DAILY- HOMILY

MARCH 27, 2011
3RD SUNDAY OF LENT – A

Ex 17:3-7 / Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 / Rom 5:1-2, 5-8 / Jn 4:5-42 or
4:5-15, 19-26, 39, 40-42

EXODUS 17:3-7
In those days the people thirsted for water there and grumbled against
Moses, "Why did you make us leave Egypt to have us die of thirst with
our children and our cattle?" So Moses cried to Yahweh, "What shall I
do with the people? They are almost ready to stone me!" Yahweh said to
Moses, "Go ahead of the people and take with you the elders of Israel.
Take with you the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will
stand there before you on the rock at Horeb. You will strike the rock
and water will flow from it and the people will drink." Moses did this
in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah
and Meribah because of the complaints of the Israelites, who tested
Yahweh saying, "Is Yahweh with us or not?"

ROMANS 5:1-2, 5-8
Brothers and sisters, by faith we have received true righteousness,
and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through
him we obtain this favor in which we remain and we even boast to
expect the Glory of God. And hope does not disappoint us because the
Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of
God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us: when we
were still helpless and unable to do anything. Few would accept to die
for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps
someone would dare to die. But see how God manifested his love for us:
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

JOHN 4:5-16, 19-25, 39-42
Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob
had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well is there. Tired from his
journey, Jesus sat down by the well; it was about noon. Now a
Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her, "Give me a
drink." His disciples had just gone into town to buy some food. The
Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask me, a
Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?" (For Jews, in fact, have no
dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus replied, "If you only knew the Gift
of God! If you knew who it is that asks you for a drink, you yourself
would have asked me and I would have given you living water." The
woman answered, "Sir, you have no bucket and this well is deep; where
is your living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who
gave us this well after he drank from it himself, together with his
sons and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Those who drink of this
water will be thirsty again; but those who drink of the water that I
shall give will never be thirst y; for the water that I shall give
will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The
woman said to him, "Give me this water, that I may never be thirsty
and never have to come here to draw water." Jesus said, "Go call your
husband and come back here." The woman then said to him, "I see you
are a prophet; tell me this: Our fathers used to come to this mountain
to worship God; but you Jews, do you not claim that Jerusalem is the
only place to worship God?" Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the
hour is coming when you shall worship the Father, but that will not be
on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship without
knowledge, while we Jews worship with knowledge, for salvation comes
from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is even now here, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for that
is the kind of worshippers the Father wants. God is spirit and those
who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to
him, "I know that the Messiah, that is the Christ, is coming; when he
comes, he will tell us everything." And Jesus said, "I who am talking
to you, I am he." In that town many Samaritans believed in him when
they heard the woman who declared, "He told me everything I did." So,
when they came to him, they asked him to stay with them and Jesus
stayed there two days. After that many more believed because of his
own words and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of
what you told us; for we have heard for ourselves and we know that
this is the Savior of the world."

REFLECTION
The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is again a classic
case of the truth regarding God's initiative in relating with us and
inviting us to a conversion and transformation of our lives.

In the Gospel story, the Samaritan woman was initially looking for
something that would satisfy her daily needs until she faced Christ
who offered her something more lasting. One cannot describe the
excitement of the Samaritan woman about this unusual happening which
prompted her to share the good news with her town mates. The community
saw the seeming change in her which was why they were convinced that
what she was saying was true. And so, because of what the woman said,
they came up to Jesus and took the initiative of requesting him to
stay with them to which Jesus acceded. After that period, they said to
the woman, "We no longer believe because of your word; for we have
heard for ourselves. We know now that this is truly the savior of the
world."

There are incidents in life when we ourselves will have to rely on our
own experiences of the Lord and not simply rely on what others tell us
about him. We can cite the initiative again of God when we are
bothered by our conscience which moves us to confront the truth. We
usually associate conscience as the inner voice of God in us. Because
He cares for us, He wants to save our soul and thus bothers our
conscience when we commit wrongdoings. Here, God takes the initiative
to invite us to move from darkness to light.

Truth is what we all thirst for. We have many questions – from the
trivial, mundane, and spiritual and we want to know the truth.
Sometimes the truth is not easy to swallow, but we try very hard to
try to live with it. It is better than to be cynical or indifferent.

During this season of Lent, we pray that we may be perceptive in the
many ways by which God takes the initiative in relating with us.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
- Pamela, Juday, Darlita, Godofredo, Lydia & Jennette
… for the personal intentions of Josheil Dapo
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Alfredo D. Masigan
- Birthday: Art Manuel
- Birthday: Fr. Nono Alfonso, SJ
- Wedding Anniversary: Alex & Dins Macapagal
- Wedding Anniversary: Dom & Nimfa Ferrer
- In Memoriam (+): Elena Ang Acero
- In Memoriam (+): Ruben Saulog
… for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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