Whenever our Lord wished to do a favor, he always began by asking for one.

He did not begin with a reproof, but with a request.

Welcome to Every Needs, Shalbaugh, your seasonal Catholic podcast on evangelization and discipleship.

I'm Mike Gomer Gormley, and I am here

to walk you through the essentials of what it means to follow Christ as a Catholic disciple.

Let's begin.

Last week, we examined the roles of the Pharisees in the teaching and preaching of Jesus.

As we continue to do this character study, we need to understand the very heart of our Lord

and why he felt it so necessary to not make common cause with the Pharisees, but rather to attack them directly and repeatedly.

What was it about the Pharisees that drove Jesus so angry and insane?

It was simply this.

Their focus on the externals while he wanted to start with the heart.

And now we move to just such an occasion where those who were mocked and belittled

by the Pharisees, those who are absolutely hated by the Jews in general at the time of Christ,

Christ goes in John chapter four to meet them. That is the people of Samaria, especially in the

story of the Samaritan woman at the well. For this week,

I want to spend a little bit of time where Jesus actually converts not just a woman, but an

entire town. Now, this is the town of Samaria in and around Mount Gerizim, which is one of the

holy mountains of the Samaritan people.

Basically, if you don't remember the story, Israel refers to a lot of things.

It refers to the man, Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.

It refers to the nation at the foot of Mount Sinai, the Israelite people.

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