Fr. Craig Swan: The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fr. Craig Swan: According to John.
Fr. Craig Swan: Glory be to thee, O Christ.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of
Fr. Craig Swan: ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jacob's well was there, and
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus, tired out by his journey,
Fr. Craig Swan: was sitting by the wall by the
Fr. Craig Swan: well.
Fr. Craig Swan: It was about noon.
Fr. Craig Swan: A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her,
Fr. Craig Swan: give me a drink.
Fr. Craig Swan: His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.
Fr. Craig Swan: The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask a
Fr. Craig Swan: drink of me, a woman of Samaria?
Fr. Craig Swan: Jews do not share things in common with the Samaritans.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus answered her, if you knew
Fr. Craig Swan: the gift of God, and who it is
Fr. Craig Swan: that is saying to you, give me a
Fr. Craig Swan: drink.
Fr. Craig Swan: You would have asked him and he
Fr. Craig Swan: would have given you living
Fr. Craig Swan: water.
Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, sir, you
Fr. Craig Swan: have no bucket and the well is
Fr. Craig Swan: deep.
Fr. Craig Swan: Where do you get that living water?
Fr. Craig Swan: Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the
Fr. Craig Swan: well, and with his sons and his flocks, drank from it?
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, everyone who
Fr. Craig Swan: drinks of this water will be
Fr. Craig Swan: thirsty again.
Fr. Craig Swan: But those who drink of the water
Fr. Craig Swan: that I will give them will never
Fr. Craig Swan: be thirsty.
Fr. Craig Swan: The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water
Fr. Craig Swan: gushing up to eternal life.
Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, sir, give me this water, so that I may
Fr. Craig Swan: never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come back.
Fr. Craig Swan: The woman answered him, I have no husband.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, you are right
Fr. Craig Swan: in saying, I have no husband,
Fr. Craig Swan: for you have had five husbands,
Fr. Craig Swan: and the one you have now is not
Fr. Craig Swan: your husband.
Fr. Craig Swan: What you have said is true.
Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, sir, I see that you are a prophet.
Fr. Craig Swan: Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the
Fr. Craig Swan: place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming
Fr. Craig Swan: when you will worship the father, neither on this mountain
Fr. Craig Swan: nor in Jerusalem.
Fr. Craig Swan: You will worship what you do not know.
Fr. Craig Swan: We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Fr. Craig Swan: But the hour is coming, and now is here, when the true
Fr. Craig Swan: worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth.
Fr. Craig Swan: For the father seeks such as these to worship him.
Fr. Craig Swan: God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in
Fr. Craig Swan: spirit and truth.
Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming, who
Fr. Craig Swan: is called Christ.
Fr. Craig Swan: When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, I am he, the one who is speaking to you.
Fr. Craig Swan: Just then his disciples came.
Fr. Craig Swan: They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no
Fr. Craig Swan: one said, what do you want?
Fr. Craig Swan: Or why are you speaking with her?
Fr. Craig Swan: Then the woman left her water jug and went back to the city.
Fr. Craig Swan: She said to the people, come and see a man who told me everything
Fr. Craig Swan: I have ever done.
Fr. Craig Swan: He cannot be the Messiah, can he?
Fr. Craig Swan: They left the city and were on their way to him.
Fr. Craig Swan: Meanwhile, the disciples were
Fr. Craig Swan: urging him, Rabbi, eat
Fr. Craig Swan: something.
Fr. Craig Swan: But he said to them, I have food
Fr. Craig Swan: to eat that you do not know
Fr. Craig Swan: about.
Fr. Craig Swan: So the disciples said to one another, surely no one has
Fr. Craig Swan: brought him something to eat.
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent
Fr. Craig Swan: me, and to complete his work.
Fr. Craig Swan: Do you not say, four months more than comes the harvest?
Fr. Craig Swan: But I tell you, look around you
Fr. Craig Swan: and see how the fields are ripe
Fr. Craig Swan: for harvesting.
Fr. Craig Swan: The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for
Fr. Craig Swan: eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together.
Fr. Craig Swan: For here the saying holds true.
Fr. Craig Swan: One sows and another reaps.
Fr. Craig Swan: I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor.
Fr. Craig Swan: Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.
