#wait for them

(by request, my homily from Sunday)

“You’re always talking about the love of God.”

That’s how the conversation started. It wasn’t a statement of fact. It was a complaint.

They were going to straighten me out. To give me the plan for what I should be talking about.

I needed to be talking about their issue, their cause. It’s not a bad one. In fact, it tracks with what the Church teaches.

But as they went on about what I needed to be doing – God faded into the background.

It was all about their issue, their cause.

Until they got to the people who didn’t support their cause. “People you know,” I was emphatically told.

Then the knives came out. And the labels.

The people who didn’t support their cause became “them.” The people who didn’t support their cause became “those people.”

And God? God was nowhere to be seen.

If you’ve ever wondered why I’m always talking about the love of God, this kind of thing is one of the reasons why.

Because the love of God isn’t a coat of New Testament paint. That love, as St. John tells us, is the very nature of God.

The love of God isn’t a nice idea. Or a passing sentiment, a warm glow that’s here for a moment and then gone.

The love of God is eternal and dynamic, the very force behind creation itself.

The love of God is ongoing and intimate.

As St. Paul tells us in the second reading, “God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

That love is the ground of our believing.

And, as we just heard in the Gospel, that love is first given to “those people.”

The thing is, “those people” are not just out there somewhere. “Those people” aren’t just members of some group. “Those people” aren’t just the ones who don’t see things our way.

Every one of us has “those people” in our lives. Every one of us has someone we’re hoping will change.

Maybe it’s a child who’s adrift or a family member who’s setting themselves up to fail. Maybe it’s a friend who’s not making good decisions or a loved one who’s struggling with addiction or mental illness. We’ve all got “those people” in our lives.

We’re hoping and praying for them, but right now – it doesn’t look like anything’s happening.

We’re believing for the best for them, but right now – it’s like they’re moving backwards.

When that’s all we’re seeing, it’s easy to get frustrated. To think, that’s just the way they are. To see them as stuck. To write them off as “those people.” Even though they’re our people.

But that’s not what they need. They don’t need our help finding faults, they know them all too well.

They need someone who will show them mercy, not judgment. Someone who will believe for them, even when they can’t believe for themselves. Someone who will meet them where they are, and who will love them too much to leave them there.

Someone who will wait for them.

That is the example that Jesus is showing us in today’s Gospel, with the woman at the well.

Their meeting is no accident. As St. John tells, Jesus “is tired from His journey” and “His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.”

Jesus could have gone with them. Instead, He sat down and chose to wait. For her.

Look who Jesus chose to wait for. She’s a Samaritan, part of a breakaway group that refused to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. And that’s the nicest thing you could say about them. Long story short, good and godly Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans. The Samaritans are “those people.”

Then there’s her personal life. Five marriages. Five divorces. And now she’s living with number six. She is a train wreck. Even to the other Samaritans, she’s one of those “those people.”

This is someone who knows rejection all too well. This is someone who doesn’t think much of herself. This is someone who’s been beaten down by life. She is definitely one of “those people.”

And that exactly is who Jesus is waiting for.

Look what Jesus says to her.

If you know the culture of the first century, then you know what it really means. It’s why the disciples were amazed when they saw them talking.

Jesus asks her for water, but with a familiarity reserved only for close family members.

Jesus speaks with her as if He had known her all His life.

She’s one of “those people.” And Jesus is talking with her – like she was His sister.

But it’s not just how Jesus says it. It’s what Jesus says to her.

Jesus doesn’t pretend things are perfect, but Jesus doesn’t judge her either.

Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. But instead of beating her down, He lifts her up and shows her mercy.

Jesus doesn’t choose sides. For Jesus, there’s no such thing as “those people.”

That’s the example that Jesus gives us. That is how you and I are supposed to treat “those people.”

But if we’re honest, we’ve seen this one before. In our own lives.

How many times has God waited on us?

How many times has God waited on you and me when we were adrift or setting ourselves up to fail?

How many times has God waited on us when we weren’t making good decisions or we were struggling?

How many times have you and I been “those people?”

I don’t know about you, but I lost count years ago.

Today, let’s take a moment to thank God for all those times He waited on us. All those times when we gave Him every reason to say, “I am so done with you.” All those times when anyone else would have walked away.

All those times when God didn’t. When God showed us mercy, when God stayed and helped us pick up the pieces.

Then, let’s follow the example of Jesus. And answer God’s call to wait on someone else, someone who’s adrift, someone who’s not making good decisions.

Will you pray for them and encourage them? Will you show them mercy and let them know that you care? Will you love them?

Will you show them how God treats “those people?”

I'm sorry anon I can't 😭. It's 1am here and I really need to sleep. But I saw someone cut the video here. I hope it works.

Ask box will be closed again to finish what I already have. Thank you so much for sending in your requests and I hope they will be done as soon as possible for all the members ^^