Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

During the Third Week of Lent (especially in cycles B and C when the Gospel of the Samaritan Woman is not read on the Third Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are offered.

“Christ on the Cross”
by Jacques-Louis David, 1782

Readings for Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading I: Daniel 3:25, 34-43
 
Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:
 
“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,
or make void your covenant.
Do not take away your mercy from us,
for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,
Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,
To whom you promised to multiply their offspring
like the stars of heaven,
or the sand on the shore of the sea.
For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,
brought low everywhere in the world this day
because of our sins.
We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense,
no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.
But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;
As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
or thousands of fat lambs,
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”
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Commentary on Dn 3:25, 34-43
 
The reading from Daniel is the Prayer of Azariah (Abednego), one of Daniel's three companions who were thrown into the furnace at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar because they would not worship the idol made of gold, which the king had made.
 
Azariah’s prayer is for the whole people of Israel, who are in dire straits. The final verses of the prayer express the penitential ideal, that God will accept a humble and contrite heart in lieu of the animal sacrifice required of their tradition at that time. (see also Psalm 51:18-19; Joel 2:13)
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
 
R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your kindness are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
 
Psalm 25 is an individual lament. The sinful psalmist prays that “your ways” be made known. This request directs us to repentance and ultimately guides us to justice. In the first strophe of this hymn, we hear support for our belief that God answered the prayers of our ancient ancestors. Their trust was justified. The song continues as an individual prayer asking for guidance and salvation.
 
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Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
 
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
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Commentary on Mt 18:21-35
 
This passage begins with the discourse on “forgiveness.” Peter asks the question that paraphrases one asked in the book of Genesis by Lamech (Genesis 4:24). He is looking for guidance in the form of a finite amount of forgiveness, and in answer receives the command that forgiveness must be infinite (represented by the multiples of seven and ten). In his response to Peter, Jesus paraphrases Peter’s words: “’Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?’” Jesus replies “‘You shall go on forgiving for precisely as long as you continue to address me as your ‘Lord’ and to refer to your offender as ‘my brother!’” [4]
 
To emphasize this need for forgiveness, the Lord launches into the parable of the Unmerciful Servant.  The moral of this particular parable is that the measure we use to judge others is the same measure that will be used by God to measure us, when we come before him. “The model is the forgiveness of God, which knows no limit; and neither should man's forgiveness. If man does not forgive, he cannot expect forgiveness; if he does not renounce his own claims, which are small, he cannot ask God to dismiss the claims against him.” [5]
 
CCC: Mt 18:21-22 982, 2227, 2845; Mt 18:23-35 2843
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Reflection:
 
We recently reflected about the differences between the good and moral person and the Christian. Scripture today causes us to focus on another tenet of our faith – forgiveness. A question for you: can a good and moral person be considered so if they do not forgive a person who has wronged them? We propose that in the terms of society, the answer is “yes.” Going even further, a good and moral person would not be faulted for using the legal system to seek retribution from one who had wronged them using all the means at their disposal, attempting to gain monetarily from the situation.
 
If we call ourselves Christian, as a people who follow the teaching and example of Christ, we are called to go beyond even simple forgiveness. By simple forgiveness we mean communicating forgiveness to one who has wronged us but holding anger in our hearts for the injustice for which, at some future time, we might exact revenge. Christ says the same thing: simple forgiveness is not enough; he calls us to forgiveness from the heart. It is a difficult thing, and we must differentiate forgiveness of a person and acceptance of a deed.
 
