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I have written before on the blog that I think that our fundamental conscience, a sense of basic right and wrong, is innate. That is to say, it is something with which we come equipped, rather than something we learn from social convention. As a believer, I would argue that this basic moral sense, our conscience, is explained by the fact that God has written his law upon our hearts.

It is my experience that deep down inside, most people know exactly what they are doing. It is true that the voice of one’s conscience can be intentionally suppressed and that competing voices can vie for our attention. But still, under all the layers of denial, suppression, and contrary voices that may occur, we know well the basics of right and wrong. Here are some examples from pastoral experience:

1. I have sat in the parlor during marriage preparation with couples that are either cohabiting or fornicating. And despite all the stinking thinking of the world that such behavior is fine, despite whatever attempts they may have made to tell themselves it really is OK, despite trying not to think about it, despite all attempts to call it something else…despite it all, when I speak frankly with them about it, they know what they are doing, and they know it’s wrong. They know.
2. I have walked the streets of Southeast Washington and talked with the “boys in the hood.” And when in conversation I tell them that they ought to stop selling, and using, and stealing, and get themselves into God’s house, I realized that they too know what they are doing; they know what they are doing is wrong and that they ought to get to God’s house. They know!
3. I have become quite convinced that a lot of the intense anger directed against the Church whenever we speak out against abortion, euthanasia, premarital sex, homosexual activity, homosexual marriage, etc., is due to the fact that deep down inside, they know that these things are wrong, and that what we are saying is true. Attempts to suppress our conscience are not usually all that successful, and when someone endangers the zone of insulation we attempt to erect around ourselves, we can easily get mad. But deep down inside, we know the Church and the Scriptures are right. We know.
4. I would argue and have experienced, that even the youngest of children seem to have a basic understanding of right and wrong.

And thus, while some people attempt to surround themselves with teachers and experts who will “tickle their ears” with false teaching and unsound doctrine, deep down inside, they know better. They know.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms the following about our conscience:

For Man has in his heart a law inscribed by God, This is his conscience; there he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination or introspection.… (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1776, 1779)

Notice therefore that “conscience” is the innate sense of the law of God in each one of us. The conscience exists because God has written his law in everyone’s heart. His voice echoes in our soul, and we must learn to listen to it, and reflectively ponder its voice. It is there, and we cannot ultimately deny it or silence it, though many try.

Scripture, too, affirms the fundamental presence of conscience and the law of God within every individual. Here are but a couple of examples:

When the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, or at times even defending them (Romans 2:14-15).

By the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every one’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4:2)

That conscience is infused or innately present in the human person seems affirmed by recent studies showing that even the youngest children have a basic sense of right and wrong. I have already observed this in my experience. Even two-year-olds seem to know when they have “done wrong,” and also when something done to them or to others is wrong.

The video at the bottom of the page is CNN coverage of the study. Here are a few excerpts from the accompanying article by Paul Bloom of Yale University. The full Article is here: Do Babies Know Right from Wrong? 

Most adults have a sense of right and wrong. With the intriguing exception of some psychopaths, people are appalled by acts of cruelty, such as the rape of a child, and uplifted by acts of kindness, such as those heroes who jump onto subways tracks to rescue fallen strangers from oncoming trains.

There is a universal urge to help those in need and to punish wrongdoers and there are universal emotional responses that revolve around morality—anger when we are wronged, pride when we do the right thing and guilt when we transgress.

In “Just Babies,” I argue that much of this is the product of biological evolution. Humans are born with a hard-wired morality, a sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. I know this claim might sound outlandish, but it’s supported now by research in several laboratories. Babies and toddlers can judge the goodness and badness of others’ actions; they want to reward the good and punish the bad; they act to help those in distress; they feel compassion, guilt and righteous anger.

Many people believe we are born selfish and amoral—that we start off as pint-sized psychopaths…. [this is ] mistaken.

We are naturally moral beings, but our environments can enhance—or, sadly, degrade—this innate moral sense.

I would differ with Professor Bloom that our moral sense is merely the result of biological evolution. As I have stated, I think our conscience is bestowed by God, who writes his name on our hearts. Conscience surely has biological components, since our brain is involved, but science can only note evidence of the existence of the conscience; it cannot really assert its origin. Thus, I think Bloom overstates what science can show. But otherwise, he presents valuable confirmation of the Christian and biblical teaching on conscience. Take time to watch the video below.

