"O Love, come to my assistance..."

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As Dominicans, like others who pray with the Liturgy of the Hours or the Rosary, we are very familiar with this call to prayer:  “O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.”  Another psalm response that is also common and one I often recite is:  “Be still and know that I am God.”  During this Lent, I am substituting the word God for Love.  So, when I pray, I say:  “O Love, come to my assistance…”  And, at night, as I try to review my day, I start by repeating the mantra:  “Be still and know that I am Love.”
What a gift to simply be in the presence of God’s Love. 
What a privilege to find myself surrounded by this grace.
In today’s gospel, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well.  He speaks to her and engages in a relationship with her despite the fact that a Jew and a man should NOT be talking to a woman and a Samaritan.  God’s love breaks down boundaries.  God’s love seeks right relationship.  What happens to the Samaritan woman after her encounter with Jesus?  She becomes a missionary and starts telling others about the One who knew her.
I pray that Lent allows me to renew myself in God’s loving grace and then, like the Samaritan woman, I will share this love.     

How about you?  What name do you have for God this Lent?  What do you want to share this Lent?    
Sr. Peggy Ryan, OP
Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

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