DRAPER — At the half-day Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults retreat held April 9 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Draper, Bishop Oscar A. Solis led participants in the Liturgy of the Word; Deacon Jeremy Castellano assisted.
Before his homily, which he gave in both English and Spanish, Bishop Solis welcomed those who had gathered.
“Every time you come to church, I hope you feel this is your home,” he said.
In his homily, commenting on the Gospel reading of the encounter Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well, the bishop invited participants to ponder how the woman responded and “slowly embraced Jesus as the Living Water, the promised Messiah.”
The woman was an outsider in her community because she had been married five times and was not married to the man she was living with; she also was considered impure by the Jews because she was a Samaritan, he said. Still, Jesus broke the cultural traditions of his day by treating her with respect and showed “the universality of God’s love for everyone,” the bishop said.
The conversation of the two revolved around water, Bishop Solis said. “The Samaritan woman centered on the water from the well, while Jesus was offering her different water, water that will quench her thirst forever, that thirst for deeper happiness and peace that comes only from God.”
As they spoke, Jesus revealed himself to be the Living Water. “The Samaritan woman asked Jesus to give her the living water and she got not only the living water but received the faith to believe in Jesus as the Messiah,” Bishop Solis said.
In this Scripture passage readers also discover that Jesus is both the divine Son of God and also human – “’one like us except for sin’ – who has experienced all that humanity has felt,” he said.
The woman’s life experiences “left her even more empty, thirsty and more wounded,” the bishop said. “Her thirst for water, which drew her to the well, was a sign of her inner search and longing for God, and the water Jesus gave her drew her to Jesus.”
At the well, “she was accepted and loved by God,” he said. “Her encounter with Jesus healed not only her physical wounds but also the spiritual wounds.”
That chance meeting at the well transformed the woman into a missionary disciple of Christ, he said. “Knowing Christ, her life would never be the same.”
Just as with the woman at the well, each person yearns to find the meaning of life and to know God, Bishop Solis said. Despite what the world teaches, true happiness cannot be found in wealth, fame or the pursuit of eternal youth; “nothing can satisfy us in this world and give us complete happiness,” he said. “That is why you as catechumens, Elect and candidates for confirmation must understand that the beautiful message of the Gospel is a wonderful message of our relationship with God. Nothing can bring us happiness in this world … other than the water that Jesus gives; he is the living water.”
After Bishop Solis’ remarks and the intercession, the Elect processed out of the church behind the Book of the Gospels.
Later, Bishop Solis took questions from the audience and had members of the Elect share their testimony of their journey to baptism.
The retreat, which had as its theme “Walking Together with Christ and Each Other,” was well-attended in person, and was livestreamed to several other parishes around the diocese, said Ruth Dillon, director of the Office of Worship.
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