NGƯỜI LỮ HÀNH HY VỌNG: MARCH 23, 2014 : THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT year A

Chủ Nhật, 23 tháng 3, 2014

MARCH 23, 2014 : THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT year A

Third Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 28

Reading 1EX 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.

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.”

Or JN 4:5-15, 19B-26, 39A, 40-42

www.usccb.org

Scripture Study – Mar. 23, 2014

March 23, 2014 Third Sunday Of Lent

On this, the Third Sunday of Lent, the readings call us to think about our thirst for eternal life and how it can be quenched only by the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit that comes to us through Jesus. We, like the Israelites, in the first reading are called to recognize God in our lives and to trust in His care for us. Paul reminds us that in spite of our sinfulness, and in the midst of our woundedness, God has justified us in Christ and poured forth His love into our hearts in the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel gives us a model of conversion as Jesus goes to Samaria and reclaims a people who had strayed.

First Reading: Exodus 17: 3-7

3 Here, then, 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?” 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” 5 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. 6 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. 7 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?”

NOTES on First Reading:

* 17:3-7 The issue is not thirst but the rejection of the value of the Exodus. This is a rejection of the Divine plan. The people do not believe that God can care for them. There is no Divine rebuke, simply a command to take the elders as witnesses and to strike the rock and water will spring forth.

* 17:6 In Horeb is a reference to Exodus 3:1-5 where Moses had met God. The rock is used as an image of Christ in 1 Cor 10:4.

* 17:7 Massah and Meribah are Hebrew words meaning respectively, “the (place of the) test,” and, “the (place of the) quarreling.”

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 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. 3Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, 4 and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6 For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 5:1-11 Popular thinking frequently construed reverses and troubles as punishment for sin as in John 9:2. Paul assures believers that God’s justifying action in Jesus Christ is an act of peace. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ displays God’s initiative in giving humanity unimpeded access into the Divine presence.

* 5:1 Reconciliation is God’s gift of pardon to the entire human race. Paul’s term, justification, means to benefit personally from this pardon through faith. God desires to liberate believers from the pre-Christian self as described in Romans 1-3. Because this liberation will first find completion in the believer’s resurrection, salvation is described as future in Romans 5:10. For this reason it is called the Christian hope. Paul’s Greek term for hope does not, however, suggest any note of uncertainty. Rather, God’s promise in the gospel fills believers with expectation and anticipation for the climactic gift of complete commitment in the Holy Spirit to the performance of the will of God. The persecutions that attend Christian commitment teach believers patience and strengthen this hope, which will not disappoint them because the Holy Spirit dwells in their hearts and imbues them with God’s love (Romans 5:5).

* 5:3-4 These two verses are included here for completeness but are left out of the Lectionary reading.

*5:7 In Paul’s time a “just” person would have been one who was known to be generous with others.

Gospel Reading: John 4: 5-42 or 4: 5-15,19b-26, 39a,40-42 (for short form)

5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 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.) 10 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.” 11 (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? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; 14 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.” 15 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.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” 17 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.’ 18 For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 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. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.”

27 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?” 28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, 29 “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 They went out of the town and came to him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. 35 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. 36 The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 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.”

39 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.” 40 When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more began to believe in him because of his word, 42 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.”

NOTES on Gospel Reading:

* 4:5 The Old Testament is full of meetings at wells. They form a very important part of the Patriarchal narratives; see Gen 25:10; Gen 29:1; Ex 2:15. Here John uses a meeting of Jesus and a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well to show us the basic elements of conversion. She at first resists His questions and tries to change the subject. Jesus refuses to play along with her and she is empowered by His presence to face her past and begin a new life. At the end of the story she is described by John in the same words he uses in Ch.17 to describe the missionary work of the apostles. So she changes from an outcast sinner into a missionary for Christ.

* 4:6 The hour was counted from dawn so the sixth hour is about noon. Water in such a place is drawn at the end of the day or in the early morning but not in the noontime heat. She may have been trying to avoid the other women who would be found at the well during the more usual times for drawing water.

* 4:9 Jews would consider themselves to be ritually unclean if they drank from a cup that had been handled by a Samaritan woman. This is why the woman is surprised by His request.

* 4:10 The term “living water” meant a spring or a river or any water body that had the water in motion rather than stagnant. Water from such a moving source was considered much more desirable than water that had been sitting in a well. Jesus uses it in a symbolic sense as the Holy Spirit. Living water has been used often as a symbol of the Holy Spirit and for the life that stems from Him. John often used such verbal misunderstandings as a literary device to provide the opportunity to inject a further explanation. See 3:3.

* 4:11 John uses the misunderstanding as a springboard for Jesus to reach out to her and help her face the stumbling blocks from her past that had alienated her from God and from her neighbors. The woman addresses Jesus as “kyrios” which is translated as “Sir” here. This is the same word, usually translated as LORD, that was used in the Septuagint (Greek text of the Old Testament) for the Hebrew word “Adonai” as a substitute for the Hebrew Name of God, “YHWH”, also called the tetragrammaton.

* 4:14 Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit whose presence will infuse the believer with eternal life.

* 4:15 The woman does not understand and is still thinking of “drinking water.”

* 4:17 Jesus confronts the woman with her past and she tries to change the subject.

* 4:18 The reference to five husbands may be interpreted in at least two ways. As a personal scandal: The accepted standard was that a woman could be divorced 2 times, and a few more radical teachers would allow three times but a woman who had been divorced five times would be considered a scandal. This may have been what made the woman an outcast among the people. As a symbolic scandal: There were five waves of gentile invasions that swept through Samaria. The Samaritans accepted them and intermarried with them and accepted some of their cultural artifacts. This made them unclean in the sight of the Jews.

* 4:24 Protestants tend to interpret this as: Jesus is speaking about interior worship of the Father in the Spirit. Catholics tend to interpret this as: Jesus is talking about worship of the Father by the power of the Spirit which is found in the church. The text and grammar allow both interpretations although the Catholic view is much older. Either way, taken with verse 21 it seems that Jesus is saying that both the Temple worship of Jerusalem and the worship of the Samaritans will soon be replaced by “true worship in Spirit and truth.”

* 4:25 Apparently the Samaritans were not expecting a Messiah who would be a king but one who would be a prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15).

* 4:26 Jesus uses a term that can also be translated as “I am”, the same name that God used when He met Moses and which became identified as God’s self-revelation to His people (Exod 3:14; Isa 41:4-10, 43:3). This link will be made explicit when Jesus is shown to be greater than Abraham (8:24,28). Confession of Jesus as prophet, Messiah, Savior of the world, and equal to God will become the basis for true worship in John’s community.

* 4:27 A Jewish Rabbi would not speak to a woman in public. Jesus seems to disregard this social requirement.

* 4:28 The woman abandons the very reason that she went to the well in the first place and leaving the water behind she goes back to town to tell others about Jesus. Her actions follow the pattern of the discipleship stories presented in 1:40-49.

* 4:31-34 The disciples misunderstand Jesus’ words about “food” just as the woman misunderstood His words about “water”. Jewish tradition often described the Torah as food (Prov 9:5, Sir 24:21). Jesus makes doing God’s will His “food.” This expression is common in Jesus’ ministry (5:30.36;6:38,17:4).

* 4:35-38 John has placed a series of proverbial sayings here that parallel the agricultural imagery of the Synoptic Gospels. Jesus uses them to aim the disciples toward their task of harvesting those who come close to Jesus.

* 4:37-38 Jesus uses the saying from Mic 6:15 with the pessimistic overtones removed. He has sower and reaper rejoicing together which was taken as a sign of a new age (Lev 26:5 implies an overlap of sowing and reaping).

* 4:39-42 The woman is presented as a missionary in virtually the same words as the disciples are in Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20. The Samaritans first believe because of the words of the woman. They must have seen something vastly different in her in order to get past their previous opinion of her and actually listen. Later their belief is based upon their own experience of Jesus and His Word.

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Meditation: A spring of water welling up to eternal life

Would you do a favor for someone who snubbed you or treated you like an enemy? Jesus did just that and more! He treated the Samaritans, the sworn enemies of the Jews, with great kindness and respect. The Samaritans who lived in middle region of Israel between Galilee and Judaea and the Jews who lived in the rest of the land of Israel had been divided for centuries. They had no dealings with one another, avoiding all social contact, even trade, and inter-marriage. If their paths crossed it would not be unusual for hostility to break out.