We who teach and try to hand on the faith, need to rediscover the fact of the conscience and never lose heart when we teach. Ultimately, we are appealing to things that people already know inside. This is so at least in terms of fundamental morality. There may be certain advanced topics that require informed discourse, but as to the basics, they are written in all of our hearts. All the protesting and anger are not necessarily signs that we have failed. In fact, it may be just the opposite. We may have struck more than a nerve; we may have touched the conscience. Don’t lose heart!

It remains true that conscience must be formed and reinforced. While we have a basic and innate sense of right and wrong, which God has written in our hearts, we are reminded in the Catechism that, due to sin, we must be open to having our conscience formed and its judgments refined.

Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God…and of the natural law written in our hearts by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty…The human mind…is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin. So it happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves that what they would not like to be true is false or at least doubtful. That is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation about…religious and moral truths…so that they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error (CCC #s 37-38).

Notice that the catechism does not speak of the conscience as being removed from the intellect, but rather that the intellect, influenced by sin and disordered appetites, tries to persuade us of other ways of thinking. Hence, we attempt either to suppress the truth, or at least to consider it doubtful and open to alternative interpretation. This is why we stand in need of the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church to help us overcome our tendency to suppress and confuse the truth.

Thus, be encouraged! We who would speak, preach, and teach the world are not talking into a vacuum. Deep down inside, people know moral truth, despite their protests to the contrary. We do not work alone. The voice of God echoes in everyone’s heart. And thus as St. Paul says, By the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to every one’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4:2)

The fight against temptation is a key Lenten theme and, of course, one that extends to each day of our life if we are going to be serious followers of the Lord.

There is something rather mysterious about temptation. We are often strangely drawn to things that harm us, and even knowing this, we still feel the attraction. Deep within, we hear the warnings of conscience, but still we move toward sin and to many things that we know are both wrong and dangerous. How strange we are!

Theologians have used the word “concupiscence” to describe our inordinate attractions or desires, and it is the surest evidence that something is deeply and desperately wrong with us. It describes a condition wherein our “cupio” (our “desires”) are off the charts, over the top, and just plain unruly. So easily do our passions want to simply overrule the most basic common sense and draw us into utter foolishness and self-destruction.

Back in the late 1980s, it became fashionable in some circles to deny Original Sin and dismiss it as a mere myth. Once when a radicalized nun told me that she did not “believe” in original sin, I responded, “Are you kidding?!” Of all the teachings of the Church, there is perhaps none with so much daily evidence as to its veracity. I instructed the good sister to go and buy a newspaper and, after having read its daily recitation of violence, corruption, confusion, disorder, war, and greed (and that’s just page one), to explain to me what on earth is so desperately wrong with us. “If it isn’t Original Sin, Sister, what the devil is it?!”

Yes, we seem to have a screw loose. Call it what you will: concupiscence, our fallen nature, the flesh; yes, call it what you will, but don’t call it non-existent. It is something to be quite sober about. Our desires are out of whack and need daily discipline. Otherwise, the devil can get us with many different lures.

The Catechism advises:

Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis [the practice of self-discipline] adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer (# 2340).

Well said. We do well to remember the following:

• Self-knowledge can be gained by learning some of the deeper drives within us, naming them, learning their moves, and developing strategies to limit their inordinate influence.
• The practice of self-discipline is essential in growing stages. The Lenten practice of self-denial is a form of this. So is taking on new duties and requirements when we are becoming lax.
• Obedience begins with a careful listening to God’s commandments and asking for a teachable spirit that rejoices in the truth.
• Virtue is a “good habit” and habits only develop through repeated effort. Practice makes goodness easier and eventually almost effortless.
• Prayer too, which at its heart is simply paying attention to God, is also an essential remedy.

Battle temptation! Otherwise, you are easy pickings for the devil; you’re low hanging fruit and you’ll easily be snatched away.

This video is a good allegory for temptation. A certain young man is drawn by a lure. And though seeming to sense the danger he draws closer anyway. The frightening result I leave to your viewing “pleasure.”

What are some of the lures Satan can use to snatch you away? What are some of the ways you can learn to resist the bait that is dangled before you? How have you implemented the plan that the Catechism sets forth? Where have you done well? Where do you need to improve?

The Tenth Commandment is You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Ex 20:17). It is one of more rarely quoted commandments in conversation, yet frankly is confessed more often than most of the other Commandments. It may be one of the most commonly breached of the commandments because it directly addresses our desire to possess things unreasonably. This is a very deep and disordered drive, and it gives way to many other sins as well.