Just as a parent chastises a child for doing something wrong, but loves the child who did it, we are called to, as the saying goes, “hate the sin, but love the sinner.” Sometimes this can be very difficult because we associate the sinner with the sin. For example, we might find it very difficult to love Adam Gadahn. Gadahn, 31, an American of Jewish descent was born Adam Pearlman in California. He has been called the "American face of Jihad," after producing numerous videos allegedly for Al Qaeda. He was deemed a traitor by the U.S. and in Oct. 2006 he was indicted for treason and giving aid and comfort to terrorists after the testimony of an FBI agent. Such a person we might feel was inherently dangerous to us, one so twisted by hate that forgiveness would not be an option. Yet we are asked to love Adam and mourn his fall from grace as his parents would, but certainly his native faith community would not. Forgiveness is the commandment of Christ whose ultimate forgiveness we celebrate daily. It is that uniquely Christian call, at the heart of our actions, which labels us a “Christian.”
 
Today we are asked to be a people of forgiveness. We are called to go beyond legal justice, to Christ’s justice, which included forgiveness even for his own crucifixion. By setting this standard in our lives, we are assured that the same mercy and forgiveness will be shown to us as we stand before the Great Judge on the last day.
 
Pax
 
Stations of the Cross

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[1] The picture is “Christ on the Cross” by Jacques-Louis David, 1782.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume II (Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2003), 643.
[5] Jerome Biblical Commentary (Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968), 43;127.

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

(Optional Memorial for Saint Frances of Rome, Religious)
 
Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Frances of Rome
 
Biographical Information about St. Frances of Rome

During the Third Week of Lent (especially in cycles B and C when the Gospel of the Samaritan Woman is not read on the Third Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are offered.

“The Prophet Elisha and Naaman”
by Lambert Jacobsz, c. 1615

 
Readings for Monday of the Third Week of Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading I: 2 Kings 5:1-15ab
 
Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram,
was highly esteemed and respected by his master,
for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram.
But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.
Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel
a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife.
“If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,”
she said to her mistress, “he would cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman went and told his lord
just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.
“Go,” said the king of Aram.
“I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents,
six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.
To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read:
“With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you,
that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
 
When he read the letter,
the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed:
“Am I a god with power over life and death,
that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?
Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!”
When Elisha, the man of God,
heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments,
he sent word to the king:
“Why have you torn your garments?
Let him come to me and find out
that there is a prophet in Israel.”
 
Naaman came with his horses and chariots
and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.
The prophet sent him the message:
“Go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”
But Naaman went away angry, saying,
“I thought that he would surely come out and stand there
to invoke the LORD his God,
and would move his hand over the spot,
and thus cure the leprosy.
Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
better than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?”
With this, he turned about in anger and left.
 
But his servants came up and reasoned with him.
“My father,” they said,
“if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary,
would you not have done it?
All the more now, since he said to you,
‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said.”
So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times
at the word of the man of God.
His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
 
He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before him and said,
“Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel.”
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Commentary on 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab
 
This story of the conversion of Naaman through Elisha’s office as prophet has some interesting historical and ritual material. First, it is ironic that the king of Aram, which was an antagonist of Israel, would send one of his key advisers to Israel. That is why the king of Israel tore his garments. He assumed that Aram was making an unreasonable request in order to provoke physical hostilities between the two countries.
 
Next, we see Elisha not coming out of his house to instruct Naaman but sending word to him. He did so in part because to come into the presence of one with leprosy could have caused him ritual impurity (see Leviticus 13-14). Clearly Naaman did not know this, since he complained about it. Finally, the Jordan River, from a hygienic perspective, is not as clean as the clear springs of Damascus. It is, at the best of times, muddy. The requirement that Naaman plunge (other translators say “dip” which has a different connotation [4]) himself into the water seven times is significant in that the number seven is, in Hebrew numerology, the perfect number, symbolic of completeness. This would also be in line with the ritual cleansing prescribed in Leviticus 14:8. The lesson taught was that Naaman, washed clean of his transgressions (outwardly expressed as leprosy) was given the salvation only the God of Israel could provide (not some magical ritual performed by the prophet himself). The healing accomplished was to bring Naaman to confess that there is no god but God (in Israel).
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
 
R. (see 42:3) Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
 
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
 
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
 
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
 
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
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Commentary on Ps 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
 
Psalms 42 and 43 form a single continuous song.  It is an individual lament for a return to Jerusalem where God may be encountered in the temple.  The hind (female red deer) longing for water is used to provide the allusion to baptism, bringing belief out of unbelief.
 
