Replies

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well

Collect:
Father, you have taught us to overcome our sins by prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. When we are discouraged by our weakness, give us confidence in your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

» Spring, Fall or Winter Sunday Dinner Menu

Activities:

» Explaining the Mass and Sacraments

Prayers:

February 27, 2005

Third Sunday of Lent

"Everyone 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 women said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

The Station is in the basilica of St. Lawrence outside the walls. The name of this, the most celebrated of the martyrs of Rome, would remind the catechumens that the faith they were about to profess would require them to be ready for many sacrifices. In the primitive Church, the third Sunday in Lent was called Scrutiny Sunday, because it was on this day that they began to examine the catechumens, who were to be admitted to Baptism on Easter night.

Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Book of Exodus 17:3-7. The Israelites, the Chosen People of God, were suffering slavery and the threat of total extermination in Egypt; God miraculously set them free and, with Moses as their leader, he led them towards the promised land of Canaan. But they soon forgot what God had done for them and began to murmur and rebel because of the difficulties of the long desert journey. One of these rebellious murmurings is put before us today.

The second reading is from the St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 5:1-2; 5-8. This brief section is an encouragement to all who have been given the gift of the Christian faith to persevere in spite of adversity.

The Gospel is from St. John 4:5-42. In the first reading today, we saw the Israelites rebelling against God and calling him a murderer, because they thought they were in danger of dying of bodily thirst in the desert. He mercifully forgave their blasphemies and gave them an abundance of water. In the gospel just read. Christ tells the Samaritan woman, and through her all mankind, that the "spiritual drink" he has come to give men is not primarily given to preserve bodily life, but rather to give eternal life to those who will drink of it. Not only will they know and serve the true God in this life, but they will be given a right to an everlasting life with God if they serve him "in spirit and in truth" during their earthly life.

This is the kernel, the essence of our Christian religion. In baptism we have been made sons of God, heirs of heaven, and directed towards our eternal destination. Christ, in his divine mercy, has given to his Church all the means and all the helps we need on that journey. We have the road-maps clearly drawn for us in the infallible, dogmatic and moral teaching of the Church. We have the first-aid stations along the route, where those who injure themselves by sin, can be medicated and made sound once more. We have, above all, the miraculous nourishment of the Eucharist—the manna of the New Testament Christ himself, who so lovingly and condescendingly arranged to be our spiritual food and sustenance during life's journey.

Could even God have done any more for us in order to bring us to heaven? Can there exist a thinking Christian who would be so neglectful of his own true and lasting welfare—not to mention the ingratitude to the one who has done so much for him—that he would ignore the divine guidance and graces given him, and be content to sit by the wayside in spiritual rags and misery? It is almost unthinkable that such a man could exist. — Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle A, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.