When Jesus decided to pass through Samaria he stopped at Jacob's well because it was mid-day and he was both tired from the journey and thirsty. Jacob's well was a good mile and a half from the nearest town, called Sychar. It wasn't easy to draw water from this well since it was over a hundred feet deep. Jesus had neither rope nor bucket to fetch the water.

When a Samaritan woman showed up at the well, both were caught by surprise. Why would a Samaritan woman walk a mile and a half in the mid-day heat to fetch her water at a remote well rather than in her local town? She was an outcast and not welcomed among her own townspeople. Jesus then did something no respectable Jew would think of doing. He reached out to her, thus risking ritual impurity and scorn from his fellow Jews. He also did something no strict Rabbi would dare to do in public without loss to his reputation. He treated the woman like he would treat one of his friends - he greeted her and spoke at length with her. Jesus' welcoming approach to her was scandalous to both Jews and Samaritans because this woman was an adulteress and public sinner as well. No decent Jew or Samaritan would even think of being seen with such a woman, let alone exchanging a word with her!

Jesus broke through the barriers of prejudice, hostility, and tradition to bring the good news of peace and reconciliation to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles alike. He demonstrated the universality of the gospel both in word and deed. No one is barred from the love of God and the good news of salvation. There is only one thing that can keep us from God and his redeeming love - our stubborn pride and wilful rebellion.

What is the point of Jesus' exchange with the Samaritan woman about water? Water in the arid land was scarce. Jacob's well was located in a strategic fork of the road between Samaria and Galilee. One can live without food for several days, but not without water. Water is a source of life and growth for all living things. When rain came to the desert, the water transformed the wasteland into a fertile field.

The kind of water which Jesus spoke about was living, running, fresh, pure water. Fresh water from a cool running stream was always preferred to the still water one might find in a pool or resevoir. When the Israelites complained about lack of water in the wilderness, God instructed Moses to strike the rock and a stream of fresh living water gushed out (Exodus17:6 ). Even though the Israelites did not trust God to care for them in the wilderness, God, nonetheless gave them abundant water and provision through the intercession of his servant Moses.

The image of "living water" is used throughout the scriptures as a symbol of God's wisdom, a wisdom that imparts life and blessing to all who receive it. "The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life" (Proverbs 13:14). "Living water" was also a symbol for the Jews of thirst of the soul for God. The water which Jesus spoke of symbolized the Holy Spirit and his work of recreating us in God's image and sustaining in us the new life which comes from God. The life which the Holy Spirit produces in us makes us a "new creation" in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Do you thirst for God and for the life of the Holy Spirit within you?

Hippolytus (170-236 AD), an early Christian writer and theologian who lived in Rome, explains the significance of the Holy Spirit's work in us:

"This is the water of the Spirit: It refreshes paradise, enriches the earth, gives life to living things. It is the water of Christ's baptism; it is our life. If you go with faith to this renewing fountain, you renounce Satan your enemy and confess Christ your God. You cease to be a slave and become an adopted son. You come forth radiant as the sun and brilliant with justice. You come forth a son of God and fellow-heir with Christ." (From a sermon, On the Epiphany)

Basil the Great (330-379 AD), a great early Christian teacher and Greek bishop of Caesarea, speaks in a similar manner:

"The Spirit restores paradise to us and the way to heaven and adoption as children of God; he instills confidence that we may call God truly Father and grants us the grace of Christ to be children of the light and to enjoy eternal glory. In a word, he bestows the fullness of blessings in this world and the next; for we may contemplate now in the mirror of faith the promised things we shall someday enjoy. If this is the foretaste, what must the reality be? If these are the first fruits, what must be the harvest?" (From the treatise, The Holy Spirit)

"Lord Jesus, my soul thirsts for you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may always find joy in your presence and take delight in doing your will."

