To See Through

Reflection by Fr. Earl Valdez for the Third Sunday of Lent

The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, from a Syrian manuscript. Photo from Orthodox Arts Journal

Kilala kita. I know you. 

These may sound comforting or even amusing when a friend or a family member tells us this. However, this does not take away the feeling of discomfort for being truly known by another person, especially when it comes to our moments of weaknesses and our tendencies. As much as possible, we want to project an image of ourselves that we think is acceptable for others, especially those whom we barely know. 

Thus, when somebody claims that they truly and seriously know us, we cannot but be surprised with it, as if we are “naked” before another person’s naked eyes. No secrets to hide, no blind spots to conceal. 

Photo from iStock

The encounter with the Samaritan woman with Christ may have been this same moment. Once Our Lord told the Samaritan Woman of what He knows about her despite having met for the first time, it became a moment of embarrassment, surprise, and even self-doubt. To be seen truly is what to know what is within, and while the Lord saw in the Samaritan woman her past and her sinfulness, He also saw something better: her goodness and her sincerity that could not be taken away by any bad deed or unpleasant past. 

Our gospel reading this Sunday calls us to this kind of self-disclosure toward the Lord, one which leads toward receiving and proclaiming His mission and identity. The Lord calls us to open ourselves totally and honestly to Him, offering to Him all our strengths and weaknesses, our capacities and our shortcomings, and ask for the grace to fully accept them as part of who we are. In our prayer life, the Lord calls us to open ourselves to Him and be truly honest about who we are, and what we want to become. Only then can we truly allow Him into our lives and follow Him as one who truly knows, understands, and loves us. This is so because He has always seen the good in us, which includes our capacity to change, to hope, and to love Him back.

Domenico Zampieri, “Ignatius of Loyola’s Vision of The Trinity.” Photo from Independent Catholic News

This may be easier said than done, especially when we have to confront our past mistakes and our shortcomings. While it is easy to speak of the good things, we know that it is difficult to accept the not-so-good ones, and we may end up rationalizing and giving reasons why we have become so-and-so. And when we make this disclosure, not only as individuals but as communities, we may end up putting the blame on something that is outside ourselves and out of control, shielding ourselves from the grace of conversion and the capacity to turn to the Lord in a rather absolute way. 

Thus, as we receive the Holy Eucharist which we believe transforms us gradually and enables us to accept the fact that we are in need of salvation, given our sinfulness and shortcomings, we ask for the grace to accept ourselves for who we really are. Only then can we be able to recognize that we need our Lord to be with us and accompany us toward the path to holiness. Lent, after all, is purification and conversion, through which we offer our shortcomings, our weaknesses, and our sinful selves to be forgiven and granted new chances to follow the Lord, especially in His resurrected glory. Amen.