Fundamentally, to covet means to be controlled by a strong, unreasonable, and inordinate desire to possess the things of another. Its Latin root is cupere, meaning simply “to desire.” But in the Biblical usage, coveting is more than mere desire; it is a nurtured desire that is excessive, unreasonable, and thus sinful.

Let’s begin with a little background on desire itself. There exists within each of us a whole range of appetites or desires. We desire everything from food, security, and temporal goods, to affection, friendship, sexual union, and a sense of being loved and respected. In themselves, these desires are good and they help protect and foster important aspects of ourselves. However, since the human race labors under the effects of original sin, our desires tend also to have an unruly dimension. Frequently we desire things beyond what we know is reasonable or just. And this is where coveting enters. Coveting does not include momentary desires that occur to us and that we dismiss as being unreasonable or inappropriate. Rather, coveting involves the willful entertaining or eliciting of inappropriate or excessive desires.

Thus, the Tenth Commandment points to the gift that God can give us, the gift of self-control. A significant truth about our desires and passions is that if we overindulge them, they become more and more demanding and powerful in their influence over our conduct. Self-control becomes increasingly difficult to those who are self-indulgent. The Catechism teaches,

If we do not learn to temper our desires, we quickly become dominated by them. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy…Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice…and not by blind impulses in himself…Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself from all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good…. (Catechism 2339).

The Tenth Commandment reminds us of our freedom and dignity, and solemnly instructs us in the importance of self-control in terms of our desires. The significance of this issue for our well-being and happiness is emphasized by the fact that two commandments, the 9^th and 10^th, are devoted to matters of covetousness.

Self-control may seem difficult since our desires do not usually change in an instant. Just because we know that our heart desires things or persons in ways that are excessive or inappropriate, does not make these desires disappear. Yet through consistent self-discipline, custody of the eyes and the other senses, recourse to prayer and sacraments, and the help of God’s grace, the desires of our hearts can change. We begin to love what God loves. What is sinful becomes less tempting and the thought of sin eventually becomes abhorrent to us. By God’s grace our hearts change.

The command not to covet is not merely a rule to follow; it is a gift to be sought.

The Tenth Commandment itself – Since it is the last of the Ten Commandments, it is fitting that the tenth commandment flows from and completes many of the other commandments.

1. It forbids coveting the goods of another, which is at the root of theft, robbery, and fraud, which the seventh commandment forbids.
2. Coveting, or “lust of the eyes,” as scripture calls it (1 Jn 2:16), many times leads to the violence and injustice forbidden by the Fifth and Seventh Commandments.
3. Likewise, covetousness tends to originate in the idolatry prohibited by the first three commandments. This is because of the way that covetousness frequently leads to a kind of worship of material goods.
4. The tenth commandment also completes the ninth since coveting involves far more than sexual matters.

The scriptures specify the wide scope of coveting – You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet. your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s. (Ex 20:17).

A Distinction – We should recall that coveting by definition involves the willful entertaining of excessive or inappropriate desires. Thus, it is not wrong to desire the things we reasonably need. Clearly, it is essential for our survival that we desire food, water, warmth, and shelter. Love, affection, family, and work are also essential for us, and it is proper that we desire and seek fulfillment in these areas.

Even seemingly non-essential things like recreation and entertainment are in fact necessary ingredients in life, and a desire for such things is an important aspect of every healthy person.

So long as our desire for any of these things is not unreasonable and we do not seek to fulfill them in inappropriate ways, we can say that they are good, even holy aspects of the human person.

The Catechism goes on to elaborate on coveting:

The tenth commandment forbids greed and the desire to amass earthly goods without limit. It forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power. It also forbids the desire to commit injustice by harming our neighbor in his temporal goods (Catechism 2536).

Greed is the insatiable desire for more and, as we have already noted, excessive desires, once indulged, grow insatiable, and become increasingly difficult to control. The Book of Ecclesiastes says, The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing (Eccl 1:8). And again, Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income (Eccl 5:10). St Augustine says, For my will was perverse and lust had grown from it, and when I gave in to lust, habit was born, and when I did not resist the habit, it became a necessity (Conf., Book 10). Thus, again we see the Tenth Commandment’s summons to freedom from lusts, excessive desires, and many bad habits and addictive or compulsive behaviors.