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Living Water

Third Sunday of Lent

John 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 have no 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 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 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 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 live, 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 has 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.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present in my life. I believe that you are my creator and that you hold me in existence at every moment. I hope in you because I know that you created me and want what’s best for me. I know that you want to give me the living water you promised to the Samaritan woman. I am the one who places obstacles in your way. My lack of faith, attachments to worldly things, egoism and vanity all get in the way of receiving your gift. I come to you in prayer today with a humble and contrite heart. You know my misery and how much I need your grace. Accept my prayer today as a token of my desire to remove the obstacles that come between us.

Petition: Lord help me to turn to you, the Wellspring of Eternal Life, to satisfy my thirst.

1. Making Trips to the Well: The Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water as she has so many times before. When her water runs out and she is thirsty, she must go back to the well again. The water she draws from the well has the power to satisfy for only a short time. We can go through life just like this woman, searching for the little things in life that satisfy our thirst – perhaps pleasure, the latest news, an interesting job or a friendship. All these things satisfy, but their satisfaction is limited and we must return to them again and again. To what do you turn to satisfy your thirst for happiness and fulfillment? Reflect on how that satisfaction is limited and how you must go back time and time again to quench your thirst.

2. The Living Water: The Samaritan woman comes to draw water, but this time there is a Jewish man at the well and he asks her for a drink. She is taken aback by his request because Jews do not associate with Samaritans. A Jew would not ask a Samaritan for a drink because, according to Jewish law, the buckets that the Samaritans used were unclean. In spite of her initial shock, she is willing to converse with him and is startled when he offers her living water. It is soon clear that he is speaking about something much greater than well water. He is speaking about the life of grace – the life-giving water he has come to give all mankind. He shares this life of grace with us in abundance – so much so that when we accept his offer of life-giving grace, we no longer have need for inferior satisfactions.

3. We Must Ask for This Water: Christ tells the woman, “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 does not know she is speaking to the very source of life and grace. If she only knew she was talking to the Christ, she would beg for the living water that Christ has to offer. No doubt many times we are close to Christ in our prayer or the Eucharist without recognizing him. We are like this Samaritan woman – unaware that we speaking with Christ. Only when we are truly aware of how close Christ and the great treasure he is offering us are to us when we converse with him in prayer, are we able to beg him for the living water of his grace.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to see beyond the ordinary and grasp the reality of what you are offering me. You died on the cross so that I might partake in the living water that flowed from your side. Grant me your grace of living water, and teach me to thirst for it alone.

Resolution: I will ask Christ, by short invocations throughout the day, to give me the living water of his grace.

www.regnumchristi.org

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
SUNDAY, MARCH 23, JOHN 4:5-42
(Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8)

KEY VERSE: "The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (v 14).
READING: Jesus offered life-giving water to all who thirsted for God. Perhaps the Samaritan woman at the well was nameless as she represents each person who Jesus personally encountered. St. Augustine said, "It was for you that Jesus was weary from the journey." The woman who met Jesus at the well was despised as a heretical Samaritan, descendants of the Assyrian occupation. With their mixed Jewish and pagan beliefs, Samaritans were regarded as unfit to worship in the temple in Jerusalem, so the Samaritans built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim. Jesus looked beyond national and religious boundaries to the coming of the Spirit who would unite all believers in worship of one God. At first, the woman was suspicious of Jesus and argumentative, but as he revealed her inner need, the woman changed her attitude. She addressed him as "sir" and then as "prophet," but as the woman gradually recognized Jesus as the Messiah, she finally saw him as her personal Savior. Leaving her empty water jar behind (a symbol of her arid life), the woman ran off to tell the people in the village that she found the Lord. Many believed on the strength of the woman's testimony. Meanwhile, Jesus' disciples had gone to the city to buy food. When they returned, he asked them to pray for others, who, like the woman, would harvest the ripe field of souls that lay before them.
REFLECTING: Have I shared Christ's life-giving water with others this Lent?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, increase my thirst for you.

