FIRST READING (Give us water, so that we may drink.)

A reading from the Book of 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?” —The Word of the Lord.

R.  Thanks be to God.

 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9)

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Ps 95:8)

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)

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)

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)

 

SECOND READING (The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.)

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the 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. —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

 

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Cf. Jn 4: 42, 15)

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world; give me living water, that I may never thirst again. (R)

 

(Long Form)

GOSPEL (The water that I shall give will become a spring of eternal life.)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to 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 and 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.” —The Gospel of the Lord.

R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

(Short Form)

GOSPEL (The water that I shall give will become a spring of eternal life.)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (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.

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.

“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.” —The Gospel of the Lord.

R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.”

            Introduction: For the next 3 weeks we will hear three unique and powerful stories from the Gospel of St. John that address “coming to faith.” The placement of these 3 Gospels for the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Sundays in Lent dates back to the earliest celebrations of Lent in the ancient church and were used – as we use them today – to instruct and encourage the ELECT in their proximate preparation for Baptism. The three stories of these weeks – the Samaritan Woman, the Man Born Blind, and the Raising of Lazarus – are rich with baptismal symbolism: for the 3^rd Sunday of Lent – WATER and SPIRIT; for the 4^th Sunday of Lent, LIGHT and FAITH, and for the 5^th Sunday of Lent, DEATH and LIFE. I encourage everyone who can to read these three stories in their entirety as a Lenten meditation.

          

           There is a phrase that often describes us as “children of the earth.” The roots of this phrase come from the creation narrative in Genesis, where Almighty God created and formed the first man out of clay of the earth (Gen. 2:7). But when you think about the composition of the human body which is about 60% water, it is probably more correct to say that we are children of the water. Even in creation, the creation of the waters came before the earth. And we know that we can live without food for quite a long time, but we or not able to survive more than a few days without some form of water.

           More and more these days we are re-discovering how important water – clean, fresh water – is for a healthy and functioning body. We are encouraged to drink water, and not allow ourselves to become dehydrated. The very feeling of thirst means the body is already starting to be dehydrated. We see how essential it is to have water for health and well-being. One of the signs of a developed society is the ability to have fresh water made available to all – even in the most remote parched areas of the earth. So, it is no wonder that WATER is also used in the Scriptures as a metaphor or symbol. Are you thirsty? Or we speak of spiritual or emotional “thirsts” – different from the simple thirst to ease dehydration.

           In the story from the Exodus event that we heard in the first reading today, after all God had done to save the people of Israel and free them from the slavery of Egypt,  passing physically and symbolically through the waters of the Red Sea from slavery to freedom, the people dare to question God’s care for them! “Why did you have us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of THIRST?” How could they forget all God had already done for them so quickly? How could they doubt that God – who saved them from the waters of the Red Sea and brought them to safety – would now quench their thirst, giving them refreshing water in the wilderness? What is astonishing is God’s patience and benevolence in the face of such disloyalty. The people complain; but God does give them water to quench their thirst.

           Our Gospel story of the Samaritan woman who goes to the ell to fetch water is very familiar. It is part of the trilogy of metaphorical stories in St. John’s Gospel at the heart of Lent. Here, the unnamed woman goes to draw water but is given a special water with properties beyond her wildest imagination. This is an example of God’s generosity par excellence. Just as God provided sustenance to quench the thirst of the Israelites in the desert, here this woman who seems hardly as one meriting God’s divine grace and generosity is given special new privileges.