The Catechism also connects the Tenth Commandment to Envy:

The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart…Envy refers to the sadness at the sight of another’s good…When it wishes grave harm to a neighbor it is a mortal sin. St. Augustine saw envy as the diabolical sin: “From envy are born hatred, detraction, calumny, joy caused by the misfortune of a neighbor, and displeasure caused by his prosperity.” (Catechism 2538-2539).

What then are some antidotes to Covetousness?

1. Gratitude – In the first place, there must be gratitude for what we do have, an abiding and deep gratitude for the things and people in our lives.
2. Contentment and Satisfaction – Another gift to be sought is contentment and an abiding sense of satisfaction. Satisfaction is the ability to say to God, “It is enough O Lord!” Contentment is the capacity to hold gratefully to what one has, rather than to constantly reach for more.
3. Appreciation – Yet another related gift is appreciation, which is the gift to regard as precious what one has received.
4. Moderation should also be sought from God. Moderation is the capacity to observe the “mode” or middle range of something so that we do it neither to excess nor to defect. Since severe asceticism is rare in our culture, most of us know that moderation will mean recognizing our tendency to excess and the need to curb it by God’s grace.
5. Trust – Another gift to be sought is trust. For it often happens that we excessively desire, grasp at, and hoard out of fear that we will not have enough. But if we trust that God can provide for our basic needs, fear diminishes, and inordinate desires lessen as well.
6. Generosity is still another gift to seek. Once our basic needs are met, we are essentially dealing with surplus. Generosity is a freedom that recognizes surplus and gladly shares with others.

Thus as we see, the Tenth Commandment points to gifts and calls us higher. It calls us to recognize the freedom and the healing that God offers us through his grace. For in terms of our passions and desires, we can easily become enslaved. How easily we become inebriated with the things of this world and become trapped by the seemingly insatiable desire for more.

One look at the credit card balances of many Americans reveals that we live beyond our means and have difficulty controlling our desires. In some cases, individuals are unable or unwilling to delay gratification. Many consider essential, things that they in fact could do without.

The tenth commandment calls us away from the illusions of necessity and immediacy. We are summoned to a freedom that recognizes that we can discipline our desires and master our passions so that we make sound, wise, just decisions in acquiring and using the goods of this world.

Finally, the Tenth Commandment calls us to remember something very important about our desires. As we master our passions and desires, we learn more clearly what they are truly saying to us. Fundamentally, every desire represents a deeper longing for God, who is the giver of every good gift. In the deepest part of our heart there is a song, I’d rather have Jesus, than silver or gold.

The tragedy is that many become lost searching for happiness in the things of this world. This can only end in frustration and emptiness, for our deepest longings are infinite. The finite things of the world simply cannot fulfill the infinite longings of the heart. The Catechism concludes,

Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them “renounce all that [they have]” for his sake and that of the Gospel [Lk 14:33]. The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven…The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods.[Lk 6:24] But blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”[Mat 5:2] (Catechism 2544, 2547).

This song says, You may have all this world. Just give me Jesus.’

We live in an age of such overstimulation that it would be unimaginable to people even a hundred years ago, let alone to those of more ancient times. In fact, it is probably more accurate to say we are not simply overstimulated, we are hyper-stimulated. The number and kind of diversions available to us and imposed upon us are almost too numerous to mention. Silence and quietude are almost as unknown to us as is real darkness. We are enveloped in a sea of light such that we are no longer able to behold the stars at night.

And the artificial lights of our time do not simply illumine, they move and flicker as well. Television and computer screens flicker at an enormous rate. It is a rule with television producers that the angle of the picture should change at least every eight seconds, and preferably more often. Many, if not most, of our movies present action at a dizzying pace. Chase scenes, violent and energetic outbursts, and explosions are regular fare. 24-hour news channels, not content to have simply the picture of the story being presented, also have running commentaries and stock tickers moving rapidly across the bottom of the screen. Children love to play video games that feature moving graphics and frantic paces, often involving violent and jerky motions. Thus, even our recreation is often mentally draining, involving hyper-stimulation not only of the eyes, but also of the ears.

Background noises also permeate even what we call the quiet moments. Sometimes here in the big city, in the wake of a heavy snowstorm an eerie silence descends; the usual din of traffic is peculiarly missing. On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks on this country, I went outside and noticed a very strange silence. The sound of airplanes above us was gone; all air-traffic was grounded. I never realized just how much noise that produced until, for a moment, it was strangely absent.