Fr. Craig Swan: Many Samaritans from that city
Fr. Craig Swan: believed in him because of the
Fr. Craig Swan: woman's testimony.
Fr. Craig Swan: He told me everything I have done.
Fr. Craig Swan: So when the Samaritans came to
Fr. Craig Swan: him, they asked him to stay with
Fr. Craig Swan: them and he stayed there two
Fr. Craig Swan: days.
Fr. Craig Swan: And many more believed because of his word.
Fr. Craig Swan: They said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said
Fr. Craig Swan: that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know
Fr. Craig Swan: that this is truly the Saviour of the world.
Fr. Craig Swan: The gospel of the Lord.
Fr. Craig Swan: Praise to you, Lord Christ.
Fr. Craig Swan: In the name of God, father, son and Holy Spirit.
Fr. Craig Swan: Amen.
Fr. Craig Swan: Please be seated.
Fr. Craig Swan: Yesterday afternoon, Maureen and I had the opportunity to go to
Fr. Craig Swan: see a Broadway style play.
Fr. Craig Swan: Now, obviously we didn't see this in New York because there
Fr. Craig Swan: really was no way we'd been able to go there and get back on time
Fr. Craig Swan: for this morning.
Fr. Craig Swan: So it was sort of an off
Fr. Craig Swan: Broadway play, way off Broadway
Fr. Craig Swan: play.
Fr. Craig Swan: And it was not exactly a professional play either.
Fr. Craig Swan: It was an amateur production.
Fr. Craig Swan: It was actually the fall River
Fr. Craig Swan: Middle School's production of
Fr. Craig Swan: Alice in Wonderland, produced
Fr. Craig Swan: and directed by our daughter
Fr. Craig Swan: Chelsea.
Fr. Craig Swan: And it was an absolutely wonderful play.
Fr. Craig Swan: And I'm not here talking about
Fr. Craig Swan: that because just because I'm
Fr. Craig Swan: proud of her for what she
Fr. Craig Swan: accomplished, but because of
Fr. Craig Swan: what I saw happen in the midst
Fr. Craig Swan: of that play, that was just so
Fr. Craig Swan: absolutely wonderful.
Fr. Craig Swan: And it has a lot to do with today's gospel.
Fr. Craig Swan: And because our daughter is the director, it means that Maureen
Fr. Craig Swan: are the last ones to leave because we're waiting to have a
Fr. Craig Swan: chance to see her.
Fr. Craig Swan: And so I get to observe a lot of what goes on after the play.
Fr. Craig Swan: And what I always found
Fr. Craig Swan: wonderful is after the play is
Fr. Craig Swan: over, after the applause is done
Fr. Craig Swan: and the faces of the parents and
Fr. Craig Swan: glowing over the pride of their
Fr. Craig Swan: children.
Fr. Craig Swan: The curtain goes down and all of a sudden you hear this huge
Fr. Craig Swan: cheer from behind the curtain.
Fr. Craig Swan: Forty five kids cheering, proud of what they had accomplished.
Fr. Craig Swan: And then, as each student exited the auditorium after taking off
Fr. Craig Swan: their costumes, many still in their makeup, there was a line
Fr. Craig Swan: of teachers and administrators.
Fr. Craig Swan: And no matter whether they had
Fr. Craig Swan: the lead or their part of the
Fr. Craig Swan: ensemble, each one was cheered
Fr. Craig Swan: for by their name and applauded
Fr. Craig Swan: by their administrators and
Fr. Craig Swan: teachers.
Fr. Craig Swan: And you could just see the kids beam.
Fr. Craig Swan: And then after all of that, there came the tears.
Fr. Craig Swan: And Marie and I, having been in high school productions, know
Fr. Craig Swan: what it's like to feel that letdown after you've worked so
Fr. Craig Swan: hard for so long to put something on like a play that
Fr. Craig Swan: all of a sudden it's over and there's a lot of emotion that
Fr. Craig Swan: needs to come out.
Fr. Craig Swan: But I realized after we left and were at dinner with Chelsea and
Fr. Craig Swan: she was telling me the stories about these kids, I realized
Fr. Craig Swan: there was something more to those tears than just a letdown
Fr. Craig Swan: at the end of a play.
