Third Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 28
Reading I
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
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 II
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 Gospel
Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world;
give me living water, that I may never thirst again.
Gospel
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,
It does not take us long to forget the good things that we have been given in this life and the gifts that we have already received from God when we start to encounter bad things or bad situations. Whatever good things that might have come before, are quickly forgotten and the miserable state that we find ourselves in takes precedence. As God’s children, we have the propensity to act like little children when we are in relationship with Him. The First Scripture Reading today reminds us that God is always in our midst, regardless if the circumstances are good or bad. In fact, His presence can be felt all the more when we cry out to Him for His help and mercy. It is then that He joins us to guide us and help us through what are facing. At the same time, we cannot take God for granted. We should constantly be seeking His presence in all our thoughts and actions. This will ensure that our relationship with Him will remain strong and bear much fruit. Relationships are always reciprocal, and one with God is no different. He was the initiator of our relationship with Him, for He created us for no other reason but to love us completely and have us love Him in return. So, it is up to us to respond to that love and allow it to impact our lives.
God furthermore has given us His only Son completely for our salvation. The ultimate expression of that love that He has for us. Through our acknowledgement of Jesus, we further delve into this powerful force which is the love of God. Jesus gives us hope, solidified by Him dying for us. The Apostle Paul reminds us that,
“because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
What a beautiful vision this offers. We are emersed in the love of God and deluged with His graces, just by being aware of His presence and recognizing who He is.
This Sunday marks The Third Sunday of Lent. It is where we get this interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well. It is geared for those who are coming forward to be baptized and confirmed in their faith during The Easter Season. All of the readings serve a as a reminder of the nourishment that Jesus Christ has to offer to all of God’s creation by giving salvation to all those who accept Him. Regardless of where we are in our lives, Jesus calls all of us forward to be healed by His presence and to come and glorify the Father. This is the vision He brings forward about being the Living Water. He has the capability of washing us clean and refreshing us. It is through Jesus Christ that we are made whole. He did not judge the Samaritan woman. He instead offered her healing and love. He instructed her and showed her a better way, even though it would indeed cause a scandal, especially amongst His disciples. Just as everything is made better with Jesus, He used this as a teachable moment to everyone and the glory of God was revealed through His actions.
God was there at Massah and Meribah, He too is everywhere ready to offer us a better way. We first become part of the harvest that He has prepared through Jesus Christ. We then set to work as reapers of those who have come after us. Our duties and functions constantly change as we carry out our good works in the name of Jesus Christ. We are all invited to spend some time with Jesus at the well and have a conversation. We come as we are instead of who we want to become. It is here that Jesus will then ask us to drink deeply of the Living Water.
Deacon Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment