Deacon Tom Anthony

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

This Sunday marks a special day within our community, which we all can relate to when contemplating our Lenten Journey. Our Catechumens and Candidates have been asked to come forward and receive the First Scrutiny. All the Scripture Readings and the Gospel Reading for this past Sunday changed to reflect this. Through the readings contained in Sacred Scripture and through this demonstration of support within our community, it is expected that the faith and hope of these individuals will be strengthened and the Holy Spirit will move them to continue their Journey of Faith with added strength and vigor.

We have two Catechumens and one Candidate. The Catechumens are coming forward to receive all three Sacraments of Initiation into the Roman Catholic Church: Baptism, Holy Communion, and Confirmation. The Candidate is coming forward to receive Confirmation. These Sacraments will be given during the vigil of the Highest Feast Day within the Holy Mother Church: Easter Sunday. We all are invited as a community to pray for these “Elect” and encourage them through their Lenten Journey.

The First Scrutiny involves the Living Water, which Jesus offers to the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well. Water, which is used throughout Sacred Scripture to signify purification, forgiveness, and redemption, is used to describe what Jesus is offering to everyone. Unlike the physical water that every person partakes in to survive on a daily basis, Jesus offers spiritual water that nourishes our very soul. It is necessary to consume this water in order to achieve salvation and eternal life.

Where is this water found? It lies within the recesses of Sacred Scripture, prayer, and our relationship with Jesus. Sometimes it is easy to find and we are moved by its presence, which is pure love. It revives us, strengthens us, and enables us to be truly happy in this life. Other times, we need to search for it. We need to dig deep within ourselves until it bursts forth in a fountain of fury. Oftentimes, the water lies deep beneath a desert of despair like during this Lenten Season. We carry our own crosses laden with sin and despair. Yet, even the slightest hope during these times can focus ourselves on what really matters: Christ within our lives.

All around us is God. He is throughout his creation, which includes us. It is almost laughable how we can desperately search for this Living Water in the first place when we were the ones who drained the well and threw it away in exchange for earthly desires. But we can indeed learn from this experience by cherishing this water now and seek it with the same vigor and determination that we had when we acted out our sins. It is a change in priorities that we must perform. The world we live in is slowly passing away and we must ultimately decide if we are going to fade away with it or exercise our spirituality so as to align our goals and aspirations with God’s. We all have that opportunity to do this. As Jesus said: “Seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened.” If we believe what Jesus said, then we must transform our thoughts into actions and start working on our salvation and happiness on a continuous basis.

We must always remember that God just wants us to be happy. Happiness is the key to love and loving God is the act of engaging in a relationship, which involves the ultimate and perfect love, which is God, himself. Why would anyone want to deny himself or herself that: to partake in an existence with God himself? The first step is to come to the Living Water, which is Jesus Christ, and partake in its goodness.

Deacon Tom