Fr. Craig Swan: Every child, all forty eight
Fr. Craig Swan: children in that production, has
Fr. Craig Swan: a story, and she knew all of
Fr. Craig Swan: their stories.
Fr. Craig Swan: Many of them had special
Fr. Craig Swan: education labels, whether it be
Fr. Craig Swan: for academic issues or behavior
Fr. Craig Swan: issues.
Fr. Craig Swan: Many came from very poor, chaotic homes.
Fr. Craig Swan: She will often talk about in
Fr. Craig Swan: times past, where she would
Fr. Craig Swan: start with one student in a role
Fr. Craig Swan: and then all of a sudden have to
Fr. Craig Swan: recast it three weeks before the
Fr. Craig Swan: play because that family lost
Fr. Craig Swan: their apartment and had to move
Fr. Craig Swan: away.
Fr. Craig Swan: This year, she talked about the
Fr. Craig Swan: students who weren't there
Fr. Craig Swan: because in fall River, what we
Fr. Craig Swan: see on TV in regards to what's
Fr. Craig Swan: going on with Ice is their
Fr. Craig Swan: reality.
Fr. Craig Swan: Every child had an opportunity to shine in that production.
Fr. Craig Swan: Every child with different ethnic and racial backgrounds
Fr. Craig Swan: were part of that production.
Fr. Craig Swan: Every single child was seen over
Fr. Craig Swan: those two days of the
Fr. Craig Swan: production.
Fr. Craig Swan: For someone who was beyond whatever their labels are.
Fr. Craig Swan: And for many, maybe it was the first time that someone saw them
Fr. Craig Swan: beyond their special needs label or their inner city child label
Fr. Craig Swan: or whatever, somehow boxes them off and kind of shifts them to
Fr. Craig Swan: minority status or marginalized in this country.
Fr. Craig Swan: They were truly seen for that.
Fr. Craig Swan: Our production by their
Fr. Craig Swan: teachers, by their parents, for
Fr. Craig Swan: someone greater than they have
Fr. Craig Swan: been seen.
Fr. Craig Swan: Most of their time and most of their life.
Fr. Craig Swan: That feeling that they had of being fully seen is what today's
Fr. Craig Swan: gospel story is about being fully seen by God.
Fr. Craig Swan: We heard the story of the
Fr. Craig Swan: Samaritan woman, and as the
Fr. Craig Swan: story progresses, we begin to
Fr. Craig Swan: realize that this is a woman who
Fr. Craig Swan: has been ostracized not just
Fr. Craig Swan: because she's a Samaritan, but
Fr. Craig Swan: because of the events in her
Fr. Craig Swan: life.
Fr. Craig Swan: Now we hear that she has had five husbands.
Fr. Craig Swan: Now, unless she is the main
Fr. Craig Swan: character in the book of Tobit,
Fr. Craig Swan: who lost her husband on the
Fr. Craig Swan: night of her on her wedding
Fr. Craig Swan: night, each time it is clear
Fr. Craig Swan: that she has perhaps been
Fr. Craig Swan: widowed and also divorced, and
Fr. Craig Swan: now is forced for survival to
Fr. Craig Swan: live as if married with somebody
Fr. Craig Swan: else.
Fr. Craig Swan: And we know that she's been ostracized because the time of
Fr. Craig Swan: day that she's going to the well, the women of the community
Fr. Craig Swan: did not go to the well at high noon when it was hot.
Fr. Craig Swan: They went early in the morning to gather water to bring back to
Fr. Craig Swan: the home, to be used with cooking and washing and all that
Fr. Craig Swan: goes with it.
Fr. Craig Swan: So this is a woman who is fully
Fr. Craig Swan: labeled as not just unworthy but
Fr. Craig Swan: unclean, and has lived a life of
Fr. Craig Swan: being told that is what she is
Fr. Craig Swan: unclean.
Fr. Craig Swan: So imagine her surprise, as we hear in the gospel, when this
Fr. Craig Swan: Jewish rabbi comes into town.
Fr. Craig Swan: And as we hear in those words, there was such animosity between
Fr. Craig Swan: the Jews of Jerusalem and the Samaritans, who were also Jews,
Fr. Craig Swan: that a good Jew would not even receive a glass of water, let
Fr. Craig Swan: alone speak to a Samaritan.
