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Meditation: John 4:5-42

3rd Sunday of Lent

If you knew the gift of God … (John 4:10)

It is a constant challenge to see spiritual reality in the midst of our everyday lives. One of the gifts of Lent is the opportunity to sharpen our spiritual focus so that we can pay closer attention to our environment and find God in all things around us.

Today’s Gospel reading shows Jesus helping people see spiritual truths that they might otherwise miss. The Samaritan woman came to the well looking for a jar of water, and that’s where Jesus began the conversation. But within a few minutes, they had discussed living water, worship, and the promised Messiah. Then the disciples returned with lunch, and Jesus used the food as a way to explain both his mission and the work of evangelization that lay before them.

Jesus wasn’t just being “super spiritual.” A man like us in all things but sin, he probably was thirsty and hungry. He knew how refreshing a cup of cool water can feel on a hot day. He knew how energizing a good meal is after a long day’s work. So he used these realities to teach us about the Spirit’s power to refresh our lives and the grace of the Eucharist to strengthen us for our journey.

This is how God works. He uses every part of our ordinary, everyday lives to teach us about the extraordinary, heavenly life that he is offering us. So as you seek a clearer spiritual focus during this season, remember that you don’t have to leave the physical world behind. God will speak to you through it! He didn’t enter this world to take us out of it. He came to redeem it and fill it with his divine power and grace. He took on our flesh in order to redeem our bodies and teach us to find his presence everywhere we look.

Let Jesus talk to you today. Listen for his voice as you take a drink of water, fold the laundry, drive to work, or cook a meal. He wants to tell you something good!

“Here I am, Lord, ready to hear your voice.”

Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

Third Sunday of Lent

(Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42)

1. In the first reading, the people’s response to thirst was grumbling against God and Moses. What is your heart like when faced with difficulties? Do you have a complaining and blaming spirit? How do you think God wants you to respond when facing trials? What steps can you take to cause this to happen?

2. In the responsorial psalm, we are instructed not to harden our hearts and not to put God to the test, as the Israelites did in the first reading. How would you describe the hardened hearts of the grumbling Israelites? What are some of the circumstances that can cause you to go from grumbling to hardening your heart and not turning to the Lord in expectant faith? What practical steps can you take that will allow you to thaw such a hardened heart?

3. In the second reading, St. Paul tells us the love of God has been “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”. Specifically, at Mass you have an opportunity, through the Eucharist and prayer, to have the very life and love of God “poured” into your hearts through the Holy Spirit. How can you better prepare yourself to receive such a gift?

4. In the second reading, we are also given the example of Christ’s love for us who died and forgave us while we were still sinners. We received this gift of forgiveness even though we didn’t deserve it. Is there someone or some relationship you are holding hostage until the other person takes the first step? What actions can you take to be the first to reach out with the gift of forgiveness? It is a gift none of us deserves, but it needs to be freely given.

5. In the Gospel, we return to the metaphor of water. Jesus promised living water to the woman, and she ran to the townspeople so that they too could share in the life of God. What can you do this week to bring others to Jesus, the fountain of life? Can you identify one person in your family, neighborhood, or at work that you can reach out to this week with the love of Christ? Are you willing to do it?

6. The meditation tells us that Jesus “took on our flesh in order to redeem our bodies and teach us to find his presence everywhere we look.” How well are you doing at finding and sensing Jesus’ presence in your everyday life. What steps can you take to strengthen your experience of his presence?

7. Take some time now to pray and ask the Lord for the grace to be more open and sensitive to his presence and his voice. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.

A Christian Pilgrim

JESUS’ LIVING WATER

(A biblical refection on THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT [YEAR A], 23 March 2014)

Gospel Reading: John 4:5-42

First Reading: Exodus 17:3-7; Psalms: Psalm 95:1-2,6-9; Second Reading: Romans 5:1-2,5-8

The Scripture Text
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.

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 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.”

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.” The woman said 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 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 worshippers 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.”

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.

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 labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

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 words. 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 Savior of the world.” (Jn 4:5-42 RSV)

“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:14)

The story of the woman at the well symbolizes the new life God offers each and every one of us through the Sacrament of Baptism. Through Baptism, we are reborn as God’s children, and we are made right with God through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. For many of us, our parents made this initial step of faith by speaking for us, but as we reach adulthood it’s up to us to make our baptism real in our everyday experience.

There was a long period in the Samaritan woman’s life before she met Jesus, and during that time, she went through five husbands. It seems she was always searching for someone who could make her feel loved and secure. But when she finally met Jesus, she realized she had found the only one who could fill her deepest longings. As she ran to tell her friends about Jesus, she left her water jar behind (John 4:28). In her joy over discovering this source of heavenly life and love, she gave up the earthly instrument she had been using to try to quench the longing in her heart.

Now, how about you, dear sister and brothers? Are you experiencing the joy and peace of Jesus’ living water in your life right now? Do you thing you are receiving the full benefits of your baptism?

During this season of Lent, God is offering each of us a time of grace to turn from sin and receive His love in our hearts. Maybe you feel more like the Samaritan woman before she met Jesus., Maybe you feel that you have devoted much of your life to chasing your own set of “husbands” – wealth, success, or sex. Perhaps you now realize that none of these satisfactions has lived up to its promise to fulfil you an give you true peace and joy. If so, then this is a moment of special grace for you. Take this opportunity to ask Jesus to make your baptism active in your life. At the Holy Mass today, let’s tell Him we want to know these rivers of living water flowing in our souls.

Prayer: Jesus, today I invite You to be the Lord of my life. I leave behind my old water jar, my old ways of seeking fulfilment. I seek You instead. Fill me with Your living water today so that I will never thirst again. Amen.