Dear friends,

As we enter into Holy Week, we are called to grow in our love of Christ by following him through his passion, death, and resurrection. But in order to grow in love, we must grow in our knowledge of Jesus, because it is difficult to love someone you do not know. To this end, St. Ignatius invites us to focus not so much on our head, but on our heart. In Ignatius’ native language, Spanish, he distinguishes between intellectual knowledge (saber) – knowing Christ in theological terms; familiar knowledge (conocer) – knowing Christ as a friend and brother; and felt knowledge (sentir) – knowing Christ through our senses and imagination. For Ignatius, this felt knowledge is what allows us to connect with Jesus in a deeper way, and to love him more deeply.

Dear Friends,

Last Sunday – Laetare (“Rejoice Sunday”) was our lenten break given by the church to help remind us that no matter what our practices of prayer and penance are these 40 days and, even as we contemplate the Suffering and Death of Jesus Himself, we know there is Light at the end of the penitential tunnel: the triumphant Resurrection of Christ, Our Savior!

Dear Friends in Christ,

Most Jesuits make a fourth vow "to go anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice for the good of the mission of the Church." My fourth vow has blessed me with a global adventure from the Arctic to the Argentine; from the Pyramids of Teotihuacán to the Pyramids of Giza; from the Great Wall to the Wailing Wall; from the Yukon to the Mekong to the Amazon. What a wonderful, colorful, adventurous ride in the service of the Gospel of Love and Justice!

Today’s Gospel, about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, reminds us that God’s love, compassion and mercy are offered to everyone! In the story, Jesus meets a woman from Samaria, someone with whom the Jews would not usually associate, and engages her in conversation about a drink of water. Jesus knows that she carries a lot of sinful baggage and offers her "a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman begins to realize who Jesus is, and gratefully accepts His gift of water and eternal salvation.