life, and they perfectly summarize my life.  Johnny Lee sang: “I spent a lifetime lookin’ for you / Single bars and good time lovers were never true / Playing a fool’s game, hopin’ to win / Tellin’ those sweet lies and losin’ again. / I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places / Lookin’ for love in too many faces / Searchin’ their eyes / Looking for traces of what I’m dreaming of / Hoping to find a friend and a lover / I’ll bless the day I discover / Another heart lookin’ for love.” Folks, spit the grass out of your mouth, and stop filling yourself with these lesser loves, rather, feed on the only One who will fully and forever satisfy you: Jesus, “the Bread of Life” and “the spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

          Praised be Jesus Christ!