CCC: Ps 42:3 2112
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Gospel: Luke 4:24-30
 
Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
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Commentary on Lk 4:24-30
 
This Gospel passage places Jesus at his hometown speaking in the synagogue. The people there were questioning his authority, since they knew him as a child and knew his family. These verses give his response to their challenge to his status and authority.
 
We understand why the people were upset when we consider that, in his analogy explaining why he could accomplish no works from God to satisfy them, he used Elijah going to a widow in Sidon (not in Israel, see 1 Kings 17:9ff), and Elisha curing Naaman (a Syrian not an Israelite, see 2 Kings 5:1ff). This would have placed Jesus on a par with the great prophets, blasphemy in the eyes of his old neighbors. Perhaps even more upsetting to the people would have been that their God would not reveal himself because of their lack of faith. (Ironically, Jesus, who we know is God, was revealing himself. The people just could not see it.)
 
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Reflection:
 
As we hear Jesus speak to his friends and relatives in the synagogue at Nazareth, it is easy for us to understand why Jesus is frustrated at their lack of faith.  Here they are, people that had the honor of growing up with him, knowing him as youth and man, yet they did not understand his divine nature.  They scoffed and rejected his attempted revelation.  In fact, many of them probably thought he had, as they say, “gone off his nut.”  His experience with his eccentric cousin John the Baptist, and his sabbatical in the desert immediately following, must have caused him to come “unhinged.”
 
Jesus, of course, saw all of this in their faces and heard what was behind their words.  He would have felt intense sorrow, knowing that because of this familiarity and presumed understanding, his own friends and family would not be able to accept the great gift God had offered them.  An analogy might be if we were able to invent a treatment that would cure any disease somehow, and then offered it freely to those in our community hospital, but they would not accept it because we did not have credentials as a pharmacist. 
 
And what lesson do we take away from the Gospel?  Don’t we fall into the same trap?  Do we listen to those around us with the attention we would pay to a prestigious expert on the subject at hand?  We commonly miss God’s revelation because we do two things.  First, we judge the source, and if, in our opinion, that source is less credible than the wisdom we suppose we have already amassed, we tune it out. We ignore it.  Second, we just plain don’t listen.  Our own voice gets in the way of our auditory canals and we don’t hear what we should.  This is especially true in, of all places, prayer.  We are so busy telling God what we want that we don’t listen to his answers.
 
In the very truest sense, this is exactly the sin those ancient Hebrews committed when Jesus spoke to them in the synagogue.  They were not really listening.  This then is the lesson we take with us today.  It is rather complex and very difficult.  First, we must surrender our own pride and sense of superiority and listen intently to those with whom we communicate (even our children).  The word we hear may be life changing.  Second, as a people of prayer, we must listen to God’s response with our hearts, not simply bombard the Lord with our words.  Let that be our prayer today, that our ears will be open that we might hear.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “The Prophet Elisha and Naaman” by Lambert Jacobsz, c. 1615.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Word Biblical Commentary, 2 Kings, Volume 13 (Word, Inc), 65. Also, The Navarre Bible, Joshua-Kings (Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003), 534.

Third Sunday of Lent

Catechism Links [1]
 
CCC 1214-1216, 1226-1228: baptism, rebirth of water and Spirit
CCC 727-729: Jesus reveals the Holy Spirit
CCC 694, 733-736, 1215, 1999, 2652: the Holy Spirit, the living water, a gift of God
CCC 604, 733, 1820, 1825, 1992, 2658: God takes the initiative; hope from the Spirit

“The Samaritan Woman at the Well”
by Agostino Carracci, 1595

Readings for the Third Sunday of Lent [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary: [4]
 
Reading I: 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?”
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Commentary on Ex 17:3-7
 
This passage continues the journey of the Hebrews in the desert following their departure from Egypt. They have already been fed by manna in the wilderness; here they complain bitterly against Moses for having taken them to a land with no water, and the hardship causes them to doubt that God is with them. In response to this challenge, God provides yet another miracle as he commands Moses to take his staff and strike the rock at Horeb, revealing a spring of water. The place was later named Massah and Meribah: Hebrew words meaning respectively: "the (place of the) test" and "the (place of the) quarreling."
 
