Today's Mass Readings - Sunday, March 23, 2014 with Reflection

Third Sunday of Lent

1^ST READING - Exodus 17:3-7

3 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?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” 5 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. 6 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. 7 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?”

P S A L M - Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us greet him with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalm to him. (R) 6 Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord who made us. 7 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: 8 “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, 9 where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works.” (R)

2^ND READING - Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

1 Brothers and sisters: Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 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. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.6 For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

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

John 4:5-42

5 Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 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. — 10 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.” 11 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? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;14 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.” 15 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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” 17 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.’ 18 For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” 25 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.” 26Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.” 27 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?” 28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, 29 “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and came to him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. 35 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. 36 The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 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.” 39 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.” 40When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more began to believe in him because of his word, 42 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.”

SABBATH

BE EXPOSED Today, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The Gospel begins with a detail that we tend to overlook. John says that Jesus was tired from a journey and He sat by the well and “the hour was about noon.”        About that time, the woman came to draw water from the well. People usually visit the well either early in the morning or late afternoon while it is cool. At these times, too, the chance for interaction and engaging stories with fellow water-drawers makes for a pleasant experience. Now comes the woman who visited the well at noontime. The woman came at a time when the sun is at its hottest not because she wants a tan. She chose that time because she is hiding from people. She is a woman of ill repute and she wants to take refuge in the solitude the scorching noontime provides.        We all have a past that we are not proud of. We want to project a good image even as we have skeletons in the closet that we hide from people. This is why the Gospel scene is a consolation. Jesus meets us where we are and we don’t have to put on masks to hide from Him.        After asking the woman for water, Jesus inquired about her husband. He did this not to embarrass the woman. He did this to heal the woman.        Anyone suffering from a physical malady, an addiction or chronic emotional baggage knows that the first stage to healing is to bring into light what is hidden in the dark. The doctor cannot cure what he does not know. In my own journey to growth, I have appreciated the presence of people before whom I can be “naked” and vulnerable — my spiritual director, my confessor, my accountability partner. Before them, I need not put on airs of invincibility. Before them, I can be vulnerable. Before them, my maladies can be brought to light.        Most of all, Jesus is the Light. He is the Divine Physician. Before Him, I can expose parts of me that need healing. This happens in regular prayer, adoration and the sacrament of reconciliation. Fr. Joel Jason REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you have friends who allow you to be transparent but at the same time challenge and convict you when needed? Make an inventory of your friends. If all they do is affirm you in everything, even in your sin, you need to get another one. I bare myself to You, Lord. Please heal me. I need You. St. Turibius of Mongrovejo, bishop, pray for us. Do you want to receive this in your email. To get Bo Sanchez to send it to you personally, register and log-on to http://kerygmafamily.com.