3rd SUNDAY OF LENT
Psalter: Week 3 / (Violet)
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
1st Reading: Ex 17:3-7
The people thirsted for water there and grumbled against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to have us die of thirst with our children and our cattle?“
So Moses cried to Yahweh, “What shall I do with the people? They are almost ready to stone me!“ Yahweh said to Moses, “Go ahead of the people and take with you the elders of Israel. Take with you the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you on the rock at Horeb. You will strike the rock and water will flow from it and the people will drink.“ Moses did this in the presence of the elders of Israel.
The place was called Massah and Meribah because of the complaints of the Israelites, who tested Yahweh saying, “Is Yahweh with us or not?“
2nd Reading: Rom 5:1-2, 5-8
Brothers and sisters: By faith, we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through him, we obtain this favor, in which we remain, and we even boast to expect the glory of God.
And hope does not disappoint us, because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God.
Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us: when we were still helpless and unable to do anything. Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die. But see how God manifested his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Gospel: Jn 4:5-42
He came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there. Tired from his journey, Jesus sat down by the well; it was about noon. Now a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.“ His disciples had just gone into town to buy some food.
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?“ (For Jews, in fact, have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift of God! If you knew who it is, who is asking you for a drink, you yourself would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.“
The woman answered, “Sir, you have no bucket, and this well is deep; where is your living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well; he drank from it himself, together with his sons and his cattle?“
Jesus said to her, “Those who drink of this water will be thirsty again; but those, who drink of the water that I shall give, will never be thirsty; for the water, that I shall give, will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.“
The woman said to him, “Give me this water, that I may never be thirsty, and never have to come here to draw water.“ Jesus said, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.“ The woman answered, “I have no husband.“ And Jesus replied, “You are right to say, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you said is true.“
The woman then said to him, “I see you are a prophet; tell me this: Our ancestors came to this mountain to worship God; but you Jews, do you not claim that Jerusalem is the only place to worship God?“
Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you shall worship the Father, but that will not be on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; for that is the kind of worshippers the Father wants. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit, and truth.“
The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah (that is the Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything.“ And Jesus said, “I who am talking to you, I am he.“
At this point the disciples returned, and were surprised that Jesus was speaking with a woman; however, no one said, “What do you want?“ or, “Why are you talking with her?“ So the woman left her water jar and ran to the town. There she said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I did! Could he not be the Christ?“ So they left the town and went to meet him.
In the meantime, the disciples urged Jesus, “Master, eat.“ But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.“ And the disciples wondered, “Has anyone brought him food?“ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to carry out his work.
You say that in four months there will be the harvest; now, I say to you, look up and see the fields white and ready for harvesting. People who reap the harvest are paid for their work, and the fruit is gathered for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
Indeed the saying holds true: One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap where you didn’t work or suffer; others have worked, and you are now sharing in their labors.“
In that town many Samaritans believed in him when they heard the woman who declared, “He told me everything I did.“ So, when they came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days. After that, many more believed because of his own words, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is the Savior of the world.“
REFLECTION:
Read: Moses provides drinking water from hard rock for Israel. Jesus provides living waters to the spiritually thirsty Samaritan woman and her people. Paul reflects on the highest gifts of God: virtues of faith, hope, and love.
Reflect: The Samaritan woman returned to town leaving the water jar at the well. Whether accidental or deliberate, it communicates something: she braved the midday sun and came alone to fetch water that she desperately needed; but on meeting Jesus, she received a higher gift, and freely shared it with her community. Once transformed, like Paul, the material needs became dispensable. Like Mary, she chose wisely.
Pray: Along with the Samaritan woman, let us ask Jesus to give us the living water that wells up to eternal life.
Act: Share your Christ-experience with someone today.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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