“WE SOMETIMES ENCOUNTER PEOPLE, EVEN PERFECT STRANGERS, WHO BEGIN TO INTEREST US AT FIRST SIGHT, SOMEHOW SUDDENLY, ALL AT ONCE, BEFORE A WORD HAS BEEN SPOKEN.”

– FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

Have you ever found yourself annoyed or dismissive of a person who comes to you at the so-called ‘wrong’ time? You run into the supermarket for that last-minute item, and you bump into one of your neighbours who just has that one quick question that turns into a ten- minute request for help. Or you are on your way to an appointment and a stranger is asking for some spare change, and it is just too much to find that extra dollar coin. The knock on the front door just as dinner is being prepared. These might all sound familiar!

While we might find it hard to admit, we have all found ourselves in one or many of these situations.

It is easy, and natural, to be of service to others on our terms, in our allocated time, and our own spaces. Having appropriate boundaries is a good and healthy approach. At the same time, requests for help or conversation will inevitably appear at seemingly random times. As Vincentians, we can all recall a time or two when things haven’t gone to plan.

Jesus’ encounter with the unnamed woman from Samaria at the well of their common ancestor, Jacob, takes both parties by surprise. The woman, seeking to draw some water in the heat of the day away from the judgmental eyes and words of her neighbours, is drawn into a challenging and intimate conversation. Jesus, finding himself in an unfamiliar city on a last-minute change of journey back to Galilee, is faced with a culturally informed and spiritually formed outsider who presses him into deeper answers. Yet, something remarkable happens in this exchange. Both demonstrate an openness to the other person in the middle of doing other business. Both allow themselves to talk with honesty and vulnerability. Both are changed through the dialogue. The woman recognises that the hope she has been waiting for is now present with her, and she is roused to tell other people about him.

Jesus finds nourishment for his mission and remains longer in a new place to proclaim his story and his truth.

What appears to be the wrong time can be transformed into perfect timing. Within our Vincentian tradition, we invest our trust in the Holy Spirit to guide and change us in every encounter with other people, especially during our visits, but beyond these spaces as well. And the Holy Spirit is an elusive and comprehensive strategist! We don’t know when or where these encounters may happen. Cooperation with the Holy Spirit relies on a sense of openness and faith so that we can truly recognise the face of Christ in one another.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• When have you experienced times of inconvenient questions or requests for assistance?
• How are you cooperating with the Holy Spirit?

From: Firewood for the soul, vol. 2, A Reflexion Book for the Whole Vincentian Family
St. Vincent de Paul Society, Queensland, Australia.
Text by: Samantha Hill and James Hodge.