CCC: Ex 17:1-6 694; Ex 17:2-7 2119
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Responsorial Psalm: 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.
 
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Commentary on Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
 
This part of Psalm 95, commonly used as the invitatory psalm for the Liturgy of the Hours, is a song of thanksgiving. In these strophes the incident at Meribah is remembered (Exodus 17:3-7), and God’s undeserved mercy proclaimed. The community is rejoicing that the Lord is God and that he has brought us salvation in spite of our forebears' obstinacy. We are encouraged to listen to the Lord, even if what we are asked to do is difficult.
 
CCC: Ps 95:1-6 2628; Ps 95:7-8 2659; Ps 95:7 1165; Ps 95:9 2119
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Reading II: 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.
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Commentary on Rom 5:1-2, 5-8
 
In the previous chapter, St. Paul has established that through faith in Jesus Christ, the Christian is justified (recreated just as if they had not sinned).  The apostle now begins a discussion of how this justification is experienced. The reconciled Christian will be saved, sharing with hope in the risen Christ.
 
"The justified are endowed with theological virtues. By faith, they live in peace with God and have access to his grace; in hope, they long for the glory of God that awaits them; and in love, they show that the charity of the Spirit dwells in their hearts (CCC 1813). Equipped in this way, believers can become more like Christ through endurance and suffering (CCC 618)."[5]
 
“Popular piety frequently construed reverses and troubles as punishment for sin; cf John 9:2. Paul therefore assures believers that God's justifying action in Jesus Christ is a declaration of peace. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ displays God's initiative in certifying humanity for unimpeded access into the divine presence. Reconciliation is God's gift of pardon to the entire human race.”[6]
 
CCC: Rom 5:3-5 2734, 2847; Rom 5:5 368, 733, 1820, 1964, 2658; Rom 5:8 604
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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.”
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Commentary on Jn 4:5-42
 
The story of the Samaritan woman, told in its entirety, provides several theological points. First, the fact that Jesus came this way implies his broader mission, not just to the Jews but to the whole world. The fact that upon meeting the Samaritan woman he asked for a drink is significant, in that Jews would never have considered drinking from the same vessel as a Samaritan woman who would have been considered ritually unclean.
 
Often what we hear in Sacred Scripture seems to have only one purpose when in fact there is more. We note that the location of this event is set at “Jacob’s Well.” It is a clear reference to Genesis 33:19-20, a place where Jacob “set up an altar there and invoked “El, the God of Israel.”
 
The discourse with the woman is instructive, providing rich imagery of water and spirit recalling the gifts given in baptism. At the same time we see the recognition that Jesus is the Messiah (although the Samaritans would have had a different expectation of the Messiah, thinking more in the lines of a prophet like Moses [Deuteronomy 18:15]).
 
There is further symbolism, culturally focused, in Jesus' revelation to the woman. When he tells her she has been married five times it is a likely reference to the five images of Baal worshiped by the Samaritans. Women who practiced that religion were ritually married to the five idols.
 
The conclusion of the story demonstrates the clear perception by those who encounter Christ that he is the Messiah. This revelatory presence is noted in the concluding verses of the story as the Samaritans exclaim “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."
 
