Deacon Tom Anthony

Third Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 28

Reading 1 Ex 17:3-7

In those days, in their thirst for water,
the people grumbled against Moses,
saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
Was it just to have us die here of thirst
with our children and our livestock?”
So Moses cried out to the LORD,
“What shall I do with this people?
a little more and they will stone me!”
The LORD answered Moses,
“Go over there in front of the people,
along with some of the elders of Israel,
holding in your hand, as you go,
the staff with which you struck the river.
I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it
for the people to drink.”
This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.
The place was called Massah and Meribah,
because the Israelites quarreled there
and tested the LORD, saying,
“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9.

R. (8)  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
    as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
    they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reading 2 Rom 5:1-2, 5-8

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith
to this grace in which we stand,
and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
And hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Verse Before the GospelJn 4:42, 15

Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world;
give me living water, that I may never thirst again.

Gospel Jn 4:5-42

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,
near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.
It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
“Give me a drink.”
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
The Samaritan woman said to him,
“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”
—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—
Jesus answered and said to her,
“If you knew the gift of God
and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep;
where then can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself
with his children and his flocks?”
Jesus answered and said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty
or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her,
“Go call your husband and come back.”
The woman answered and said to him,
“I do not have a husband.”
Jesus answered her,
“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’
For you have had five husbands,
and the one you have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;
but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus said to her,
“Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand;
we worship what we understand,
because salvation is from the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and is now here,
when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;
and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in Spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him,
“I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Jesus said to her,
“I am he, the one speaking with you.”
At that moment his disciples returned,
and were amazed that he was talking with a woman,
but still no one said, “What are you looking for?”
or “Why are you talking with her?”
The woman left her water jar
and went into the town and said to the people,
“Come see a man who told me everything I have done.
Could he possibly be the Christ?”
They went out of the town and came to him.
Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.”
But he said to them,
“I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
So the disciples said to one another,
“Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me
and to finish his work.
Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’?
I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
The reaper is already receiving payment
and gathering crops for eternal life,
so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.
For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for;
others have done the work,
and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him
because of the word of the woman who testified,
“He told me everything I have done.”
When the Samaritans came to him,
they invited him to stay with them;
and he stayed there two days.
Many more began to believe in him because of his word,
and they said to the woman,
“We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 There are two types of water that have the capability of nourishing us in two different ways. Each are necessary for the life that God intended us to have. Throughout Sacred Scripture God has made a link between these two types of water and used the necessity of both to create an imagery that invites us into a deep spiritual experience based on our reaction to the description of the need we have for these and our reaction to receiving them when they offered. The physical necessity for water is the obvious one. 90% of this world is made up of water and we as human beings are 60% water. Water is a building block for life and is needed by us on a daily basis if we are to keep living. The number of days a person can go without water is about three days without having any detrimental effects. Afterwards is when vital organs start to shut down. The spiritual necessity of water is one that has to be explored more deeply because, based upon the individual person and their spirituality, it can be harder to relate to or comprehend. That is why the linkage between physical water, spiritual water, and the imagery they present becomes all the more important.

Each of us are made up of three parts: the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. When our body needs water we can feel it. Our body begins to dehydrate and our mind urges us to seek it out to quench what is known as thirst. The more we lack water the more we are urged forward to get it all the while our mind becomes focused on it. The more that we lack water the more our mind fixates on the quenching powers that water provides. We imagine more and more how it tastes and what it can do for us. In much the same way there is a longing for spiritual water; the one that Jesus describes in the Gospel Reading today. The philosopher Rene Descartes described an innate longing for God that ultimately proves that He exists. Sacred Scripture constantly describes this longing that we all as human beings have for God. Some people reject this longing while others react angrily towards it by denying its existence. Then there are those who embrace it fully. Each person’s reaction to it will be as different as each person’s personhood is but it is there nevertheless just because of the question of God’s existence alone.

Beginning a search for the questions that we have about God and our relation to Him begins a process of receiving this spiritual water that Jesus talks about. We are told that whatever position that we take and whatever path that we go down in this journey will ultimately lead to Jesus Christ and Divine Revelation. It is impossible for it not be so because God created us and revealed to us His only son whom He sacrificed so that we may obtain eternal life. We have learned through this Lenten Journey how The Trinity brings us closer to God and how we are invited into relationship within it. We have learned that that it is through temptation, challenges, trials, and tribulations that we become stronger in our faith. Today we learn that when we seek knowledge and truth we are actually seeking that spiritual water which is Jesus Christ. This water will bring us spiritual, mental, and physical comfort. It will also help us to make sense of this reality around us which is our existence and the existence of God’s creation. Finally, it will also bring us closer to the ultimate truth which is Jesus Christ.

Jesus himself said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened.” What He said is something that has been emphasized throughout Sacred Scripture. For those who called lout to God there has always been a response. Even in His perceived silence was a response that provided answers to what was being asked. Whatever God did or does is in reaction to His relationship with us and represents the pouring forth of the Living Water that is Jesus. Like little children, the Israelites complained about their plight and suffering continuously. When something was given they then demanded something else. In much the same way we tend to lament about our situation and complain to God about our plight; all the while blaming Him for things that ultimately were of our doing for the most part. God is always listening to us regardless if we are acting like little children or not. He will provide for us and insure that we will be protected against everything that opposes us. In the same way that water is provided for our nourishment on this earth so is the spiritual water offered to us which ultimately offers us all the comfort and answers that we need.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that peace is achieved through a relationship with Jesus Christ and that His love poured out to us is enough to quell any anxiety, fear, pain, or doubt. He is the ultimate truth and when He is received this way then nothing can oppose what is being revealed. This can be comforting knowledge especially for those of us who are still searching or are in possession of some sort of doubt. Anything that impedes a relationship with Jesus Christ can be perceived as some sort of thirst for knowledge and a thirst for spirituality. Turning to Jesus Christ for answers represents an acceptance of that spiritual water which is necessary for our survival and for our salvation.

Deacon Tom