Mothers Group Reflection #44: Plan B

Is anyone else feeling like we were suddenly jettisoned into an altered state of reality, in like, a millisecond? I had originally written quite a different post for today, but as I reread it, while it is still probably relevant, it just feels really out of place at the moment. So, pardon my spur of the moment brain dump today. Maybe next week we will all feel back in the swing of things, as we adjust to a new normal for the duration of all the social distancing, but in the time between now and then, I think I will put my thoughts on pause and go another route for today. 

I have to be honest, I have felt like an emotional roller coaster over the past 72 hours. I am dealing with stuff as it comes along, but it is taking all of my mental and emotional reserves to process all the changes, and if I'm being completely honest, I'm still struggling to submit my heart fully to all I am about to say. Because frankly, I had a different plan for Lent. A different vision of how it was all going to go. And this isn't it. And while I can see that there will be blessings, even from all of this mess, right now, it's not fully feeling like a blessing. And if you're singing a cheerful tune and have been totally unrocked by everything, God bless you! I would love to invite you over for coffee. Because I'm not totally there yet.

I have to say though, it can only be God that could have arranged all of the current events to coincide with the readings for this past Sunday. As I opened my readings for the day, I was completely blown away. It was as if God took all the best of everything I have been drawn to over the past year and placed it all into one day's readings, and I'd like to share what I discovered.

In the first reading, Exodus 17:3-7, we find the Israelites, once again, crying out in a panic at a sudden water shortage, and at what appeared to them, in the moment, as a total catastrophe. They instantly threw their hands into the air and said to Moses, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?" (Exodus 17:3 NRSVCE) Yep. Been there. It was here that the Israelites "quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" (Exodus 17:7 NRSVCE) As I mentioned in a previous reflection, they were not yet ready to see themselves as God's beloved children and shed that old slave mindset. They forgot to simply ask. That was all He was waiting on. He seemed to be saying, "Trust me. I am a loving Father and I wait to meet each of your needs. You have only to look at me and ask."

Next, we move on to the responsorial Psalm, 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9. "O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah." (Psalm 95:7b-8a NRSVCE) This Psalm is actually recalling the very scene in Exodus 17 at Massah and Meribah in the desert, where the Israelites tested God, even though they had clearly seen God's works already. They had much to be grateful for, much to lift up in praise, and they missed the opportunity when they let their emotions rule the moment. God was asking them to come joyfully into His presence with expectant praise and open hearts, which becomes obvious in the second reading.

The second reading takes us to Romans 5:1-2, 5-8. Here, we are reminded that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ because we have been justified by faith. Key word: faith...belief without proof. And what follows? "And hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly...But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:5-6, 8 NRSVCE) God is reminding us that He never has, and never will, let us down. His grace is not earned, but He does need our cooperation. He does not wait for us to reach out to Him, He comes seeking us first, in whatever mess we may find ourselves in. He already knows how all this stuff is going to work out and He has a plan, because He loved us before time began. But He is waiting on us to look to Him with trust and to consent to His plans for us, no matter how many crazy detours He may take us on.

And finally, comes the gospel from John 4:5-43. This is where I found the icing on the cake. I absolutely love the story of the Samaritan woman, how Jesus went beyond all social boundaries and reached out to anyone and everyone. But what really jumped off the page for me today, no matter how many times I have read this story, is the line where, "Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.'" (John 4:13-14 NRSVCE) And she was so taken by what she had just discovered that she forgot her water jar and ran off to tell everyone. She had finally discovered the very thing that could fill a lifetime of gnawing emptiness and she completely abandons the very symbol of what could never hope to fill her. She ran to tell everyone that she had just come to this well, in the heat of the day, to avoid. And apparently, she was so convincing, so changed by this encounter, that everyone listened to her and ran to see for themselves. Jesus took a bad circumstance and flipped it completely upside down and filled her in such a way that she would never be empty again.

I keep hearing that God slowly carves out an empty place within that is just the right size for Him to come and fill us completely. He beckons to us in all the events in our daily life, whether very small or catastrophic, gently reminding us to return to Him with our whole hearts. So, wherever you are in that process of emptying or filling, I invite you along side me in spirit, throughout the rest of this Lenten journey, to wholeheartedly submit to this pruning process He has allowed us at the moment. So that we may be filled with the abundant joy of the resurrection this Easter, no matter whether we find ourselves back together again or not. Because truly, that spring within is the only thing we need, we just have to look up and ask, keep our hearts open, trust and be filled. He will never disappoint.

Questions for further reflection:

Where are you struggling with current events or your own desires in life? What might God be asking you to relinquish during your Lenten journey? Which area do you need to submit more to God's guidance: asking, keeping an open heart, trust or being filled by Him alone? I invite you to take this area to prayer in the coming week and to rely on Him to give the grace for each moment as you grow in your love of Him.

Verse for the week:

"Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.'" (John 4:13-14 NRSVCE)