Gospel for the day - 3rd Sunday of Lent - Year A

John 4:5-42

‘A spring of water welling up to eternal life.’


At that time: Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.


A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that 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 have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him 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 will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’


Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking 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 Messiah is coming — he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’


Just then his disciples came back. They marvelled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you seek?’ or, ‘Why are you talking with her?’ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him.


Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’


Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.’


This is the gospel of the Lord.  Commentary

Having used our prayer resources, you might want simply to reflect yourself on them and how that might flow into your coming week.

Some people have found it very helpful to meet with others and share their thoughts. If you are interested in joining a small group to share your thoughts and feelings about God's Word please email us: cluster.alpha@outlook.com




Questions for reflection (framed for a group discussion)


“Water is life. Yet, for many, it is dangerously scarce… Often the only water they [in Ethiopia] can find is dirty – but they must drink it to survive.” (SCIAF Lenten letter)


“Water is life.” This is the theme of today’s gospel, recounting an extraordinary conversation between Jesus and a woman drawing water from a well. When he asks her for water, she wants to know why he is even speaking to her - a woman on her own and a Samaritan at that; and when he talks of giving her water, she wants to know how he is going to draw it from the well…


During the conversation, the woman tells him, “I have no husband” and Jesus uses that remark to show her that he knows the very secrets of her soul. Her reaction is not an embarrassed denial, but a recognition that here is someone very special – a prophet. This encourages Jesus to say openly that he is the Messiah, and she believes him. She understands it so completely that she leaves immediately to go back to her village to tell the others – from a multiple divorcee, a Samaritan, a woman – a missionary disciple is born.


For us, water is plentiful and shortages a mere inconvenience; but for too many in our world, it means a daily slog to a well for water that might be far from healthy. The saints always seem to be so perfectly hydrated through prayer that it flows from them in a stream of compassionate caring. Perhaps we should reflect on Jesus as the Water of Life; how accessible he is and how important he is in sustaining our life. At the same time, we need to remember our brothers and sisters who lack the basics and respond generously to SCIAF’s “wee box” appeal. Perhaps we can use Lent as a time for “change” – through personal transformation and by placing the “wee box” next to the kettle.

 

1. Compose a short phrase/prayer using the idea of “water is life”. (Share with your group if you are in one and/or say it when you use the kettle).
2. Where have you found a source of “living water” for your own journey of faith?*



 * All second questions © The Pastoral Center


Prayers of Intercession


In today’s gospel, during Jesus‘s encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well we learn of the living water of the holy Spirit. May we recognize as Jesus did, the true spiritual thirst in all people around us. Help us respond to those needs without prejudice nor discrimination, through our worship, our outreach and our ministries.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


For all those preparing to be baptized at Easter and so receive the Living Waters of the Gospel, may they find strength and joy during their Lenten journey.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


For the Church in the world, that she may be a source of ‘living water’ for all who thirst for meaning and purpose in their lives.   May she reflect the humility and courage to seek unity where we are divided. Give us the grace to exclude no-one from fellowship because we disapprove of their way of life or the expression of their faith.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


For all world leaders, at this critical time in geo-politics, give them grace, wisdom and insight to make just decisions in this new escalating war in Iran and the surrounding middle east countries.  May they be guided by justice and integrity, and bring an end to it with dignity and peace to all people.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


As the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine has entered its fifth year, may there be sustained international solidarity and support for a just and lasting peace between those nations.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


For our local communities and families. Allow that ‘living water’ to flow through us, enabling us to reach out and show kindness to strangers and to stand alongside those on the edges of our society.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


For a deeper appreciation of God‘s gift of creation, that we will be drawn into a greater stewardship of the Earth and recognize our interdependency on all of God’s people and creatures.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


For those who face another day of pain, fear, loneliness, depression or anxiety. May they be comforted and strengthened by experiencing God‘s healing presence in those who care for them.

We remember all on the prayer foundation list.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


For those who have recently died and those whose anniversary falls at this time. May they rest in the light of Christ and may those who mourn find comfort in God‘s promise of eternal life. In particular, we pray for Patrick Breen and Carmelina McGregor.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer


We will now say together the prayer to be missionary disciples.

Cluster prayer

Lord continue to bless our community in this time of transition.

Help us on our journey to grow from a maintenance church to a missionary church.
Give us the courage to be missionary disciples.
Make our doors wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship; narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and prejudice.

Kindle in us the fire of your love that all who come here will find joy, peace and love.

Make this a house of prayer and a gateway to your kingdom.

AMEN

Preparing for next week - 4th Sunday of Lent

John 9:1-41
‘He went and washed and received his sight.’

At that time: As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.


  The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘It is he.’ Others said, ‘No, but he is like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ So they said to him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” So I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’


  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’ And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’


  The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’


  So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, ‘Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ And they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?’ And they cast him out.


  Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see”, your guilt remains.’


This is the gospel of the Lord. Commentary



Questions for reflection (framed for a group discussion)

Jesus heals a blind man in today’s Gospel and sends shockwaves through the religious establishment. Not only does he perform this miracle on the Sabbath, He does so in the full knowledge that He is putting Himself in increasing danger. He challenges the religious authorities and shines a light on their hypocrisy and spiritual blindness. Jesus truly is the Light of the World, the judgement, the dividing line between those who can see and those who are willingly blind. For the disciples, this blind man is a puzzle. Disability and suffering were deemed to be a result of sin so…. who had sinned?  The man had been born blind so was it him or his parents? Instead of debating the merits or demerits of this question, Jesus is instead driven by compassion to do His Father’s work even if that meant putting Himself in the firing line and so He heals him. God meets us in our need wherever we are and whenever we are.

The blind beggar’s healing isn’t instantaneous. It is a walk of faith. He is given instructions by Jesus about what he should do after the paste has been applied to his eyes and he does exactly what he is told, showing great trust and obedience. Then…. “he came back seeing.” Is there something for us here? Can we also keep faith with God in the midst of our suffering, trusting in Him as the blind man does? The miracle is so great that, despite seeing the man cured, people could not believe it. The Pharisee’s spiritual blindness is in sharp contrast to the man’s simple logic and clear understanding. If Jesus was a sinner, how was he able to heal me? He must come from God. Faith is such a simple thing but the Pharisees cannot acknowledge the power and mercy of God displayed in the man before them. Jesus is the dividing line.

 As they bicker and quarrel, insulting and abusing the man, he now shows how much his encounter with Jesus has changed him. Fearlessly, he baits these pompous leaders and calls them out, wondering if they’d actually like to be disciples of Jesus too given that they’re so obsessed with Him. For this he is expelled from the synagogue and cut off from his religious community, but it is now, when he is all alone, that Jesus comes in search of him. Jesus offers the man a new spiritual home, a new spiritual authority of love, light, mercy and hope where miracles are not bound by man-made restrictions or laws. It is the one who has been blind from birth who has grown in insight. While the eyes of the Pharisees are closed to the gift of Jesus, the man immediately bows down and worships Him as the Son of Man. Having been touched by Christ’s healing light, he can now freely say “Lord, I believe.” 

 

Q1 Like the Pharisees, we too can be prone to spiritual blindness and yet the Light of Christ is always available to us. Share an experience when you began to see one of your areas of spiritual blindness.

Q2 What are you doing in your life right now to move toward light rather than darkness?*



 * All second questions © The Pastoral Center