Third Sunday of Lent 2020

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First Reading: Exodus 17:3-7
Responsorial: Psalm 95
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
Gospel: John 4:5-42

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031520.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/

I hope this message finds you in good health and strong in the Spirit! It seems like all we hear about is the Corona Virus. I’m recovering from a cold and I found myself having difficulty sorting through all the “official information” just to find an accurate list of the Corona Virus symptoms. There’s almost too much information and of course tons of misinformation out there. It’s almost overwhelming enough to join the Israelites fleeing Egypt yell, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” (Exodus 17:7).

But my brothers and sisters, I have Good News! Jesus offers us Living Water – the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – the ultimate of the spiritual consolations. Unlike ordinary water which can never satisfy, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that the water he offers will never leave her thirsty.

Now her first reaction is pretty ordinary, right? I mean, at first, she’s caught off guard by the presence of a Jew. The Jews and Samaritans accuse each other of defiling the faith, so, they don’t get along. Second, he is talking to her which was a big no-no back then. Men weren’t supposed to speak with women outside their family, especially without a chaperon. And third, she had snuck up to the well in the middle of the day and hadn’t planned on meeting anyone.

Usually, people would draw water in the morning and in the evening. She clearly didn’t want to interact with the women of the village, so when Jesus offers her water that never leaves her thirsty, she’s all in! The more socially awkward situations she could avoid, the better. So, Jesus has her attention. He asks her to come back with her husband. Aha! She knew there was going to be a catch!

She tells him she doesn’t have a husband. Jesus says she’s right, because she’s on her fifth husband! How does this stranger know about her? She’s blown away and assumes he’s some sort of prophet, but his words touch her. She comes to accept that he is the Messiah – the hope of the people. She goes to town and she tells everyone about him. They come quickly to see what the commotion is all about.

Who are her five husbands? We don’t know that anymore than we know her name. Some suggest that perhaps these “husbands” are symbolic for the things that distract her in life – maybe pleasure, comfort, wealth – you get the idea. Whatever the situation, remember she came to the well when she thought no one else would be around. Maybe she just didn’t want to hear the gossipers, or maybe she didn’t want to get picked on. But maybe, she was ashamed. Maybe the life she was leading was not the life she dreamed about when she was a child.

She was trying to stay under the radar. I wonder how many people try to hide themselves – maybe hide behind some intellectual bravado always ready with a sarcastic comeback. We don’t want anyone to see behind our walls. We can’t let anybody see who we really are. In the midst of this pandemic, it’s easy to feel alone and afraid – especially if you’re sick. Maybe you have a cold or the flu, but everybody around you stares when you cough. Or maybe you imagine them talking about you behind your back.

Whatever your circumstance, my brothers and sisters, that’s where Jesus finds us. He’s not afraid to show up at our “well” – the place we try to hide. He’s there with a smile and his love. You see, Jesus will never force himself on us, but he won’t leave us either.

This Lent in combination with the pandemic is a powerful time to turn our sin over to Jesus – those moments and failings we’re not proud of, to ask for reconciliation, to be cleansed and move on in the Spirit. Christ’s church is here ready to assist. I know that might sound complicated given the suspension of masses in some areas or limiting masses to smaller groups, but trust me, the Spirit is still working through Christ’s church.

Even if you can’t physically get to mass to receive the Eucharist, you can still recommit your life to Jesus Christ. By the way, just because you might not be able to get to mass doesn’t mean the Church gets a pass on the electric and water bills. Please, if you have the means, send your regular contribution to your parishes and maybe add a little extra for your parish social ministry to help your community reach out to those facing a particularly difficult challenge during this pandemic.

There are so many free resources to read the mass readings, listen to a reflection (like this podcast), and then invite the Holy Spirit to wash over you – to flood your life. We call it an Act of Spiritual Communion.

For your homework, I ask two things of you. First, please share this podcast with someone you know who might not be able to get to mass. Its wildly important help people feel connected the community. Second, I invite you to join me in an Act of Spiritual Communion and don’t forget to listen to All Things Catholic on Wednesday when we’ll unpack what Spiritual Communion is all about.

Pray with me, won’t you?

My Jesus,
I believe You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive the Eucharist,
I invite You to come into my heart.
I embrace You and unite myself to You.
Never permit me to be separated from you.
+Amen!

The Lord be with you. May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

References:

Hahn, Scott W. and Curtis Mitch. Romans. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2017.
Lectio Divina Of The Gospels. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2019.
Martin, Francis and William M. Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
The Bible: A Study Bible freshly translated by Nicholas King. Buxhall, Suffolk UK: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.

Catechism References: Easily search the Catechism at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

Jesus’ human nature, 470-78
God’s love manifest in the death of Christ, 604
Reconciliation through the death of Christ, 613-14
Justification through the death of Christ, 617, 1992
Symbols of the Holy Spirit, 694
The Holy Spirit, the living water, a gift of God, 694, 733-36, 1215, 1999, 2652
Jesus reveals the Holy Spirit, 727-29
Love is God’s gift and our response, 733, 2658
Baptism, rebirth of water and Spirt, 1214-16, 1226-28
The theological virtues, 1812-29, 1991
God’s peace, 1829

Third Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 28
Mass Readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031520.cfm

First Reading
Exodus 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 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.

Second Reading
Romans 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.

Verse Before The Gospel
John 4:42, 15
Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world;
give me living water, that I may never thirst again.

Gospel
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 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

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.

“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 who is speaking with you.”

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him.
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.”

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