Third Sunday of Lent
Reading 1
In those days, 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?”
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9Responsorial Psalm
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Rom 5:1-2, 5-8Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
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 this 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 who has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
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.
Jn 4:5-42 or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42Gospel
Jesus came to 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 from 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;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring 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.”
Jesus said to her,
“Go call your husband and come back.”
The woman answered and said to him,
“I do not have a husband.”
Jesus answered her,
“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’
For you have had five husbands,
and the one you have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, I can see that 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 Christ;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Jesus said to her,
“I am he, the one speaking with you.”
At that moment his disciples returned,
and were amazed that he was talking with a woman,
but still no one said, “What are you looking for?”
or “Why are you talking with her?”
The woman left her water jar
and went into the town and said to the people,
“Come see a man who told me everything I have done.
Could he possibly be the Christ?”
They went out of the town and came to him.
Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.”
But he said to them,
“I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
So the disciples said to one another,
“Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me
and to finish his work.
Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’?
I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
The reaper is already receiving payment
and gathering crops for eternal life,
so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.
For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for;
others have done the work,
and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him
because of the word of the woman who testified,
“He told me everything I have done.”
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.”
Catholic Fundamentalism Interpretation:
People followed The Programmer when there were lots of miracles and money (given to them by the Egyptians as they left Egypt). When things became difficult, they focused on themselves, rather than on The Programmer. They whined and griped about having no water.
Moses cried out to The Loving Programmer, "What shall I do with them? If things get worse, they’re going to stone me!"
The Loving Programmer said, "I’ll show them my power, and that will shut them up. Stand where everyone can see you, and strike the rock with your staff. Water will flow from it."
Moses did so. They called the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarrels and testing of The Loving Programmer’s power, saying, "Is He here with us, or not?"
Humans, if you sense The Programmer, allow Him to erase your errors and let you see His works.
Let us get together, singing joyfully to The Loving Programmer. Let’s acclaim the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to Him giving thanks, and sing joyfully praises to Him.
Humans, if you sense The Programmer, allow Him to erase your errors and let you see His works.
Let us bow in worship, kneeling before He Who programmed us. He is our God, and we are the people He takes care of and guides.
Humans, if you sense The Programmer, allow Him to erase your errors and let you see His works.
Oh, that you will let The Loving Programmer get through to you. "Don’t harden your hearts as at Meribah as in the day of Massah when you were thirsty in the desert, where your ancestors tempted Me. They tested Me even though they’d seen all My miracles freeing them from Egypt.
Humans, if you sense The Programmer, allow Him to erase your errors and let you see His works.
Brothers and sisters, our faith and belief in Jesus Christ (The Program, downloaded on earth in perfect, obedient, human form) has allowed our individual programs to be uploaded into His. We will live forever without errors in His perfect Program, and our access code was (simply) belief.
We boast about The Loving Programmer’s Power. And, hope doesn’t disappoint, because His love has been (is being) downloaded within us through The Holy Wireless Connector Who has been given us to join us to Him (and Him to us).
The Living Program, Jesus Christ, allowed Himself to be painfully erased right when The Creation Program called for that to happen. He died for those who were separate from The Program.
It is only with difficulty that one human program would allow him/herself to be erased to save a truly good person, though maybe for such a person one might find the courage to die.
But, The Trinity proves His love for us in that while we were bad people, The Program allowed Himself to be painfully erased for us.
Jesus, The Program in perfect, obedient, human form came to Sychar, in Samaria, near the land that Jacob gave to his favorite son, Joseph.
Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus, tired, sat at the well about noon. (Midpoint of His ministry?)
A Samaritan woman came to draw water from Jacob’s well. Jesus said, "Give me a drink."
His disciples had gone into town to buy food. The woman replied, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?", because Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.
Jesus answered, saying to her,
"If you knew the gift (nature) of God
and if you knew My nature,
you would have asked God
and He would have given you living water."
The woman said, "Sir (respect for Him enters the conversation), you don’t even have a bucket, and you can’t reach the water. Where can you get this living water’"
Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us
this well, and drank from it, himself, along with his children and flocks?"
Jesus answered:
"All who drink this water will be thirsty, again;
but those who accept My downloads will never worry about such things.
The download I give is eternal, and those who make the download won’t have physical problems. The download that I provide will live in people, becoming a way to get to Heaven, forever."
The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so that I will no longer suffer on earth."
Jesus said to her,
"Go call your husband, and come back."
The woman replied,
"I don’t have a husband."
Jesus answered:
"You are right in saying ‘I don’t have a husband.’ The fact is, you’ve had five husbands, and the one you are with now isn’t your husband. You have spoken the truth." (But, it seems she was shading it.)
She said, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped here, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place to worship."
Jesus said,
"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you
will worship The Loving Programmer neither here nor in Jerusalem.
"You people worship what you don’t understand,
we worship what we do understand, because access to The Loving Programmer begins with
the Jewish human programs.
The hour is coming, and is now here, when those who make the true downloads will worship The Loving Programmer with their own souls according to The Program;
and, The Loving Programmer seeks those who will access The Program.
The Loving Programmer is Spirit. He must be truly worshipped in Spirit and truth."
The woman said:
"I know that the Messiah is coming, the once called the Christ. He will tell us everything."
Jesus said, "I am He, the One speaking with you."
Then, His disciples returned, amazed to find Him talking to a woman, but no one asked what was going on (He silenced them so they wouldn’t interrupt?)
The woman left her water jar (an expensive, valuable possession) among the strangers, went into town, and told people, "Come, see the man who told me everything I’ve done. Could He be the Christ?"
They left the town and came to see Him.
While she was gone, the disciples urged Him to have something to eat. He told them, "I am able to sustain myself with energies you don’t know about."
So, they said,
"Could someone have brought Him food?"
Jesus, The Program in perfect, obedient, human form said, "My food is to do the will of The Loving Programmer Who sent me to finish The Creation Program.
"Just as you say, ‘In four months, it will be time to harvest.’, I tell you, the fields are ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already getting paid and gathering souls to live forever (like the woman?) for eternal life, so that The Loving Programmer and The Program can rejoice together with the Holy Wireless Connector.
For here is the saying that shows The Programmer and Program differ, ‘One sows, another (the other) reaps’.
"I sent you to reap what you haven’t sewn, others did the work, you reap the benefits of what they’ve done."
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in Him because of what the woman who testified said, "He told me everything I have done."
They asked Him to stay, and He did, for two days.
Then many more came to believe in Him as they heard Him describe The Programmer and The Program, joined with each other and with them by The Holy Wireless Connector. Suddenly, they understood and believed, and told the woman, "We no longer believe because of what you said, but because we heard for ourselves all the facts we needed to prove this wonderful theory of The Programmer, Program, and Holy Wireless Connector. We know this is The Savior of The World."
