SURPRISES … SURPRISES … The story revealed to us in John 4:5-42, of Jesus, a Jew, talking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well is a story full of them.

The barriers to this conversation happening at all are IMMENSE.

Between Samaritan and Jew there was a wall of separation no less than that, which in our time often separates, Israeli from Palestinian in The Holy Land.

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In both Hebrew and Greek, the same word is used for wind, breath, and spirit. You can’t see the wind, you can’t control it, but you CAN see its effects.

Faith, Jesus says, works just like that.

This was deeply unsettling for the Pharisee Nicodemus - and perhaps also for us, because we prefer systems we can manage. 

We like checklists. We like knowing where we stand! However, the Spirit does not fit neatly into our categories.

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Matthew tells us something important and unsettling: Jesus, the beloved Son of God, is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be TEMPTED.

This is not a detour. This is part of a journey.

Many of us assume that if we are close to God, life should get easier. However, Matthew 4:1-11 tells us a different story. Sometimes the place of testing is not a sign of God’s absence, but of God’s deep involvement.

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God's voice from heaven spoke.

That voice from heaven does NOT say, “This is my Son - understand him fully.”

It says, “Listen to him.”

Faith is not about having all the answers. It is about paying attention. About learning to hear Christ’s voice above all those others voices of fear, success, anger, and distraction.

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22 years before his death, Fr. Rene Robert wrote a letter in front of his lawyer and had it notarised to make it a legal document.

Fr. Rene appeared to foretell his death in these words, “Should I die a violent death, I request that the person found guilty of homicide for my killing not be subjected to or put in jeopardy of the death penalty under any circumstances. No matter how heinous their crime or how much I may have suffered.”

It's almost 10 years since Fr. Rene was murdered but I remember it as if it were yesterday because ....

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We often talk about ourselves or others as being blessed. “I’m blessed.” “She’s blessed.” “We’re really blessed.”

Here’s what I wonder: what does it mean to be blessed?

When you tell someone, “you are blessed” what do you mean by that? And when you hear someone else say, “I’m really blessed,” how do you understand that?

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Have you ever had times when life is "a drag"?

One day merges into another and they are all the same, boring routine.

Yes? Well, you are not alone!

That's the reality of life - yes - BUT these are also the circumstances in which Jesus comes to us, the context in which we hear the call to new life, and the place where we are forever changed.

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John 1:29-42 begins with one of the greatest encounters of all time - John the Baptist, meeting Jesus.

As John sees Jesus his THIRTEEN words, yes - just 13 words, smash into our consciousness and are unforgettable,

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Later, we have a response from Jesus,

"Come and see",

and what a call for us that is.

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That word, “righteousness,” is absolutely full of meaning. Matthew uses it seven times in his Gospel, and each use signals a slightly different understanding of the word.

On this occasion, Matthew 3:13-17, perhaps it is Jesus' way of saying,

“Come on John, Let’s do this! It’s part of God’s plan to redeem the world!”

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In Luke 2:41-52, Mary and Jospeh are in a panic, they cannot find Jesus!

With great anxiety they search for him and, three days later, they find him.

Mary’s first words are, “Child, why have you treated us like this?” 

What I really hear is a loud, “Where have you been young man? Your father and I did not survive angels visits, birth in a stable, and living like refugees in Egypt only to have you get lost in Jerusalem.”

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