Have you ever found yourself dissatisfied while dining at a restaurant? Maybe a special entrée just didn’t live up to your curiosity, excitement and expectations. That bowl of Bolognese left you wanting something a little more.
I believe our reaction to scenarios like this can mirror the way we communicate our desires to God. When faced with unfulfilled desires at a restaurant, some customers comfortably communicate their experience with the waitstaff and seek a peaceful resolution. Others take a more aggressive approach by demanding some culinary or monetary retribution. Still others grumble to themselves or a friend but say “just fine” when the manager asks how the first few bites are tasting.
Our physical desires, hungers and thirsts are important for our bodies to survive and thrive, but no less important are the desires of our hearts that long to be satisfied in deep and lasting ways. I long to be known, understood, comforted, accepted and loved. Yet the thirst for soda and the hunger for pizza are easier to acknowledge and define — we recognize these cravings as soon as they arise. How do we discern and communicate the desires of our hearts? Who do we seek to fulfill these longings of the soul? Perhaps we turn to ourselves or to others but are sometimes reticent in turning to God with our deepest desires.
Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well is a model for relational prayer; the story teaches us how to acknowledge and communicate our desires to the one who longs to receive us. Citing St. Augustine, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes this relationship of prayer: “The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him” (CCC 2560).
At the well, Jesus approaches the woman who is consumed with her own life’s difficulties. She longs to be accepted and fulfilled, but she keeps coming up empty. Jesus takes the first step toward her, vulnerably shares his thirst for her companionship, and invites her to a mutual exchange, a giving of self and reception of the other. This is the same path that we can take in sharing our desires and the intimate longings of our souls with Jesus. He approaches us first, and he is so much more than a waiter who just checks on our satisfaction. He is the one who loves us, longs for us, and thirsts for us. Sometimes we waste time and energy in judging and asking if we’re praying right. The only criteria worthy of measuring prayer are consistency and honesty. Come to the Lord regularly and share desires and longings with him in sincerity and truth. This is the well where Jesus wants to meet us — he thirsts for us to share our thirst with him.
Father VanHoose is pastor of St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi.
Sunday, March 12
Third Sunday of Lent