Fr. Craig Swan: So she is shocked to know that Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, is even
Fr. Craig Swan: willing to speak with her.
Fr. Craig Swan: And then more and more, to her surprise, is that not only is he
Fr. Craig Swan: speaking to her because he needs a glass of water.
Fr. Craig Swan: He sees something greater in her than a woman who has had five
Fr. Craig Swan: husbands and living in what would be usually classified up
Fr. Craig Swan: until recently as living in sin.
Fr. Craig Swan: He saw a beloved child of God.
Fr. Craig Swan: And he treated her in that way.
Fr. Craig Swan: In that moment, she was no longer an unclean Samaritan
Fr. Craig Swan: woman, but worthy of God's love.
Fr. Craig Swan: An experience she most likely hadn't had in quite some time.
Fr. Craig Swan: And she is so moved by this experience that she runs out and
Fr. Craig Swan: tells the whole community of what she had experienced with
Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus, realizing that not only had it been a Jewish rabbi, but
Fr. Craig Swan: this was the Anointed One to bring salvation to the world,
Fr. Craig Swan: even to her who had been perceived as unworthy.
Fr. Craig Swan: Each and every one of us carries something with us that tells us
Fr. Craig Swan: that for some reason we are unclean or unlovable or
Fr. Craig Swan: unworthy, whether it be our trauma of our past or our
Fr. Craig Swan: deepest and darkest secret that we keep hidden behind the facade
Fr. Craig Swan: that we use to allow ourselves to be acceptable in our
Fr. Craig Swan: communities and our society.
Fr. Craig Swan: And all any one of us wants is
Fr. Craig Swan: to know that we are truly and
Fr. Craig Swan: fully loved.
Fr. Craig Swan: And that is why we come here, to be part of a community of faith
Fr. Craig Swan: that tells us that through the waters of baptism, we are truly
Fr. Craig Swan: adopted children of God, fully beloved by God, but not even
Fr. Craig Swan: because of our baptism, because we are God's child.
Fr. Craig Swan: To begin with, Psalm one thirty
Fr. Craig Swan: nine tells us that it is God who
Fr. Craig Swan: knit us together in our mother's
Fr. Craig Swan: womb.
Fr. Craig Swan: God tells Jeremiah that he knows
Fr. Craig Swan: the count of the hairs on his
Fr. Craig Swan: head.
Fr. Craig Swan: That is how intimately our creator knows us and how deeply
Fr. Craig Swan: our creator loves us.
Fr. Craig Swan: So much so that he gave us his
Fr. Craig Swan: only begotten son, so that we
Fr. Craig Swan: should have salvation and
Fr. Craig Swan: eternal life.
Fr. Craig Swan: That is truly the good news that
Fr. Craig Swan: the Samaritan woman came in
Fr. Craig Swan: contact with.
Fr. Craig Swan: And on some wonderful basic
Fr. Craig Swan: level, that is the experience
Fr. Craig Swan: that the young people in fall
Fr. Craig Swan: River had yesterday after they
Fr. Craig Swan: gave the best of their abilities
Fr. Craig Swan: on the stage yesterday afternoon
Fr. Craig Swan: to be told they had accomplished
Fr. Craig Swan: something great and were worthy
Fr. Craig Swan: of applause above and beyond
Fr. Craig Swan: their labels.
Fr. Craig Swan: And it is something that each and every individual that we
Fr. Craig Swan: come in contact with seeks, wants and needs.
Fr. Craig Swan: And so, just like the Samaritan woman, the fact that we have
Fr. Craig Swan: found something so unique and wonderful and joyful, we have no
Fr. Craig Swan: choice but to let that joy go forth into the world.
Fr. Craig Swan: And just like the Samaritan,
Fr. Craig Swan: tell everyone we meet about how
Fr. Craig Swan: deep and great the love of God
Fr. Craig Swan: is for you, for me, and for
Fr. Craig Swan: everyone else.
Fr. Craig Swan: Because this is truly a lonely
Fr. Craig Swan: and scary world, and it is only
Fr. Craig Swan: through God that we find
Fr. Craig Swan: connection and here that we are
Fr. Craig Swan: truly and fully lovable and
Fr. Craig Swan: beloved.
Fr. Craig Swan: Amen.