Thirsting for Living Water
"For anyone who drinks it, the water that I shall give
will become in you a spring welling up to eternal life."
John 4:13-14
Encountering Jesus, we thirst for that which Jesus has inspired within us… faith, hope and love; fasting prayer and almsgiving. Along our Lenten journey we encounter Jesus, as the woman in today’s Gospel met Jesus at the well, in some of the most unlikely places and people. Such encounters challenged us to cleanse our hearts and minds so that we can see contemplatively the presence of our God and follow.
Our Lenten purification washes away our prejudices, biases, fears and anxieties. We are freed so that we may “Go to all peoples” and “Announce the Good News”.
During this third week of Lent, we join the catechumens preparing for their full initiation at Easter, into the ‘Way of Jesus’ and discipleship. With all the church we ask: may the waters of Baptism flow like a mighty river and our discipleship be real.
During this week let us enter into the Jesus Story finding ourselves standing beside this ‘woman at the well’. Our life, like hers, full of hope and desires. Searching, thirsting and longing are hallmarks of this journey of lent.
Listen… to the dialogue between Jesus and this womanReflect… on your own hopes and desires
Action… recognize the hopes of others and bring
compassion and mercy to them
Prayer
May your unfailing compassion, O Lord, cleanse and protect your Church,
and, since without you she cannot stand secure, may she be always governed by your grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.
Gospel Reading Woman At The Well
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?”
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 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.”
Reflection
What word or words in this passage caught your attention?
What in this passage comforted you? What in this passage challenged you?
Give me a drink.
For what do I thirst?
How do Iexperience the need for God?
In what ways can I help to share God’s love with those who thirst for his presence?
Those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.
In what ways does the public worship of the Church (especially the Mass) strengthen my faith in and love for God?
How does this worship call me to transform my life to follow the truth of Christ?
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.
What people, practices, readings, etc. help to strengthen my faith?
What can I do this week to share my faith with others?
Come To The River
Bob Hurd
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