Third Sunday of Lent: Year A First Reading: EXODUS 17:3-7 Second Reading: ROMANS 5:1-2, 5-8 Gospel Reading: JOHN 4:5-42 As early as the fourth century., the period of preparation for the sacred Triduum and for the immediate baptismal preparation of catechumens was dominated by three important scripture texts. In Year A of the three year liturgical cycle, these texts constitute the gospels for the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent. Each of these gospels has been coupled with a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures designed to place the gospel proclamation in the framework of salvation history. Because each of the persons featured in the gospels, e.g. the woman of Samaria, the man born blind and Lazarus, is a paradigm of conversion, their stories offer excellent catechesis for Lenten penitents. Each gospel also features the transforming love of Christ for those whom he calls to salvation; he is living water, light and sight for the blind, and the source of life for all who believe. Fresh, potable water is a necessity of life which most readers of this publication can probably take for granted. As near as the kitchen sink, cooler or fountain, water is also available in different flavors and at various prices for more sophisticated and/or jaded palates. Although the need for water has not changed, it is a natural element over which we have gained control. “Is it possible, under such conditions, for water to retain its salvific significance? The symbolism we use in catechumenal and baptismal liturgy, is it not perhaps irrelevant for people?” However, not all of this world’s people enjoy the same advantages. The country of Bahrain, for example, is one of the hottest regions on earth. Located on the Persian Gulf, Bahrain’s comparatively numerous population has no fresh water supply. Survival is possible only because of copious springs at the bottom of the sea. Each day, divers with large goatskin bags wound around their left arms, take heavy stones in their right hands and plunge deep into the sea. When they reach the undersea springs, they release the stone which has helped them to descend, open their bags over the strong jet of water and close them quickly; then, buoyed up by the ascending current from the springs, the rise to the surface where they are given a fresh bag and stone in order to dive, again and again, until sufficient water has been collected for the day. Because of the arduousness of this process, water is a valued and precious commodity in Bahrain and its people are appropriately sensitive and respectful of its significance for their lives. Today, the church, in an effort to renew a similar sensitivity and respect among us, puts before us for our reflection, the scriptural motif of water. In both the first reading and the gospel, water is presented as a gift, necessary for life, a gift which God, who alone is the source of life, can give. With water in the wilderness, God sustained the people he had called forth from slavery, blessed with freedom, and graced with an abiding relationship (covenant) with himself. Master and creator of the universe, who made the “waters above” and the “waters below” (Genesis 1:7), Yahweh was also the keeper and creator of the history of his people. For Israel, water became a symbol of Yahweh’s constant care and attentive presence. In order to have their every thirst slaked by him, Israel had only to believe (Exodus). Paul, in his letter to the Romans, described the saving water of God’s love as a gift poured out into the hearts of powerless but believing sinners. In the gospel, Jesus’ exchange with the woman at the well awakened in her a thirst for the wholeness and integrity which she had lost and which he had come to satisfy. Her joy was contagious and instilled in others a similar thirst for the living water he offered and continues to offer to all who believe. Today, various assemblies are gathered together by a shared need for the water of salvation. Washed in it at baptism, renewed by its abundance at each Eucharist, alerted to it in every proclamation of the Word, and daily empowered by the Spirit, we are challenged to remain thirsty for the living water which only God can give. JOHN 4:5-42 Venerated as a saint among the Greek and Russian Orthodox and given the name Photeine (Greek) or Svetlana (Russian), which means radiant or shining (from the Greek noun phos or light) the woman at the well has been variously praised by Origen, John Chrysostom, Augustine and Teresa of Avila as: (1) an “apostle,” (2) one who “left her water pot at the well in order to go off and preach the gospel,” (3) “the first apostle to the gentiles who invited her neighbors to ‘Come and see’.” Legend has it that when the woman left Samaria to preach the good news, she eventually made her way to Carthage in Africa where she was imprisoned for the faith and died a martyr. Another legend, preserved in Spain, says that Photeine (also Photina) converted and baptized Nero’s daughter and 100 of her servants (Margaret Hebblethwaite, Six New Gospels, Cowley Publications, Boston: 1994). Fascinating legends and traditions notwithstanding, the woman of Shechem offers veteran believers and catechumens a living example of the dynamics and ramifications of Christian baptism including: (1) the overture of God to the sinner Notice that Jesus initiated the conversation with the woman (vs. 7); notice also Pauline soteriology at work in this event. . .” it is precisely in this that God proves his love. . . that, while we were still sinners. . . (Romans 5:8). Aware of the woman’s less than pristine life-style, Jesus nevertheless extended to her the good news of salvation. (2) the sinner’s growing response in faith and consequent conversion. Open to the truth of Jesus’ words, the woman asked him for the water he had offered her. She also acknowledged him as a prophet and professed her faith in the coming messiah (vss. 15, 19, 25-26). (3) the mission of the disciple to proclaim the good news to others. At the woman’s invitation, her neighbors came out to see Jesus, and having heard him, came to believe (vss. 29, 39-42). Also evident in this narrative are the fourth evangelist’s unique literary techniques and theological insights. By introducing various levels of understanding or misunderstanding into the interaction, the Johannine author was able to guide his readers to a fuller, deeper appreciation of Jesus’ purpose. For example, the woman misunderstood what Jesus meant by living water; this led to his explanation of Jesus’ gift of water “as a fountain within, leaping up to provide eternal life. So also, the disciples, concerned that Jesus should eat something, misunderstood his claim “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Their confusion led to an explanation that Jesus’ food and sustenance was to do the will of the Father. At work also in this gospel is Johannine replacement theology. In the literature of Qumran (CDC 29:34), the writings of the rabbis and scripture (Sirach 24:23-29), the Torah or law was described as water which both cleanses and sustains life. Those who wished to walk in God’s ways were called to drink deep and daily from its font. But Jesus’ gift of water was a superior source of life and nourishment which replaced the Torah and its significance for believers. Scholars have debated as to precisely what Jesus meant when he referred to living water. Living water means the revelation or teaching which Jesus came to give and it also means the Spirit which Jesus bestows (The Gospel According to John. Today, the invitation of the Samaritan women to “Come and see” reminds all thirsty sinners that we are daily called to be cleansed, taught, renewed and satisfied by Jesus’ great gift.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 11:27:57 +0000
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