CCC: Jn 4:6-7 544; Jn 4:10-14 694, 1137; Jn 4:10 728, 2560, 2561; Jn 4:14 728, 1999, 2557, 2652; Jn 4:21 586; Jn 4:22 528, 586; Jn 4:23-24 586, 728; Jn 4:24 1179; Jn 4:25-26 439; Jn 4:34 606, 2611, 2824
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Or
Shorter Form: 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.”
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Commentary on Jn: 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42
 
In this shorter version of the story of the Samaritan woman, part of the dialogue is omitted that revolves around the primacy of the Jews in receiving God’s word. Also omitted is the Lord’s description of the woman’s past life, the encounter with the Lord’s disciples and his decision to stay. Presented in this form the story focuses more on the identity of Christ and less on his universal mission.
 
CCC: Jn 4:6-7 544; Jn 4:10-14 694, 1137; Jn 4:21 586; Jn 4:22 528, 586; Jn 4:23-24 586, 728; Jn 4:24 1179; Jn 4:25-26 439
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Reflection:
 
“Today, let us sing for joy to the rock who saves us. Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord.” This is the opening verse from Psalm 95 which we used today (although in a different translation).  It is the psalm that those who do the liturgy of the hours use as an invitation to prayer each day.  It is a reminder that we who are his children, adopted in baptism, have been given God’s grace and bounty despite our testing and quarreling with the Lord.
 
Yes, it is Lent, and yes, we tend to have much more subdued liturgy during this season of penance.  But, we have reason for joy, we have reason to sing.
 
Because we heard it last, the story of the Samaritan woman at the well can overpower the other Sacred Scripture given today.  The theme that seems to run through the Old Testament reading about the rock at Horeb, and the Gospel is the water theme.  In both cases, God gave living water to those who challenged him.
 
We note that the water given to the “stiff-necked” Hebrews at Horeb was a sign that God was with them.  We see in the story of the Samaritan woman that the water offered to her was symbolic of faith that once given, would give everlasting life (St. Paul’s letter to the Romans would say she was “justified”).  We can feel the similarities and the differences if we place these two encounters with God side by side.
 
Perhaps the most significant similarity is that, in both cases, God’s presence was needed either for life in the literal sense or life in the spiritual sense.  In both cases, God was asked for water. And in both cases, though the request was not merited, God responded.
 
As always, we see the Word of God as both an invitation and a promise.  The promise in this case is that, if we need God’s indwelling strength, all we need to do is ask.  We do not need to presume we have done anything to merit God’s saving help.  Rather we know that we are undeserving yet still hope in God. 
 
The Exodus story gives us a clear picture.  The Jews of the story had already seen God’s mighty hand part the Red Sea for them so they might leave bondage in Egypt.  They had marveled at the pillar of fire sent by God to them, keeping them safe from pharaoh’s chariots. They had been fed by manna when they were hungry. Yet, finding themselves thirsty in the desert, they perceive that God had left them.  What had they done to deserve God’s help?  Yet even this stiff-necked people received God’s saving grace through the water of life, flowing from the rock.
 
If God showed this unbelieving people such love and mercy, how much more can we, who work hard to remain faithful, expect?  If Jesus offered the Samaritan woman, married five times and living with still another man, the faith and salvation of God, how much more can we who try to live by his statutes expect?
 
That is the promise. What then is the invitation?  The invitation is to be like Christ in our love and generosity to others, even others who do not share or appreciate our values.  Each day we are given the opportunity to demonstrate our faith.  We are asked for help by those whom society might call “undeserving,” and we are challenged by those who see our faith and beliefs as superstitious nonsense.  Each day we are invited to respond to these challenges with faith and compassion.  Each day we can choose to offer living water to those who are in need. This is our invitation to the New Evangelization.
 
As we reflect today about the gifts of water and spirit, let us pray that what flows in us may become a fountain, giving God’s gift to those who are in need.
 
Pax
 
In other years on March 8^th, Optional Memorial for Saint John of God, Religious

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[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture today is “The Samaritan Woman at the Well” by Agostino Carracci, 1595.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. © 2010), 263.
[6] NAB Footnote on Romans 5:1-11.