Sunday, March 12th
Scripture
Ex 17: 3-7
Ps 95: 1-2, 6-9
Rom 5: 1-2, 5-8
Jn 4: 5-42
Reflection
“Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.” Jn 4:14
We’ve heard the Woman at the Well story so many times, haven’t we? Yet Lent 2023 offers invitations perhaps on a deeper level. Jesus relates with a woman from Samaria who acknowledges that she has had five husbands! Wait…did he break cultural and religious norms on three counts: gender, race and marital status? Yes! Jesus’ all-inclusive love invites us to let go of judgment/prejudice and to open our hearts to all people, not just those who look, think, and act like us.
Good thing that the living water which Jesus promises to the Samaritan woman is not only for her but for all of us. Do we thirst for this living water? Do we trust that it will be gratuitously given, without needing to merit it? Do we desire a well deep enough to be filled to overflowing? What are my deeper hungers and thirsts this Lent that only our God can satisfy?
Prayer
God of All-Inclusive Love, please bless Earth and all creation with your free-flowing and abundant
Living Water to heal, renew, and bring all to wholeness.
Personal Challenge
To accept the invitation to believe that Jesus treasures me as I am with my past failures just as he did the Samaritan woman.
Mary Jo Hazard, CSJ Associate
Naperville, IL
