|
In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises the Samaritan woman living
water which shall become a fountain within her, leaping up to provide eternal life. The liturgy on this Lenten Sunday
places Jesus’ promise within the context of the Exodus account of water coming from the rock of Horeb.
The responsorial psalm 95 refers both to the Rock of our salvation and
also to hardened hearts. On the one hand, there is the Rock (God) from which the water of eternal life flows. On the other
hand, there are those rocks (our hearts) which we seek in Lent to soften by prayer, fasting and works of mercy.
We believe, with Paul, that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. That love of God should make us a forgiving people,
one that enables the world to be brought together in unity and peace.
Our goal is to harden not our hearts: to be concerned for the poor and suffering, to forgive the criminal, to welcome the stranger, to love our enemies.
“If only you recognized God’s gift . . .” |
“By
becoming for people a model of merciful love for others,
Christ proclaims by his actions even more than by his
words that call to mercy which is one of the essential
elements of the gospel ethos.
In this instance it is
not just a case of fulfilling a commandment or an obligation
of an ethical nature: it is also a case of satisfying
a condition of major importance for God to reveal himself
in his mercy to man: ‘The merciful . . . shall
obtain mercy.’”
Pope John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia (1980) 3 |
|
Art by Martin Erspamer, O.S.B.
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A, B, and C).
Used by permission of Liturgy Training Publications. This art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the collection
in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go to:
http://www.ltp.org/ |
Back to Spirituality of the Readings
|
 |