FIRST SCRUTINY FOR THE ELECT

On the Third Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the First Scrutiny and Exorcism for the Elect (RCIA, 150). The primary way that the Church assists those preparing for baptism (called the elect after the celebration of the Rite of Election on the First Sunday of Lent) is through the celebration of the rites called Scrutinies. To scrutinize something means to examine closely. These ritual celebrations are held on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent. On the Third Sunday we hear the story of the woman at the well and her thirst for God. On the Fourth Sunday we hear of the man born blind and the healing power of God in his life. On the Fifth Sunday we hear of the raising of Lazarus, which reminds us of our own dying and rising with Christ in Baptism. The Scrutiny rites of Lent are communal prayers celebrated to strengthen the elect to overcome the power of sin in their lives and to grow in virtues. The community does not scrutinize the elect; they scrutinize their own lives and allow God to scrutinize them and to heal them. Since all of us are called to continual conversion throughout our lives, we join with the elect in scrutinizing our own lives and praying to God for the grace to overcome the power of sin that have a hold on us, and to be strengthened in the virtues.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

MINUTE MEDITATIONS

Faith in Action



How do we, in our own lives, set an example for the people around us? This will always be a more powerful way of sharing the good news than anything we could say. — from Lent With St. Francis If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts Without water there is no life. Much of space exploration focuses on trying to find water on distant planets. We need it on Earth to support life, and it is a first vital requirement after a natural disaster. As Christians, we need the living water Jesus offers if we are to have a deep inner life. In his meeting with the Samaritan woman, Jesus first asked for a drink. Such a simple request, but it opened the door to an encounter on a far deeper level which changed her life. Jesus listened to her story, treated her with dignity and awoke in her the longing to respond. She acted as a disciple, running to take the good news to her village. Lord, help us to spread your Gospel in our own circle of influence. www.pray.com.au March 23 St. Turibius of Mogrovejo (1538-1606) Together with Rose of Lima, Turibius is the first known saint of the New World, serving the Lord in Peru, South America, for 26 years. Born in Spain and educated for the law, he became so brilliant a scholar that he was made professor of law at the University of Salamanca and eventually became chief judge of the Inquisition at Granada. He succeeded too well. But he was not sharp enough a lawyer to prevent a surprising sequence of events. When the archdiocese of Lima in Peru required a new leader, Turibius was chosen to fill the post: He was the one person with the strength of character and holiness of spirit to heal the scandals that had infected that area. He cited all the canons that forbade giving laymen ecclesiastical dignities, but he was overruled. He was ordained priest and bishop and sent to Peru, where he found colonialism at its worst. The Spanish conquerors were guilty of every sort of oppression of the native population. Abuses among the clergy were flagrant, and he devoted his energies (and suffering) to this area first. He began the long and arduous visitation of an immense archdiocese, studying the language, staying two or three days in each place, often with neither bed nor food. He confessed every morning to his chaplain, and celebrated Mass with intense fervor. Among those to whom he gave the Sacrament of Confirmation was St. Rose of Lima, and possibly St. Martin de Porres (November 3). After 1590 he had the help of another great missionary, St. Francis Solanus. His people, though very poor, were sensitive, dreading to accept public charity from others. Turibius solved the problem by helping them anonymously. Stories: When Turibius undertook the reform of the clergy as well as unjust officials, he naturally suffered opposition. Some tried, in human fashion, to explain God's law in such a way as to sanction their accustomed way of life. answered them in the words of Tertullian, "Christ said, 'I am the truth'; he did not say, 'I am the custom.'" Comment: The Lord indeed writes straight with crooked lines. Against his will, and from the unlikely springboard of an Inquisition tribunal, this man became the Christlike shepherd of a poor and oppressed people. God gave him the gift of loving others as they needed it. www.americancatholic.org

LECTIO DIVINA: 3RD SUNDAY OF LENT (A)

Lectio:

Sunday, March 23, 2014

The Meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman
A Dialogue that brings new life
John 4,5-42

1. OPENING PRAYER

Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us read the Scriptures in the same way that you read them to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. With the light of the Word in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the distressing events surrounding your condemnation to death. The cross, which seemed to put an end to all hope, was revealed to them as the source of life and resurrection.

Create in us the silence necessary to hear your voice in creation and in the Scriptures, in the events of daily life and in people, above all in the poor and the suffering. May your word give us direction, just as it did to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, so that we too will experience the power of your resurrection and bear witness to others that you are alive in our midst as the source of community, of justice and of peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, you who revealed the Father to us and sent us your Spirit. Amen.

