Third Sunday of Lent (A)
A Deep Personal Encounter
Often we are not willing to listen to people who judge us or who look down on us. The people we can easily listen to and whom we can encounter from person to person are those who do not criticize us but respect us. Even though we have not always been the persons and Christians we should have been, we know that Jesus always treats us with respect and sees the potentials for good in us. Let us ask our Lord in this Eucharist that we may treat one another with the same esteem as he shows us.
Reading I: Exodus 17:3-7
Reading II: Romans 5:1-2
Gospel: John 4:5-42
“That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.” “Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?” “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselvesbefore him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.” “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.” Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it. The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves. In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, “Rabbi, eat. Aren’t you going to eat?” He told them, “I have food to eat you know nothing about.” The disciples were puzzled. “Who could have brought him food?” Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time! “The Harvester isn’t waiting. He’s taking his pay, gathering in this grain that’s ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That’s the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.’ I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others.” Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!”
Prayer
Creative and forgiving Father
you let people experience your mercy
when they encounter your Son, Jesus Christ.
Attune us to his voice speaking to us,
your word of forgiveness and love.
Dispose us to meet him from person to person,
that he may quench our thirst for life
and that we may live in joy and courage
and become more like him day after day.
May all drink from the living water of his love.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Reflection:
12 March 2023
John 4: 5-42
God the groom comes to meet his bride.
In the Gospel according to John, the events that took place in the life of Jesus are re–read are used to compose dense pages of theology. Although John narrates certain events, giving details of where it happened, who were the people involved and how the story developed and what was the outcome, the purpose of such narrations were to explain a far deeper theology. The case of the Samaritan woman is an example, which is rich in symbolism. The meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman is explained with language, images, and biblical references to convey a theological message.
In ancient times, the well was the place where people came together – the shepherds met to water their flocks; traders stopped there for customers and even lovers went to the well to look for their companions.
Jesus is in a Samaritan Town on his way to Galilee. He sits by the well of Jacob. And a woman comes to draw water from the well. The evangelist presents her with no name, and nothing more is said about her except that she is a “Samaritan.” The well in the Bible is often the meeting place between lovers who then end up getting married. The Old Testament often speaks of the people of Israel as the bride to whom the Lord is tied with an unfailing affection.
But Israel failed to be faithful to the Lord. She betrayed her Husband and often went after pagan gods of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and even Romans. Would God, the Husband divorcehis bride, Israel? Will he punish her? Not at all. His only goal is to reclaim her. From a geographical point of view, Jesus did not have to pass through Samaria to go to Galilee from Jordan. But the groom — God — takes this longer route because wants to meet his beloved.
The Samaritan woman is the image of the bride Israel. Samaritans had abandoned their faith and the Jews regarded them as pagans. That is why Jesus tells her that she had many gods- “husbands”, and the present one is not her husband either. Because, her true husband is now talking to her at the well.
The last part of the gospel (vv. 28-41) presents the spiritual journey of the Samaritan woman and every disciple. After meeting Christ she abandons her bucket at the well, because she hadno more use for it, because she had found another water. She ran to announce her discovery and happiness to the others. It is the call to become missionaries, apostles, and catechists, to tell everyone the joy and peace experienced by one who meets the Lord and drinks his water.