On this third Sunday of Lent weekend, let me begin by sharing a few words from an author most of you may recognize by name; many may have read some of his works. His latest publication, The Third Jesus: the Christ We Cannot Ignore, is sure to stir responses from leaders of the world’s religions. Depak Chopra said that he hoped those who read and reflect on the contents of the book would gain a "practical way" to gather understanding from the New Testament. More importantly, I believe, he expressed the hope that his readers would come to understand that their engaging in contemplative meditation is an avenue to positive change.
He said: "Everything changes for the good. The way we think, the way we behave, the way we feel, the way we have our personal relationships, our social interactions, our environment all changes in an evolutionary direction because we have shifted in our own consciousness." It is this shift, this coming to understand more clearly who we are that "is precisely what is meant by the kingdom of heaven within you."
In today’s first reading, Moses is the victim of the people’s discontent, their frustration with the desert drought. He always turned to God, mindful of his personal feeling of inadequacy in preaching and leading: "a little more and they will stone me." We learned how God responded to their testing: Moses struck the rock and water flowed out from it. This serves as a reminder to us that God will respond to our pesterings. It is we who have to have patience. God will care for us as promised.
In the gospel, the experience at Jacob’s well, Jesus teaches us again that he satisfies our thirst, our seekings, our wants. What Jesus offered the woman at Jacob’s well, the foreigner with whom he should not have had any interaction, was and is not natural water. He wanted to teach a true awareness of God, what Chopra calls "God-consciousness." He opens up new understanding through the water he offers.
This experience of the woman with Jesus can easily be presented as an example what most spiritual guides believe: "people mirror back to us the reality of who we are" (Chopra, p 13). Jesus opened to the woman a new vision, a new life. We can say Jesus mirrored back to the woman who she truly was, the depth of her soul, her being. Immediately after the still-learning disciples returned and found Jesus dealing with the woman, she put down her jug of water and "hurried back to the town to tell the people, ‘Come and see the man who told me everything I ever did; I wonder if he is the Christ?’" His words, his "new water" caused her to bring forth love from her true self. She had allowed the innate "God consciousness" to direct her life. As St. Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, "When anyone is united to Christ there is a new creature: his old life is over; a new life is already begun (5:17)." This experience was the genuinely radical Jesus digging away at roots that damaged relationships among people.
I believe the journey of Lent offers the opportunity to know the Jesus who told us "I am the light" (John 9:5). This is the same Jesus who in Matthew’s gospel teaches his followers "You are the light of the world (5:12). Jesus wants each of us to become God enlightened. He would not utter such words were it not his vision, his mission.
I believe the journey of Lent offers the opportunity to know the Jesus who told us "I am the light" (John 9:5). This is the same Jesus who in Matthew’s gospel teaches his followers "You are the light of the world (5:12). Jesus wants each of us to become God enlightened. He would not utter such words were it not his vision, his mission.
Let me turn directly to what Chopra sees as the nine essentials of a spiritual life. These very simple statements are truly what every spiritual director or writer seeks to pass one to others.
1 . Meditation – Going within to contact the silent mind.
2. Contemplation – Reflecting on the truth.
3. Revelation – Receiving spiritual insight.
4. Prayer – Asking for higher guidance.
5. Grace – Taking God into one’s heart.
6. Love – Participating in divine love.
7. Faith – Believing in a higher reality.
8. Salvation – Realizing that you have a place in higher reality.
9. Unity – Becoming one with God.
Chopra, page 23.
1 . Meditation – Going within to contact the silent mind.
2. Contemplation – Reflecting on the truth.
3. Revelation – Receiving spiritual insight.
4. Prayer – Asking for higher guidance.
5. Grace – Taking God into one’s heart.
6. Love – Participating in divine love.
7. Faith – Believing in a higher reality.
8. Salvation – Realizing that you have a place in higher reality.
9. Unity – Becoming one with God.
Chopra, page 23.
These nine essentials are exactly what happened to the woman at the well. These essentials are what the Jewish people experienced when Moses in his frustration sought God’s help and was graced with the gift of water from the rock.
So what is the message we encounter today? I believe it is simple this: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. This is the message to anyone on a Lenten journey. We are blessed by God with so many graces. Do we take the time to know them, to understand them, to love them?
Sometimes what makes our life so difficult and our God awareness so challenging is that we find it difficult to understand Jesus fully. We know he lived and lives in a genuine God consciousness. Awareness of God in all we do in our times is the challenge.
We prayed just a few moments ago: "I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living (Psalm 115). If we make the effort to pray, to contemplate Jesus each day, we will quickly live within the God consciousness that gives peace and makes us a new creation.
Photo: NASA and UP