Many people have never really known true silence. Some complain that they are incapable of sleeping without something on in the background such as the radio, or some noise-producing device. Throughout our day, cell phones ring, and blink away; emails, text messages, tweets and all sorts of other fun, interruptive stimuli bombard us.

Our overall paces are frantic as well. With modern communication and transportation, unreasonable expectations of our availability quickly crush in on us. We are often expected to be on conference calls, using various “GoToMeeting” formats in the morning, and then by afternoon be 40 miles away at some other meeting or activity. With modern communication cutting across time zones, it is not uncommon that people are expected to be up in the middle of the night attending to business matters with people on the other side of the world.

Thus, in these and many other ways, our lives are harried, distracted, and not just overstimulated, but hyper-stimulated. It is a kind of death by a thousand cuts.

All of this leads to many unhealthy and unholy behavioral issues. While many, for our purposes here, we can distinguish three main areas: distractions, doldrums, and debasement.

I. Distractions – One of the clearest signs that we are hyper-stimulated is our short attention spans. Many, if not most children, after a steady diet of video games and other fast-paced diversions, find it very difficult to sit in a classroom and endure a more normal human pace. They fidget, their minds wander, and they seek in many ways to create the stimulation and chaos that seem “normal” to them.

Having been trained by television and the Internet to simply change the channel or click away when their interest diminishes, kids just tune out when they feel bored by what the teacher is saying, something that happens very quickly for many of them.

So-called “ADHD,” not just among children, but also among adults, is the new normal. Sadly, many children are medicated for what is often merely a short attention span due to hyper-stimulation. But since the idea of unplugging and drawing back from excessive stimulation seems unrealistic or even unreasonable, many children are simply put on medication. While there may in fact be authentic cases of “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” it doesn’t take too much analysis to see that many, if not most cases, are more environmental in cause than organic.

II. Doldrums – Another result of hyper-stimulation is boredom. When one is hyper-stimulated, ordinary human activities and a normal human pace seem dull and uninteresting. Simple things like engaging in conversation, taking a walk, going to an art gallery, listening to a talk or sermon, enjoying a good meal, or reading a book become almost unendurable to those who are hyper-stimulated.

This leads to a great poverty of soul, since many of the finer things of life must be savored rather than devoured. They require dedication and patience and cannot simply be reduced to quick sound bites.

To overcome boredom, many engage in quick and crass diversions which, even if not evil in themselves, are often shallow, unenriching, and do not feed our higher nature. Such activities also tend to reinforce the hyper-stimulation that fuels them.

Boredom, or even the fear of boredom, has deprived many people of the things that were once considered the best things in life: family, fellowship, art, literature, and deeper personal relationships, not to mention prayer, and communion with God. To the hyper-stimulated only one word comes to mind when these things are mentioned: BORING!

III. Debasement – Another major and modern issue is that our entertainment and pursuits of pleasure become increasingly extreme and often debased. Hyper-stimulation begets a kind of addiction to extremes. Ordinary dramas and adventure movies from 50 years ago seem awfully slow-paced to people today. With new cinematic techniques and special effects, the demand for shocking realism becomes ever more extreme. Violence becomes more raw, themes must become ever stranger and more exotic to get our attention and keep us focused.

The pornography explosion of the last 70 years is another sad illustration of this. Those who end up on the tragic descent that Internet pornography brings, often need to look at stranger, more exotic, and even horribly debased images of human sexuality to get the “stimulation” they seek. The eye, never satisfied with seeing, looks voraciously for images that are ever more lewd and unnatural, and even criminal. Their hyper-stimulated lust increasingly knows no limits.

On a wider cultural level, other strange and exotic behaviors become daily fair. Behaviors once considered crude and shameful are now paraded about and celebrated by those who crave evermore-debased levels of stimulation. Any normal person from merely 50 years ago would scarcely believe how ugly, crude, lewd, and debased our culture has become.

GK Chesterton well described the modern trend in his book the everlasting Man:

The effect of this staleness (boredom) is the same everywhere; it is seen in all the drug taking and drinking and every form of the tendency to increase the dose. Men seek stranger sins or more startling obscenities as stimulants to their jaded sense….They try to stab their nerves to life… They are walking in their sleep and trying to wake themselves up with nightmares. (The Everlasting Man, p. 291)

Yes, welcome to the increasingly horrifying world of the extreme, exotic, immodest, and just plain strange. Welcome to so-called body art (tattooing), body piercing, tongue-splitting, and any number of other self-destructive behaviors and body alterations, along with crude and destructive behaviors. The carnival sideshow seems to have gone mainstream.

