SUNDAY SCRIPTURES FOR MARCH 23 | Called to be advocates and companions for others

For the next three weekends, there are two options for readings. The Scrutinies are rites used at Masses that include people going through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults and will feature readings from John’s Gospel. Other Masses will have readings from the Gospel of Luke. With either option, there is a consistent theme that we might allow to form us through Lent.

In Luke’s Gospel, some people with Jesus are reflecting on tragic situations and asking if those people deserved it. They were crushed to death, and some people thought it was because they were sinners. Jesus reminds people that sin has consequences for each of us, and we shouldn’t worry about whether someone else is a sinner. In the end of this Gospel reading, Jesus gives us the example of one who advocates for the continuing life of the fig tree. Give it a chance to bear fruit, just one more year. That advocate becomes an image of how Jesus treats us in His mercy. Jesus always gives us that one extra chance so we can be motivated by love to convert our lives and hearts.

The Samaritan woman at the well has a different dilemma. She encounters Jesus one on one and is sure that He hates and rejects her. She has experienced that culturally from other Jews, and she expects that of Jesus. Instead of dismissing the woman and calling her names, Jesus has a conversation and encounter with her. They share the depths of their hearts, and she experiences Jesus’ love for her. Who she has been in the past and what religion she follows is not the important question. Is she a disciple of Jesus? At the end of the story, we understand that she goes and tells everyone about Him. She is a disciple.

We are called to be advocates and companions with others. That mission is easy when it is for our friends or those we agree with. It becomes much more difficult when we see another person and, by their behavior, judge them to be less than we are. Isn’t it true that we sometimes begin to believe that other people, because of their actions, are incapable of being saved?

In times of trouble and situations that have led us off the path of discipleship in our own lives, it doesn’t help for someone to yell at us and tell us how bad we are. What enables us to move toward conversion is the loving companion who stays with us, even when they know our bad behavior or our bad choices. They accompany us with love, just as Jesus did. They don’t accept our way of life, but they accept us as one made in the image and likeness of God. That is what moves the human heart and mind to conversion.

Are there people in our lives for whom we could be that steadfast companion and advocate for deeper life? If we look at people who don’t seem to be bearing fruit, like the fig tree, would we believe that they are still capable of bearing fruit and give them everything they need to have that next chance to grow? Might we be able to do that with people who are so different that we think they’re beyond hope? What might we be able to do that would make us encounter people like this? How can each of us get out of our safe and comfortable bubbles, encounter those who are different and allow them to give us a chance to be their companions on the road to conversion?

We all know how important the companions on our journey have been, especially the ones who have stayed with us in tough times and when we weren’t at our best. What a privilege it is to be that for someone else.

Father Donald Wester is retired and serves as lecturer of homiletics at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.