Interfaith Competition
I attended St. James Grammar School in Arlington Heights. We had very good basketball teams, of which I was an active participant. Our arch rival was Our Lady of the Wayside, also in Arlington Heights. Both schools are members of the same athletic conference that our students here at Holy Family compete in. I am sure they have similar rivalries.
It sounds very strong, but we hated Wayside (as we called them). The truth is that, as good as we were, Wayside actually was a bit better. We had many heated and highly contentious games, most of which they won.
Sports has a tendency to accentuate rivalries on a number of levels, but the Catholic parochial competition has always intrigued me. In my grammar school experience, we were both Catholic schools, we were both in Arlington Heights, we were both Christian, but somehow, we had such disdain for each other.
Sports is not the only avenue for inter parochial competition. Many parishes compare programming and seem to be motivated by doing things better than the neighboring parish. Furthermore, the statement, “This is my parish, and that is not,” is a reflection of belonging and identity, but most of the time seems to draw lines of division and one-upmanship.
This is a bit of background for our Gospel story this weekend. The competition is not the most notable thing to take away from the passage that we read about the Woman at the Well. Jesus’ identity as a savior for all and as one who cuts through interfaith divisions are much more important lessons.
But the simple fact is that Jews hated Samaritans at the time of Jesus. They were actually ALL Jews, but geography, history, race, worship and leadership led them to identify differently. Here is a bit of background that you might find helpful:
Assyrians conquered the northern part of the Kingdom where Samaria was located in 722 BC. They settled the land with foreigners who intermarried with the remaining Israelites. Jews from the south considered this intermingling religiously and racially tainted. Those in the south held on to the temple in Jerusalem as their holy site, while Samaritans chose Mount Gerizim as their temple. They also clung to leaders only from the tribe of Levi and limited their scriptural tradition to the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible, exclusively.
Those in the south calling themselves Jews, expanded their scriptural tradition to include many more books than the first five, and expanded their spiritual leadership to include those whom they eventually called Rabbis.
Those in the north remained in Samaria as they intermarried, but nonetheless remained, enduring persecution while looking down on those who left their promised land in exile. Those in the south eventually returned from exile in Babylon. Upon their return, they asked the Samaritans of the north to help rebuild the temple that was destroyed, and the Samaritans refused this offer, thus fueling more of the tension and hatred that simmered for centuries.
Perhaps this background may be a bit helpful to understand why the passage about the Woman of Samaria at the Well and Jesus’ encounter with her is so shocking – to her, the disciples, and to those she seeks out to encounter Christ, seeing him ultimately as the Messiah that they were waiting for.
Incidentally, one of my best friends to this day is Jim Lynch, who was on Our Lady of the Wayside’s basketball team and with whom I competed against so fiercely. All of that hatred went out the window as we attended St. Viator High School together and played on the same basketball team.
Welcome Nationally Known Presenter
ValLimar Jansen
We are proud to present a very uplifting and prayerful way for you to enhance your Lenten spiritual journey. This year’s Parish Mission will be led by ValLimar Jansen, who is a singer, composer and speaker blending scripture proclamation, reflection, music, costumed drama, and storytelling. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts, a Master of Arts in Dramatic Art, and a Doctorate in Christian Performing Arts.
ValLimar writes all of her music in collaboration with her husband and will use her many talents to weave together our Kindness initiative, the overall Lenten themes, and other inspirational messages. She will be giving a reflection at all Masses next weekend, March 14 and 15, and then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings March 16, 17 and 18. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending. More information is available on the Adult Faith page of this bulletin and on our website.