So much of it just comes back to being hyper-stimulated and thereby wanting to flee to the strange and exotic as a way to stay entertained and, frankly, awake. What is merely interesting is no longer enough; it must be shocking, edgy, extreme, and usually just plain awful in order to attract attention.

It may be hard, but it’s good advice to try to slow down a bit to the pace of normal human life, the way God intended it. We can start by turning off the television and the radio just a bit; perhaps little less Internet (except for this blog). Maybe we can rediscover some old pleasures like walking, talking, and dining (an image for the kingdom of God from the Road to Emmaus). Perhaps we might actually consider sitting down with people and having a real conversation; maybe gathering the family together for meals. Perhaps it involves learning to say “no” a little more. Maybe it involves recognizing that there are diminishing returns that come from over scheduling our children in extracurricular activities, and that it is good to let them just be home sometimes to rest and get to know the family.

Whatever it is, you and the Lord decide; but hyper-stimulation is an increasing evil about which we should be aware. We do well to discover it, to name it, to learn its moves, and then to rebuke its increasing power in our lives.

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In the Gospel of the Samaritan Woman from this past Sunday, Jesus gives an important teaching on sowing seeds and reaping harvests. The teaching has special importance for us who live in a modern, technological age that is so insistent on instant results. So easily we become resentful and discouraged when our efforts not yield quick fruits, or when solutions take time.

We often take these attitudes to our spiritual life as well. Perhaps we think our progress is too slow. Perhaps we are frustrated because we have prayed for years for someone’s conversion and think that little or nothing has come of it. Yes, too often we fail to remember that there is a delay between the sowing of the seed and the reaping of the harvest. Indeed, there are usually many months that pass between them.

In our technological, instant update, instant download, Internet-infused culture we have lost the patient insight of the farmer. Thus, we do well to listen carefully to what Jesus teaches us about sowing and reaping.

The context of his teaching is the aftermath of an interaction he had with a Samaritan Woman at a well. Having her desires clarified and having been called to conversion by Jesus, she is now beginning to experience the living waters that resulted from the dialogue and the journey she has made with Him. She has left her water jar and run to town joyfully to bring others to the Lord Jesus. The disciples return, and are puzzled that Jesus had been speaking with a woman, something not very common in that modest, segregated culture. In answer to their concerns, Jesus speaks about the harvest, reaping and sowing, and the need to appreciate both aspects of life:

Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest! (John 4:35)

Thus Jesus begins his teaching on sowing and reaping. He reminds them of the delay between the sowing of the seed and the reaping of the harvest. And while he is overjoyed as he sees the harvest (the Samaritans walking across the field toward him), Jesus is quick to remind the apostles of the “four months” delay between sowing and reaping.

Yes, Jesus is about to enjoy the harvest. But perhaps his mind also goes back to his many years preparing for ministry, living and working humbly in Nazareth. Perhaps too he thinks of his forty days in the desert, or of his many difficult days walking throughout Galilee preaching, calling disciples, and naming apostles. He also recalls the months of toil and difficulty, the misunderstandings and hostility of others, the slowness of the apostles to understand, the long journey to Samaria, and the long conversation with the Samaritan woman in the heat of the day.

So, the sowing of the seed was but the beginning. Great labor and time were required for the harvest to be realized.

But now the harvest is here, and how glorious it looks as the Samaritans in their white robes come across the field toward him.

Jesus goes on to say,

For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”(Jn 4:37-38)

And here too is another very important lesson about sowing and reaping. We often sow seeds that we ourselves will not be able to reap, others will. And we too reap the harvests of seeds that others have sown and tended.

As a priest, I most often walk into buildings I did not build and minister to congregations I did not found. Others have done this, and I am grateful for everything I harvest from their hard work. In my last assignment, I built a 5.5 million dollar building for youth. No sooner was the paint dry than I was transferred. Now others yield a harvest in that building that I struggled to build. But praise the Lord it is bearing fruit!

At the rectory, it is not uncommon for the doorbell to ring and for someone I do not know to ask to speak to me. Some years ago, an older man came to the rectory in just that way and told me that his wife of 47 years had recently died. She had always prayed for him to be baptized, but he had always refused. Now that she was dead, somehow he knew it was finally time for him to be baptized. He asked me to prepare him. I joyfully reaped a harvest of seeds I did not sow. His wife sowed those seeds and watered them with her tears. She did not live to see the harvest in this world, but in fact this was the harvest she had prayed and worked for. Shortly after his baptism, the man died. And now they both enjoy the harvest.

