Psalm 95:8

More than water at the Well…

The readings for the Third Sunday of Lent can be seen as an invitation to pray and reflect on our encounters with God and others, the conversations that arise during them as well as after, and how we determine what we hold onto and listen to.

After the prophet Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness, they started to become disgruntled. God provided food for them in the form of quail and manna, however, as the days passed their unhappiness grew as they still did not know what was next and where they would end up. Their existence became a grind and a growing number of the people began to feel like maybe they would have been better off not following Moses; perhaps their current situation was worse than being enslaved in Egypt.

The First Reading (Exodus 17:3-7) has Moses receiving complaints and being well aware of the growing displeasure among the people. He’s in a “What now?” moment.

So Moses cried out to the Lord,
“What shall I do with this people?
a little more and they will stone me!” – v. 4

What strikes you most from the verse above? What are your conversations with God like during your “What now?” moments?

In the following verse, the Lord responds to Moses and tells him what to do. What do you notice about the Lord’s answer?

“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.” – v. 5-6

In what ways do you trust God to provide for you and others during challenging times? How about during less difficult times?

Recall a time when you cried out to God, and God provided for both you and others.

The First Reading ends with:

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?” – v. 7

What do you make of the people quarreling? How do you imagine something like that could impact a sense of trust in the community? And in God?

The response for the Psalm is:

“If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” – Ps 95:8.

Again, thinking about your conversations with God, what level of transparency do they reflect? Are there areas where you may be holding back, or you feel like God is? Take some prayer time to express your thoughts and feelings on this and to allow room for God’s insight to be shared with you.

The Second Reading (Romans 5:1-2, 5-8), begins with: “Brothers and sisters:”

If you were to use this greeting, who would be included as brothers and sisters?

This letter to the Romans continues:

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.

Have there been times when you have felt justified by faith? What made you feel that way or what were the signs? And what was it like?

The passage is completed with the following verses:

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.

How has God’s love been poured out into your heart? What has the impact been? And how do your choices reflect that love to God, yourself, and to others?

In the Gospel Reading (John 4:5-42), we read about Jesus, a Jew, and the woman at the well, a Samaritan. Each comes from a line of people who normally steer clear of each other. Thinking about this atypical exchange back then and life today, how do you desire to respond to the “atypical”?

Next, consider Jesus’s words around water and food, things that last a limited amount of time before one needs to acquire more, as an invitation to look more closely at what’s been on your plate and the concerns you are carrying. As you do so, contemplate what you are seeking and from where you are seeking it.

What does the Lord want to reveal to you?

Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world; give me living water, that I may never thirst again. – John 4:42, 15

Hearts at the well; Jesus

When Hearts Are Best…

The response to the Psalm for the Third Sunday of Lent is, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Psalm 95:8). In last Sunday’s second reading (Philippian’s 3:17-4:1), St. Paul encourages discipleship with a focus on the Lord and the goal of citizenship in heaven, and instructs us to “Stand firm in the Lord.” (Phil 4:1). What happens when you reflect on the Lord’s nature as being both firm and kindhearted at the same time?

Continuing to think about the Lord’s characteristics, Let’s turn to the Gospel passage, the Samaritan Woman (John 4:5-42 – included below). Through the ebb and flow of their conversation, what touches your heart most about Jesus, the Samaritan woman, and their interaction? In what places do you sense firmness? And kindness? How do the two characteristics work together, and what do they bring about?

Next, take some time to consider a situation(s) you are currently facing. In what ways are your faith experience and your beliefs working? Do they expand your heart, or constrict it? How do they fit with “stand firm in the Lord” and “harden not your heart,” coming together for what is best. Invite Jesus to join you in prayer and to share His insights and guidance as you ponder this further.

Hearts at the well; Jesus

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.” – John 4:5-42

Exponentially…

As summer heads toward a close, schools reopen, and traffic picks up in the Northern Hemisphere, time can be more challenging to come by as busyness seeks to prevail. Like “a thief in the night” it can swiftly sneak away the quiet, still moments that seem to come more easily during the days of summer. Yet, despite a likely fuller schedule and a quicker pace all around, peace within remains, patiently waiting to connect… waiting to be heard.  

In the Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Responsorial Psalm is “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” (Psalm 95:8). What does that really mean? While it can be difficult to think of oneself as having a heart that is hardened, maybe there’s another way to consider this.

St. Thomas of Villanova said, “I cannot see without light: yet if I shut my eyes in the midst of the noon-day light, the fault is in me, not in the sun.” Although today’s world tends toward pointing fingers, and finding fault may be tempting, perhaps the key here is in exploring what one sees.

What are the situations and places where one is more prone to looking past what’s in plain sight, readily drawing a conclusion, or closing one’s eyes, rather than opening them wider and acknowledging all there is to see or consider? These are the places that hold an invitation to prayer and discovery. These are the places where a heart might be less open to God (hardened) and God’s ways of love, mercy, compassion, peace, hope, integrity, and more. These are the places where one can grow closer to God, living more fully in a way that encompasses a desire for goodness for all and operates to extend love and the flow of God’s grace.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” – Mt 18:20