March 19 2017 (A) Third Sunday of Lent
A. The bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)
B. Reflection & Dialogue:
The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings).
First Reading (Exodus 13:3-7). Give us water to drink. In its biblical context this event took place at Rephidim, the last stop of the people of Israel in the desert before Mount Sinai. There was no water for the people to drink and they quarreled with Moses. The theme of this reading, and indeed of many places in the Pentateuch, is the “murmuring”, the quarreling, the complaining, of the people in the desert. The occasion for their complaint on this occasion was the lack of water. God promises that he would work a miracle for them at the rock at Horeb (another name for Sinai). This reading contains a promise of such a miracle of abundant water. As such this reading fits well with the gospel reading today in which Jesus promises a spring of living water, welling up to eternal life, for those who believe in him. This episode of the miracle from the rock is narrated again in Numbers 20:1-13, where the water is said to have come abundantly from the rock. In the Pentateuch there are a number of references to water and a rock with Israel during the desert wanderings. From these a Jewish tradition originated saying that a rock-shaped well followed the Israelites during their journeying, to give them water. Paul refers to this tradition (1 Corinthians 10:4). That rock was a symbol of Christ. Two symbolic place-names are given for the site of this miracle of water from the rock – Massah and Meribah, in Hebrew meaning respectively “trial” and “contention”. The people tried, tempted God, and quarreled.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 94[95]). O that today you would listen to his voice: “Harden not your hearts”.
Second Reading (Romans 5:1-2, 5-8). The love of God has been poured into our hearts by thr Holy Spirit which has been given us. This reading has many profound messages for us. To begin with, we are reminded of the fundamental truth that we are justified, made friends of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, through grace, not through our own good works. That friendship with God brings peace, the peace which Jesus promised, peace of soul that is not something human but is the activity of the Holy Spirit in both body and souls. Paul was very strongly opposed to any human boasting of one’s actions as meriting favour with God. Salvation comers through divine grace, not through human actions. However, he reminds us today, there is something we can boast about and that is looking forward to God’s glory, to the glory in store for us. That glory is already within believers in an incipient way through justification and grace, through baptism and the Christian life. This hope is quite distinct from what is humanly called hope. It is sure, certain; it does not deceive, because it is a gift of God that brings certainty. This hope and the certainty that goes with it is linked to the love of God and of Jesus for us, love shown in the death of Jesus for sinful humanity, for each one of us.
The Gospel (4:5-42). A spring of water welling up to eternal life. This is a rather lengthy reading containing different themes. Central themes are the Samaritan woman, the well and water. In Jesus’ day there was deep enmity between Jews and the Samaritans, who were regarded by the Jews as heretics and not part of the Jewish people at all. This division seems to have had very old roots. There was enmity between the Northern Kingdom, Israel, with Samaria as its centre, and the southern kingdom of Judah. When the citizens of the Northern Kingdom were exiled in 720 BC pagans were brought in to replace them, and afterwards the population was a mixed one of Israelites and pagans. The Samaritans, however, regarded themselves as part of the family of the patriarch Jacob, and were awaiting the advent of a messiah, whose nature and mission remain unclear. A noted well in the area was connected with the patriarch Jacob. In the evangelist John’s writing, the episodes in this reading function at two levels – this earthly one, and at a spiritual level, to which the earthly ones point. Thus, the water from the well is a symbol of the water that Jesus will give his followers, welling up to eternal life, that is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Samaritans worshipped at their own sacred site and the Jews at their Temple in Jerusalem, which led Jesus to speak of the coming age when both these would be irrelevant, and God worshipped in Spirit and in truth. His own hunger gives Jesus an opportunity to speak of his intense desire, his hunger, to complete the work the Father had given him, with the sowing of the Gospel seed and the ensuing harvest.
B. Reflection & Dialogue: Christian hope brings certainty.
A common feature of the world in which we live is doubt in matters relating to faith, doubt about elements of moral teaching, about truths of faith, even at times about the very existence of God. An assertion of a certain philosophy, prevalent today, is that there is no certainty on anything. All we can have is speculation, guesswork, rather than certainty, opinions that vary from age to age.
An atmosphere of this sort adds to the difficulties on religious observance. Such doubt on fundamental matters is completely contrary to the teaching of the faith in matters relating to truths concerning this life and the life to come. Christian faith is thus described in the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:1): “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen” (NRSV). Two of the terms used there call for our reflection: assurance, conviction.
The assurance and conviction spoken of in this verse are not psychological attitudes of souls rooted in the human mind or soul. They refer instead to the divine, theological, virtue of hope, a gift from God that gives conviction which is beyond that which human nature can provide. This assurance and certainty bring with them a peace of soul, the peace which Jesus has granted to believers, and a peace that no one can take from them.
