“Shared Faith Through Priestly Ministry.”

Homily by Father François Beyrouti on October 21, 2012.
Organized by the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario.

Epistle: Galatians 2:16-20. Gospel read: Sunday of the Samaritan Woman (John 4:5-42)

“Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, [14] but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ [15] The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’ ” (John 4:13-15).

Water has been one of the most basic needs of humans throughout all of time. Even more important than any water is clean drinkable water. Despite all our technological and societal advancements, water remains an issue of worldwide concern. To such an extent that:

– Today, almost 1 billion people throughout the world still lack clean drinking water.
– Women spend 200 million hours a day collecting water.
– Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness,
– and in total 3.4 million people die each year from diseases related to unclean water.
(Source: http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/)

Therefore, the Samaritan woman’s desire for some water and even more important water that is clean, abundant, and easily accessible is still a basic concern for every human. However, in her discussion with Jesus, the Samaritan woman received much more. When she first went to the well all she wanted was water. When Jesus told her about the ‘living water,’ she recognized that it was important, and then had the courage to ask for it as she said: “Sir, give me this water.” She now no longer wanted any water, but she wanted ‘this’ water; the water that only Jesus could give.

The Samaritan woman soon realized that by listening to what Jesus told her and by responding to His gift, she was able to leave with the message of Jesus in her. She first absorbed the wisdom and power of Jesus, then by accepting His Word, Jesus become in her a source of water springing up to eternal life. It was only by accepting, asking, and then receiving that the Samaritan woman was able to get more than what she first came looking for.

This is what happens when we integrate our life with the life of Christ. We begin to see more of who we are and more of what we need to be. We may start by searching for any water, but we end up getting an abundance of life giving water. If we look at our hands, and the hands of others around the Church, we see that each can be seen separately, but when joined together, we not only see more, but these hands become stronger than they ever could have been when separated.

One of the main reasons why Catholic universities that teach Theology exist is to reflect on ways that we can integrate our knowledge of Jesus into our daily life. Furthermore, the interpretation of Scripture whether done at a University or at home is not about finding more historical data but about actively searching for ways that Christ can enter us, renew us, and change us in the process.

This is not always an easy task, but it is always worth it. It took Origen of Alexandria, one of the greatest Christian Theologians, around 40 paragraphs to comment on only three verses from the story of Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman as found in chapter 4 of the Gospel of John. My thesis on Origen’s reflection on these verses ended up being significantly longer but did not exhaust the beauty and depths of these verses. If beauty and truth lies in simplicity and brevity, then both Origen and I are in deep trouble.

However, there is always more to be said about every verse of Scripture because of the variety of people reading it. When we interact with the text we not only see more in the text, but more importantly we begin to see more in ourselves, and hopefully in the process we become better people.

My time studying the Bible and also serving as a priest has been filled with the joy of many interactions that moved from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Wanting only water, but discovering living water through the many interactions that God has blessed me with was a daily occurrence. I have marveled at the gift that God has given me not only in the priesthood, but surprisingly through the priesthood. One of my greatest desires before being ordained was to share the love of God with others. I felt such joy in my faith and I felt that I was being called by God to share His love with everyone. What I soon realized was that through the priesthood, my faith in God was growing because of the love of God that I witnessed in people.

The first experience that changed my perspective on the priesthood was when I went to visit a dying woman in the hospital with Fr. Sleiman Hajjar, who later became our bishop. He spoke to her, we all prayed together, with the family around her, and the last words she said to all of us before dying was: “Ana – mitkily ala-Alla.” / “I am depending on God.” We were there to prayer for her, we were there to bless her, we were there to anoint her. All those things we did, but we left feeling that she was a prayer for us, we left feeling that she had blessed us, we left feeling that she had anointed us. The priest may anoint with his hands, but in so doing he is also anointed by the humble bows of the heads he anoints. Will I – can I possibly have that much faith in times of suffering, trials, and at the moment of my death? I was there to give, but ended up receiving more than I ever had to give.

During the Divine Liturgy and during many visits, the priest is asked to bless. What I have grown to realize is that a cross has two sides. Every time a priest extends his hands to bless, he is being blessed not only by the cross but by the people facing him and the cross. Therefore, you have not only received the blessing from the cross, I have been blessed by the same cross and also by your presence.

We are too often satisfied with simply getting by and going through the routine of our day to day life, and overlook the daily blessings that take the ordinary and make them extraordinary. What is our water? And how will that water become living water in us? This is our daily challenge. How will we begin to see our family relationships as more than ordinary water? Can we repeat the words of Saint Paul who says in his letter to the Galatians “It is now no longer I who live, but Christ is living in me.”?

When we interact with Christ and allow the word of God to be the model of everything we think, say, and do, then everything we interact with will be elevated from the ordinary to the extraordinary. When we move from the water to the living water, we will begin to see living relationships, a living family, a living Church, a living life.

We are often tempted to ‘Go with the flow.’ But if we look at a river, we quickly realize that only chopped down trees and dead animals are going with the flow. If our life is to be filled with the living water of Christ, then our goal needs to be to “Go with God’s flow.” We will never discover God’s flow if we keep drinking from the poisoned waters of pessimism, despair, negativity, pride, arrogance, and all sorts of other sins. Rather, faith, hope, and love propel us to see a better and happier world.

Who I am has been deeply formed by my faith in Christ’s love. This has been nourished by my parents and brothers who have all played a very distinct part in my life. Before I came to Ottawa 19 years ago, I thought I was blessed enough. But God decided to bless me with friends, and to put me in situations, where I thought I was giving, but then realized that I have been given so much more in return. Therefore, my experience with you in Ottawa makes me feel that you have been my ‘living water.’

This homily could have been only two words repeated 1000 times. Those two words are: “Thank you.” Thank you for welcoming me into your lives. Thank you for being so positive and responsive to the different things we did together. Thank you for being supportive. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your faith. Thank you for the blessing you have been in my life. I appreciate your friendship and you need to know that wherever I go, I will never forget all the beautiful memories that we shared together. Though distance may separate us, our faith in God keeps our hands always together.

For me a true sign of friendship is whether you feel that you are a better person because of the other. The great joy that is present in my heart is because I am certain that I am a better person because I have met you.

This week I’ll be moving to Placentia, California and my appointment as pastor of Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church will begin on November 1. In case you are wondering where that is, it is 20 minutes from Disneyland in Anaheim. So I hope you will visit me. I’ll be back in Ottawa as soon as my committee sets a date for my doctoral defense. In the meantime keep me in your prayers. Yes, please keep me, your brother and friend in your prayers and know just how blessed I feel for having met you, for having been able to share my faith with you, and even more important how grateful I am for having had the opportunity to witness your faith and to be a recipient of your living water that is abundant, that is pure, and that has been life transforming for me.

Any blessing I have given you,
I have received 1000 times in return and for that I am grateful and feel enormously blessed.

Father Francois Beyrouti