Never give up. Harvests come, but there is time between the sowing of the seeds and the reaping of the harvest. Too many today are easily discouraged by any delay, any separation in time between the sowing and the harvesting. But we must learn to accept this delay; any harvest takes time.

Many also do not like the hard work of planting seeds. They prefer only to reap harvests. But of course life does not work that way. Scripture says, A man will only reap what he sows. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously (2 Cor 9:6). Scripture also speaks to the difficulty in sowing seeds: Going they went and wept, casting their seeds. But the same verse says of the harvest: they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves. (Ps 126:6)

The Lord teaches us in this gospel not to be discouraged. There is some delay between the sowing of the season and the reaping of the harvest. Jesus euphemistically refers to it as “four months.” But we all know that it is sometimes much longer than four months. The point is, there is some delay. Indeed, we may not even live to see the fruits of some of the seeds we sow. But we must also realize that we often reap the harvests of those before us who did not live to see the fruits of the seeds they sowed.

Listen carefully to what Jesus teaches here about sowing and reaping. Don’t give up; keep sowing seed; sow it bountifully. Do not worry if you will see the harvest; just know that it is a good and holy thing to sow the seeds. The Lord will bring about the harvest when and where he sees fit. Scripture says And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Gal 6:9). And again, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Cor 3:6-8)

Do your work; leave the harvest to God and the one to whom he assigns it.

This section of the movie The Color Purple is an allegory of the Samaritan woman bringing the townsfolk to see Jesus:

The beautiful gospel of the woman at the well, which we read, Sunday, has so many wonderful teachings that not all can be dealt with in a single sermon. Hence, I’d like to consider today just a couple of the teachings that relate to this gospel.

In this post, I’d like to deal with the question of the efficacy of Grace, which many struggle to experience when it comes to the promises that Jesus extends. Jesus promises the Samaritan woman water that will satisfy her, unlike the water of the world. Specifically, Jesus says, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14).

The Samaritan woman seems less than convinced, at one point even scoffing that Jesus doesn’t even have a bucket! While perhaps rude, her scoffing does give voice to legitimate questions people raise to the promises of Christ, and those of us who preach his message.

Even many faithful Catholics struggle to understand exactly what Jesus means when he says that we will never thirst again. Indeed, many who have accepted Christ still struggle, still long for completion, still feel thirsty.

How then, can we understand what the Lord is teaching here? What does it mean to never thirst again, and how do we lay hold of this promise? Let’s look at the issue in three stages.

I. Clarity – As the Gospel opens, we have a teaching from Jesus that helps us to clarify our desires. A woman (this means you) comes to a well (this means the world). She comes because she is thirsty (and this refers to all of our desires). She thinks the well will satisfy her, but it will not. For no sooner does she have a drink, than she’s on her way to being thirsty again. And thus the well (i.e., the world) can provide momentary pleasures, but no lasting ones.

Jesus is there waiting for her. He is also waiting for you and me who are filled with many desires and questions. He says to her, Everyone who drinks from this will be thirsty again (John 4:13). In this he is helping her, and us, to clarify that it is a simple fact that our desires are infinite and unlimited. Therefore, a finite in a limited world cannot satisfy us.

And in this, the Lord clarifies our desires. They are in fact infinite; we are never really satisfied. Therefore our desires are not really about the world at all; they are ultimately pointing us to God who alone is infinite, and who alone can truly satisfy our desires or fill the God-sized hole in our hearts. Yes, here is clarity: only God can satisfy us; the world simply cannot cut the deal; it is finite and limited.

Meeting us at the well of the world, where we come (once again) to draw from it, the Lord says in effect “How’s that working for you?” Indeed, how foolish we are! We really think that a new job, a new relationship, a little more money, the latest upgrade to the software, etc. will somehow satisfy us. It will not; it cannot. An old song says it well, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” Everyone who drinks from this will be thirsty again.

So here is clarity about our desires:

• First, they are infinite.
• Second, the well, i.e., the world, cannot fulfill our      infinite desires because it is finite.
• Third, our desires are thus about God who alone can      satisfy us since he alone is infinite.
• Fourth, Jesus says he is the One; he is      God who can give us living waters welling up to eternal life so that      we will never thirst again.

