Third Sunday of Lent

Reflection

Too often in life we are tempted to give into despair. We feel that God could not possibly be present to us in the situations we find ourselves in. In lives often inflicted with cruelty and pain, how could we believe that God is by our side? The God of hope can vanish in our own sense of despair, and we feel as if we are the people Israel, called forth only to die of thirst in the desert of our lives. Despair is of course a development of pride so great that it chooses one’s own certitude rather than admit that God is more creative than we are. We see a dry desert. God brings forth water from the rock. We wrap ourselves up in our own misery. God gives fully to those who turn to him, and even to those who remain distant. The creative power of God’s light always flickers in the darkness, if we had but the courage to grasp for it.

God’s creative power is always at work in the most unexpected of moments. The Samaritan woman at the well perhaps never considered that she would be approached or welcomed by an observant Jew, the Jews and Samaritans having mutual cultural mistrust. She perhaps never considered that an unmarried man would approach and converse with her as an equal. She perhaps never knew that the well that she needed for sustenance would be the site at which she learned of eternal nourishment. God’s creativity often outpaces our initial perceptions.

Prayer

O Lord, filled with compassion for those who invoke You, filled with love for those who suffer, please take our needs under Your special protection. Amen.

Fr. Michael R. Carter, SSE ’12, Lecturer of Religious Studies

Scripture

Reading: Exodus 17:3-7

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

Gospel: John 4:5-42

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website