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– The children were all lined
up for their first confession.

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When little Johnny’s
time came for confession,

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so the priest tells Johnny
to confess his sins,

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and the boy promptly replied,

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“Father, I threw a rock at Jimmy.”

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“Now, that was a very
misguided thing to do my son.”

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Said the priest very patiently.

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Little Johnny said,

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“It wasn’t misguided at all, I hit him.”

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(congregation laughing)

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We all thirst for something in life.

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We all try to hit the mark.

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The woman at the well in
today’s Gospel is open.

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He comes to faith in our
encounter with the Lord.

[00:00:47.09]
True story: In the winter of 1976,

[00:00:51.05]
while still seminarian,

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I went shopping with my brother Adrian,

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one cold evening toward Christmas.

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So, we finished shopping,

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We walked toward the car,

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it was parked along the curb
between two parked cars.

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The 30 degrees temperature

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made the road very, very icy and slick.

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I couldn’t get out of the spot,

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my tires kept spinning because of the ice.

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And both cars had me in.

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In the rear view mirror,

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I could see a man in a blue car behind us,

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calmly smoking a cigarette
from his passenger seat.

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I told my brother in a
very frustrated voice,

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“Why isn’t he just back
up the car a few feet?

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“There’s no one behind him,

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“And there’s smoke coming
out of his tailpipe.

[00:01:35.08]
“Can’t he see

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“that we can’t move?”

[00:01:40.03]
So I got out of my car

[00:01:41.08]
and walk over to the
passenger side of his car.

[00:01:45.00]
I knocked on the car window,

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and I asked in my
kindest, seminarian voice,

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“Sir, I was wondering,

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“if you could possibly pull
your car back about five feet.

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“As you can see, my tires
keep spinning on the ice,

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“and we can’t move.”

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The man’s face was gentle.

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He turned toward me,

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those glasses hid the
expression in his eyes.

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“I’m very sorry.”, he said,

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“I’m waiting for my wife.

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“Please feel free to
move the car yourself.

[00:02:13.09]
“I’m afraid I can’t, I’m blind.”

[00:02:18.02]
Now then, when life becomes unclear,

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when I lose focus

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concerning life’s real
meaning and purpose,

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or when the street is blocked
with my own blindness,

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that’s often my own.

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I think of that icy night

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and the blue car, the motor
running, and I remember,

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for a big part of what we find in life

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depends upon what we’re looking for.

[00:02:44.03]