Okay Lord, thanks for the clarity, but now along with the Samaritan woman we want to say to you, “Give us this water so that we will not be thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water!” (John 4:15)

In other words, how do we unlock this blessing? Do we simply answer an altar call? Do we simply accept baptism? Do we simply say “I believe, now give me my blessing”?

Some of us may be even more cynical, saying, “Look I’ve been doing this walk with Jesus for a while now, and I’m still thirsty; I still haven’t found what I’m looking for!”

And thus the questions “How do I unlock these blessings?” “How do I lay hold of this promise of Christ?” become critical ones for the Church, and for any who would preach this gospel.

The answer is twofold: conversion and conversation. Let’s look at each one in turn.

II. Conversion –  When the Samaritan woman says, “Give me this water…”  Jesus answers her by saying, Go call your husband and come back. (John 4:16).

In other words, Jesus wants to give her this blessing, but first there is an obstacle, an obstacle that must be dealt with. Most of us to know the story of the Samaritan woman and thus know that she has had five husbands, and is now simply living with a man outside of marriage. Though we do not have all the details, this personal history speaks to us of her many sorrows, sins, and struggles. Surely there are issues of sexual sin; she’s living together with a man outside of marriage. But there are any number of other issues that must have accompanied her many marriages such as struggles with forgiveness, patience, mercy, self-esteem, the list could go on. These struggles and sins must be dealt with before the living waters can fully flow.

Consider I have fifty gold bricks to give you, and you are holding a box, but it is full of sand. In order to make room for the gold bricks, I must first help you to empty your box of the sand. The sand must go in order to make way for the gold. So it is with us; our sins must give way to make room for the living waters of God’s grace.  Conversion is necessary and essential to laying hold of the promises of Christ.

And so the Lord says to this woman “Go call your husband.” What does the Lord have to say to you? What conversions are necessary in your life? What obstacles must be removed for the living waters to flow?

And thus, the Lord’s promise of living Waters is not mere magic. It is a promise that stands, but simply answering an altar call, or thinking some perfunctory declaration will be enough is just not realistic. There is more involved here than simply cleaning a house. Human beings are complicated; we have many moving parts. Through conversion, we must increasingly turned to the Lord allow him to make way for these living waters.

III. Conversation –  The Lord goes on to have a rather lengthy conversation with the Samaritan woman. We do not have all the details, and many of them are none of our business. Nevertheless, the conversation leads her, by stages, to greater joy, and finally to the point that she is able to leave her water jar (a very symbolic act) and run to town joyfully telling others of the glorious Lord and Messiah she has met!

Of course her conversation is a symbol for the longer conversation the Lord needs to have with us. “Conversation” can be understood here as a kind of journey we make with the Lord, who along the way enters into an ever-deeper dialogue with us through prayer and his presence in our life.

There is for the Christian the summons to enter into an ever deeper, living, and conscious contact with the Lord at every moment of our day. And thus, not only in our prayer, but throughout our day, in the people we meet, in the created world, and in the events of our day, we experience the Lord speaking to us, present to us.

Here then is described an ever-deepening conversation with the Lord, a transformative union in which his living waters flow ever more deeply. The increasing results, if we stay with him in the conversation, are deeper serenity, joy, freedom from sin, and ever-deepening satisfaction with the magnificence of his grace, and his word.

And so we, like the woman at the well, see less and less need for a water jar, that is, for our obsessive need to collect the things of the world and store them up. We, like the woman at the well, come to the point where we can leave the water jar behind. We live more simply, are less needful of the world’s false and empty promises. We live more simply and joyfully in the presence of the Lord, in the power of his Word and Sacraments, in the joy of knowing him, and in his Body the Church.

And thus, for those who might scoff or be cynical of the Lord’s promise of living waters wherein we will never thirst again, there comes a double call to be converted, and to embark on a lifelong conversation with the Lord.

It works only if you work it; so work it because you’re worth it! Of this, I am a witness. I am 53 years old, but I have only been serious about my spiritual life for the last 30 of those 53 years. Prior to that time I lived frivolously and the details are both unedifying and unnecessary. But 30 years ago I entered the seminary and began to pray for an hour every day, to read Scripture every day, to attend Mass every day, and to go to confession once a week. The result? My life has become simpler and richer. Less do the passing obsessions of this world interest me. The Lord is my strength and my song. Living Waters are in fact welling up within me; I am increasingly satisfied only by God and the things of God. Yes, the Lord’s word is true!