Gospel Lectio Divina for The Third Sunday of Lent - March 12, 2023
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
READ
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. “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 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.”
MEDITATE
“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.”
What is this spring of water Jesus speaks of? I believe it is his blood, maybe not literally but at least allegorically. The waters of baptism cleanse us of original sin, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us of personal sin. Sin separates us from God, and the blood of Jesus reunites us with him. This reunion with our creator quenches a thirst that cannot be satisfied by anything in this world, and it is an eternal union in heaven.
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth”
Jesus is using a physical need, water, to awaken in the Samaritan woman her spiritual needs. He is using the natural world to invite her into the supernatural. It’s not that the physical world doesn’t matter at all. It just matters less than our souls. God gave us the seven sacraments because he knew we needed physical prompts to reveal to us spiritual realities. Writers use the same method to convey unseen truths. They may use sunshine in a story to symbolize a person’s happiness, or rain to metaphorically represent sadness. Or, in perhaps the most popular metaphor in all of literature, the one Ring represents sin in The Lord of the Rings. God is the author of existence, and he uses what we see in the world he created to help us understand what we don’t see.
In saying a time will come when worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, Jesus is also saying that he is offering his salvation to not only the Jews, but even the Samaritans and all Gentiles who do not worship in the Temple. With Jesus’ sacrifice, worship of God no longer needs to be limited to one place. His sacrifice can now reach the ends of the earth to offer salvation to all through the Mass. The Samaritans were separated from the people of God, but Jesus invites them back in. This is the core of the gospel message: mercy and forgiveness is now offered to all people.
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
There have been many times when I wanted quick solutions to my problems. Today it’s easy enough to get water, but what about money? How many times have we all been tempted by those who tell us they can give a monetary award so that we never have to worry about money again? We’re often in similar situations as the Samaritan woman, when we don’t want to bother with inconveniences anymore, so perhaps we can relate. Why do we have to work so hard for the essentials in life?
The Samaritan woman is in a situation we all are in before God. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and he has something we desire more than we even know. He has something we desire so deeply within our hearts that we sometimes can’t even find the desire. We often can’t find the desire because we indulge in our physical needs instead, and neglect the need to quench our spiritual thirst. We were made for eternity, but it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and complain about our immediate needs. On the other hand, I have found that when I focus on my eternal home, it is easier to ignore my body’s needs. This is why we have Lent. The Church, in her wisdom, advises us to abstain from some ephemeral pleasure to help us remember the spiritual desire deeper inside us that can only be quenched by God.
“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.”
This reminds me of St. Thomas when he doubted Jesus’ resurrection. Why is it that some of us are given indisputable truth about Jesus’ divinity and salvation, while others are left to lean heavily on faith or struggle with doubt, or both? I believe it is because if everyone were given evidence, no one would have to live as Christ’s witnesses themselves. If God made himself indisputably evident to everyone, no one would have to testify about what they saw. As a result, no one would have prove the saving power of the gospel through their actions. Christ invites us to participate in the salvation he offers by being the body of Christ, by being Christ to others. The apostles were given a special grace when they were shown all of the signs and wonders of Christ. We do not have that, but we do have centuries of witnesses, martyrs, and saints who testified before us, who did take that leap of faith.
PRAY
Lord Jesus,
I have strayed from you many times, and you always invite me back. Help me to accept your invitation. Reveal to me that eternal spring of water that gives eternal life. Show me how it is better than anything the world has to offer. In my frail physical human existence, I can only catch glimpses of your glory and truth very infrequently. I want to have access to the water you speak of every day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
LISTEN
The Samaritan woman told the people in her village all that Jesus said, and then they listened to him to see if it were true, to see if he truly was the Messiah. They listened to him because the woman acted as a witness proclaiming Christ to be who he says he is. In our spiritual journey, it’s wise to not only live as Christ’s witnesses ourselves, but also to listen to other people who proclaim his divinity and salvation, and to believe them.
Kilby is a freelance writer from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report. He received his undergrad degree in humanities and Catholic culture from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In addition to working with the Knights of the Holy Eucharist (knights.org), he has served as a journalist for Princeton Packet Publications, and the Trenton Monitor, the magazine for the Diocese of Trenton. Some of his published work can also be found in St. Anthony Messenger, Catholic Herald (UK), and Catholic World Report. For the latter he is managing editor. Find more of his writing at ramblingspirit.com.