           Despite so many conditions that overshadow her, as a woman, a Samaritan, one many times married and divorced, and obviously without few friends (note she came to the well alone to fetch water; normally women went as a group to do this chore to help each other). Jesus overlooks all of these obstacles in her life – even the social custom that as a man he should not even talk to or address the woman – Why? Because Jesus understood the true thirst that this woman carried – a thirst for insight, and Jesus promised to her, “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

           While for the next three weeks the Gospels – all taken from St. John – are meant primarily for the ELECT who are to be baptized at Easter, they still contain messages for all of us – believers, catechumens and those simply searching. Today, with the Israelites in our first reading we are promised that God will quench our thirst – even if we do not realize we are spiritually dehydrated. In our Gospel we are reminded that Jesus is the source for “living water,” and St. Paul reminds us that “the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

           Do we merit all of this favor and divine grace? The Israelites surely did not show they merited it. The Samaritan woman was certainly undeserving for all that Jesus would give to her. Saint Paul in our 2^nd reading today reminds us that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And so it is not a question of whether we deserve or merit this living water, but whether we even recognize or know we are thirsty and in need of quenching. And if we are thirsty, do we know how to seek and find the “living water” promised to us? Our Psalm verse today reminds us of something very important in this time of lent, to always be open to the goodness of God offered to us, “Oh that today you would hear his voice!”

           Think of times from the past when we have enjoyed God’s grace. In these days of uncertainty, fear, questioning and challenges we face because of the pandemic around us, we must remember how God’s goodness has always been there, and it will continue. Therefore, we must be open to these new challenges, knowing that they will bring new opportunities to cross beyond restrictive boundaries.

           Let us not be hard-heartened like the Israelites who took God’s goodness for granted. Do we test God’s generosity and kindness these days? Are we – like the Samaritan woman caught up with the complexities of modern life so much that we are closed to new insights, not seeing the many paths to conversion before us even now?

           My dear brothers and sisters, we thirst in this Lenten season. We thirst, deprived as we are from weekly Mass and communal prayers and devotions, but we can quench that thirst by these taped Masses, or by seeking out time for family prayer or quiet personal prayer. While penitential services are not planned, we can still make an appointment to stop in and see a priest for confession in this Lenten season. We can gather our family before or after a meal or turn of TV for videos and sit and listen the God’s Word in the Scriptures, re-reading today’s Gospel slowly and carefully and then meditating on it. We can take time individually or as a family to recite the rosary each evening, or at least on Sundays. We can stop by the parish church which is open every day, and sit quietly for 15 minutes in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. We are thirsty, but God provides for us even now. “Oh that today you would hear his voice!”

Prayers

Celebrant: God gives to us the living water, our true salvation. Let us pray to the Father for all who thirst for his divine life.

 

READER: That Christians everywhere may respond to the word of God during this holy season, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

 

READER: That God’s people may worship him “in spirit and truth” and reject the temptations of evil, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

 

READER: That our catechumens, and especially those of our parish who will be baptized in this Easter period, may be true worshipers who adore the Father in Spirit and in truth, and who seek the spiritual food of doing the will of the One who has chosen them, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

 

READER: For the health and safety of all in our community at this time of the widespread virus afflicting so many, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

 

READER: That, through sincere confession of their own sins, those gathered here may be at peace with God and one another, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

 

READER: For all the sick, and for the faithful departed ones of our families, as well as for the intentions we carry in our hearts, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

 

 

CELEBRANT: Most loving Father, through Jesus we have entered the life of grace, and your Spirit has been poured into our hearts. Receive the prayers we offer in faith through Christ, our Lord. (all) AMEN.

Spiritual Communion

Given our inability to have people attend Masses in the parish churches and chapels for the next few weeks at least, for these days when you cannot receive Communion, we follow this practice of the “spiritual Communion.” St. Thomas Aquinas once defined a Spiritual Communion as “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament [in Communion at Mass] and in lovingly embracing Him as if we had actually received Him.”

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

You can make a Spiritual Communion whenever and wherever you’d like, using the prayer given above, others like it such as the one below, or your own heartfelt thoughts.

You can make a Spiritual Communion such as this one below during Mass, or before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, or anywhere else where the Spirit moves you.

Oh Jesus, I turn toward the holy tabernacle where You live hidden for love of me. I love you, O my God. I cannot receive you in Holy Communion. Come, nevertheless, and visit me with Your grace. Come spiritually into my heart. Purify it. Sanctify it. Render it like unto Your own. Amen.

Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.  (Matt 8:6).