First reading: Ex. 17: 3-7
“Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled
against Moses, saying, ‘Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst
with our children and our livestock? So
Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!’ The Lord answered Moses, ‘Go over there in
front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your
hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river. I will be standing there in front of you on
the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and
the water will flow from it for the people to drink. This Moses did, in the presence of the elders
of Israel. The place was called Massah
and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord,
saying, ‘Is the Lord in our midst or not?’”Second reading: Rom. 5:1-2, 5-8
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access [by faith] to his grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has
been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to
us. For Christ, while we were still
helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for
a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to
die. But God proves his love for us in
that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
Gospel reading: Jn. 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42 (short form)
“So he came of 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 fro 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; that water I shall give will become hi
him a string 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.
“’Sir, I can see 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 Anointed;
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.”
Introductory theme summary:
The common theme in today’s readings is how God satisfies
our thirst in which water is used as a metaphor for grace, as is indicated for
us in the second reading and expounded upon in the gospel reading.Reflection:
There is a lot to be gained from examining the use of water
as a metaphor for describing grace. Our
encounter with grace is striking similar to our relationship with water. Water is essential for our survival as is our
dependence upon grace. We are only able
to live approximately three days without water, and, coincidentally or not, our
Lord was taken from us for approximately three days while he was in the belly
of the earth and the world was plunged into darkness – the absence of grace. Our first symptoms of dehydration is
sleepiness, which progresses to weakness as our bodies begin to dry up. Similarly, as we are deprived of grace our
spirits become sluggish and we revert to fleshliness as we lose touch with the promptings
of the spirit.
So, what is grace that we may better associate ourselves to
it as necessary as it is for obtaining eternal life? Grace, by definition, is an unmerited gift
from God. Moreover, everything we
receive from God in this life is grace, because God is the first cause of all
things. This allocates humanity to the
role of responder to God’s initiative, rendering all things received as beginning
with God and unmerited by us. No one has
preceded God in action so as to obligate God to act in response. Everything done by us is preceded by an
action of God, and fulfilled by the grace imparted from God in that same initial
cause of action on God’s part. This,
however, does not exclude us from earning merit; nor does it imply error in
seeking merit through actions. Scripture
tells us we will all be rewarded,[1]
according to our works.[2]
The merit from action begins with our free-will choice to
respond favorably toward God’s grace.
God does not interfere in any way with our freewill. Otherwise, all compliance on the part of
human beings would have the effect of reducing us to nothing more than mere
puppets, which we are not. It stands to reason, therefore, that we must
earn merit for our choice. Along the
same line of reasoning, merit is then increased through our cooperation with God’s
grace, by achieving the desired end for which God gave it. It is as His faithful servants that we will
receive our reward.
The culmination of merit is realized through the response of
love toward God with our human heart.
This is not the charity received of God in order to fulfill the two
commandments of love. This is the human
sentiment of love that evolves to sincerely like God so much as to honestly
love him for who He truly is. Though it
is inevitable for the human heart to respond with sincere loving sentiment
toward God when His grace has been fully received, the free-will choice remains
ours to make. Even while in the state of
perfection the fallen angels exercised their liberty, of the same free will,
and rejected God. This free-will choice
remains up till the end of our pilgrimage here on earth.
This brings us to the importance of correct theology. If one personally loves a false understanding
of God, that person isn’t loving God truly.
However good the person’s intentions might be, he/she is loving a
personalized perception of God! Though
some inaccurate perceptions of God may carry less accountability than others;
ultimately it is only through truth that we can actually love God. “God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jn.
4:24)
Come, let us be receptive and apply ourselves to the fullness
of God’s infinite grace so as to discover our real potential in Christ, and
thereby store up for ourselves treasure in Heaven.
[1] Mt.
5:12; 10:41-42; Lk. 6:23; 6:35; Col. 3:24; 2 Jn. 1:8; Rev. 22:12
[2] 1
Cor. 3:13-15 “The work of each will come to light, for the day will disclose
it. It will be revealed with fire, and
the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon
the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one
will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”
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