2. READING

a) A key for unlocking the text:

The text describes the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. It is a very human conversation, which shows how Jesus related to people and how he himself learned and became enriched in talking with others. While reading the text, try to be aware of what surprises you most about the attitude both of Jesus and the woman.

b) A division of the text to assist a careful reading:

Jn 4,5-6: Sets the scene in which the dialogue takes place
Jn 4,7-26: Describes the dialogue between Jesus and the woman
7-15: about water and thirst
16-18: about the husband and family
19-25: about religion and the place for adoration
Jn 4,27-30: Describes the effect of the conversation on the woman
Jn 4,31-38: Describes the effect of the conversation on Jesus
Jn 4,39-42: Describes the effect on the mission of Jesus in Samaria

C) THE TEXT:

5-6: So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7-15: There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that 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 have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

16-18: Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly."

19-26: The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks 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 Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

27-30: Just then his disciples came. They marvelled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do you wish?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and were coming to him.

31-38: Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying, "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, "Has any one brought him food?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour; others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour."

39-42: Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world."

3. A MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER

so that the Word of God can enter into us and light up our lives.

4. SOME QUESTIONS

to help us in our meditation and prayer.

a) What most attracted your attention in Jesus’ attitude to the woman during the dialogue? What method did Jesus use to help the woman become aware of a deeper dimension to life?

b) What most attracted your attention about the attitude of the Samaritan woman during her conversation with Jesus? How did she influence Jesus?

c) Where in the Old Testament, is water associated with the gift of life and the gift of the Holy Spirit?

d) How does Jesus’ attitude during the conversation question me or touch something within me or correct me?

e) The Samaritan woman led the discussion towards religion. If you could come across Jesus and talk to him, what would you like to talk about? Why?

f) Do I adore God in spirit and in truth or do I find my security in rituals and regulations?

5. A KEY TO THE READING

for those who wish to go deeper.

a) The symbolism of water:

* Jesus uses the word water in two senses. The first sense is the material,normal sense of water that one drinks; the second is the symbolic sense as the source of life and the gift of the Spirit. Jesus uses a language that people can understand and, at the same time, awakes in them, the desire to go deeper and to discover a more profound meaning to life.

* The symbolic sense of water has its roots in the Old Testament, where it is frequently a symbol for the action of the Spirit of God in people. For example, Jeremiah compares running water to water in a cistern (Jer. 2,13). The more water is taken from a cistern, the less it has; the more water is taken from a stream of living water, the more it has. Other texts from the Old Testament: Is.12,3; 49,10; 55,1; Ez. 47, 1-3. Jesus knew the traditions of his people and he uses these in his conversation with the Samaritan woman. Suggesting the symbolic meaning of water, he suggests to her (and to the readers) various episodes and phrases from the Old Testament.

b) The dialogue between Jesus and the woman:

* Jesus meets the woman at the well, a traditional place for meetings and conversations (Gen 24,10-27;29,1-14). He starts off from his own very real need because he is thirsty. He does this in such a way that the woman feels needed and she serves him. Jesus makes himself needy in her regard. From his question, he makes it possible for the woman to become aware that he depends on her to give him something to drink. Jesus awakens in her the desire to help and to serve.

* The conversation between Jesus and the woman has two levels.

(i) The superficial level, in the material sense of water that quenches someone’s thirst, and in the normal sense of husband as the father of a family. At this level the conversation is tense and difficult and does not flow. The Samaritan woman has the upper hand. At the beginning, Jesus tries to meet her by talking about daily chores (fetching water), but he does not succeed. Then he tries by talking about family (call your husband), and still there is no breakthrough. Finally the woman speaks about religion (the place of adoration). Jesus then gets through to her by the door she herself has opened.

(ii) The deeper level, in the symbolic sense of water as the image of the new life brought by Jesus, and of the husband as the symbol of the union of God with the people. At this level, the conversation flows perfectly. After revealing that he himself is offering the water of new life, Jesus says, "Go and get your husband and then return". In the past, the Samaritans had five husbands, or five idols, attached to the five groups of people who were taken off by the King of Assyria (2 Kings 17, 30-31). The sixth husband, the one the woman had at present, was not truly her husband: "the one you have now is not your husband" (Jn. 4,18). What the people had did not respond to their deepest desire: union with God, as a husband who unites himself to his spouse (Is. 62,5; 54,5). The true husband, the seventh, is Jesus, as promised by Hosea: "I will espouse you to me forever; I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy. I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord." (Hos. 2, 21-22). Jesus is the bridegroom who has arrived (Mk. 2, 19) to bring new life to the woman who has been searching for it her whole life long, and until now, has never found it. If the people accept Jesus as "husband", they will have access to God wherever they are, both in spirit and in truth (vv. 23-24).

