HOMILY FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR A. (3)

HOMILY FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR A.

THEME: Jesus: The Living Water

BY: Father Anthony O. Ezeaputa, MA.

On this third Sunday of Lent, themes of faith, water, and thirst run through our readings. There is so much to say about these themes, but we will focus on the gospel passage (John 4:5–42), especially on the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman and Jesus as the living water that quenches our thirst. But still, we will highlight certain life lessons that can be learned from the conflict between Jews and Samaritans.

Jesus was going through Samaria when he got to the Samaritan town of Sychar. Exhausted from the journey, he decided to rest by Jacob’s well while his disciples went into town to buy some food. It was almost noon when a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus asked her, “Give me a drink” (John 4:7). Knowing that Jesus was a Jew and that there was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans, she responded, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (John 4:9). So, who were the Samaritans, and why do Jews and Samaritans hate each other?

Upon the death of King Solomon, Israel was divided into two separate and weak nations. Judah was in the south, with Jerusalem as its capital city, while Israel was in the north, with Samaria as its capital city. This divide made them vulnerable to foreign invasion.

When Assyria attacked them, it took over the northern kingdom and made it part of its empire. But the southern kingdom of Judah decided not to go into war with the Assyrians and to become their vassal.

We can learn from the fall of Israel that division makes us more vulnerable to different forms of sin, such as gossip, jealousy, and envy, but unity makes us stronger. As the phrase goes, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

Perhaps you have stopped talking to some people because of past hurts, disappointments, and conflicts. The downfall of a divided Israel is a reminder that good relationships make it easier for people to lend a helpful hand when you need it the most.

You may have recently been asked, “What are you giving up for Lent?” Give up our past hurts, disappointments, anger, rage, and resentment and make peace with those who have hurt you, even if it means eating humble pie, starting with family members, because time is running out so that we can rise with Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

Also, tens of thousands of Jews from the northern kingdom of Israel were sent to live in other Assyrian empires and were replaced by people from different towns in Mesopotamia. Over time, the newcomers got married to the few remaining Jews, mixing the Assyrian and Jewish religions. The northern kingdom of Israel was also renamed Samaria. For these reasons, most Jews despised the northern Israelites, now known as Samaritans, and referred to them as schismatic Jews, strangers, half-pagans, and unclean.

The most heated conflict between Jews and Samaritans revolved around the topic of where God desired his temple to be built. Jews insisted that it was in Jerusalem, but Samaritans erected a temple on Mount Gerizim and claimed that this was where God had chosen to be worshipped. And the final blow that broke Carmel’s back was when the Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim.

Here, we might learn that, no matter how small a disagreement seems at first, if it isn’t solved as soon as possible, it can grow into a much bigger problem. If the Israelites had solved the problems that led to the conflict between northern and southern Israel from the start, they might not have split into two kingdoms and would have been better able to fight their common enemy, the Assyrians.

From the foregoing and returning to the Samaritan woman’s response to Jesus, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (John 4:9). The meeting between them takes place at a well in the Samaritan town of Sychar. It is understandable that the Samaritan woman would be surprised to see Jesus, a Jew who is meant to be her enemy, in a Samaritan town, let alone asking a Samaritan for water.

But this is what Christianity, and particularly the Lenten season, is all about. It is the season to break down all obstacles that keep us from being Christlike and loving our neighbors and enemies as Christ loves us.

Jesus responded to the Samaritan woman, “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” (John 4:10). Jesus is offering her “living water,” which is communion with himself. But she hears only “running water,” and so she asks the obvious question: “Sir, you do not even have a bucket, and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?” (John 4:11).

The Samaritan woman represents the dissatisfaction and thirst in each of us. We are thirsty for so many things. The Samaritan woman had tried to satisfy that thirst by marrying “five husbands,” and now she lives with another man. However, everything changes for her when she meets with the Lord Jesus, who turns everything around to the point that she leaves her pitcher of water and runs to tell the villagers: “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (Jn 4:29).

Today, let us recall Saint Augustine’s renowned words: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Christ became thirsty to satisfy our thirst, just as he became poor to make us rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). God thirsts for us because he desires our total and possible good, which is himself. Give him an opportunity to quench your thirst today through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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