* Jesus declares his thirst to the Samaritan woman but he does not drink. This is a sign that we are talking about a symbolic thirst, which had to do with his mission: the thirst to accomplish the will of his Father (Jn. 4, 34). This thirst is ever present in Jesus and will be until his death. At the moment of his death, he says, "I am thirsty" (Jn. 19, 28). He declares his thirst for the last time and so he can say, "It is accomplished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (Jn. 19,30). His mission had been accomplished.

c) The importance of women in the Gospel of John:

* In John’s Gospel, women feature prominently seven times, which are decisive for the spreading of the Good News. To women are given functions and missions, some of which, in the other Gospels, are attributed to men:

- At the wedding feast in Cana, the mother of Jesus recognises the limits of the Old Testament and affirms the law of the Gospel, "Do whatever he tells you". (Jn. 2, 1-11).

- The Samaritan woman is the first person to have revealed to her by Jesus the great secret, that he is the Messiah. "It is I who speak to you." (Jn. 4,26). She then becomes the evangeliser of Samaria (Jn. 4, 28-30. 39-42).

- The woman, who is called an adulteress, at the moment of receiving the forgiveness of Jesus, becomes the judge of the patriarchal society (or of male power) that seeks to condemn her. (Jn. 8, 1-11).

- In the other Gospels it is Peter who makes the solemn profession of faith in Jesus (Mt. 16, 16; Mk. 8,29; Lk. 9,20). In the Gospel of John, it is Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus, who makes the solemn profession of faith (Jn. 11,27).

- Mary, the sister of Martha, anoints the feet of Jesus for the day of his burial (Jn. 12,7). At the time of Jesus, the one who died on a cross was not buried nor embalmed. Mary anticipated the anointing of Jesus’ body. This means that she accepted Jesus as the Messiah-Suffering Servant, who must die on the cross. Peter did not accept this (Jn.13,8) and sought to dissuade Jesus from this path (Mt. 16,22). In this way, Mary is presented as a model for the other disciples.

- At the foot of the cross, Jesus says, "Woman, behold your son; son, behold your mother" (Jn. 19,25-27). The Church is born at the foot of the cross. Mary is the model for the Christian community.

- Mary Magdalene must announce the Good News to the brothers (Jn. 20,11-18). She receives an order, without which all the other orders given to the apostles would have no effect or value.

* The Mother of Jesus appears twice in John’s Gospel: at the beginning, at the wedding feast in Cana (Jn. 2, 1-5), and at the end, at the foot of the cross (Jn. 19, 25-27). In both cases, she represents the Old Testament that waits for the arrival of the New, and, in both cases, assists its arrival. Mary unites what has gone before with what would come later. At Cana, it is she, the Mother of Jesus, symbol of the Old Testament, who perceives its limits and takes steps so that the New will arrive. At the hour of Jesus’ death, it is the Mother of Jesus, who welcomes the "Beloved Disciple". In this case the Beloved Disciple is the new community, which has grown around Jesus. It is the child that has been born from the Old Testament. In response to Jesus’ request, the son, the New Testament, welcomes the Mother, the Old Testament, into his home. The two must journey together. The New Testament cannot be understood without the Old. It would be a building without a foundation. The Old without the New would be incomplete. It would be a tree without fruit.

6. PSALM 19 (18)

God speaks to us through nature and through the Bible
The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and there is nothing hid from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern his errors?
Clear thou me from hidden faults.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.

7. FINAL PRAYER

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word, which has helped us see better the will of the Father. Let your Spirit illumine all that we do and give us the strength to carry out that which your Word has made us see. Let us, like Mary, your Mother, not only listen to the Word but also put it into practice. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

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MARCH 23, 2014 : THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT year A

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