Brothers and sisters, on this Third Sunday of Lent, I would like to reflect upon the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, from the Gospel that we have just heard. This reflection will lead us to the theme of the Living Water.
Our Lord asks the Samaritan woman for a drink from the well. Then, they have a conversation, and finally, it is the woman who asks that she be given water, living water. Living water is that spring of water that gushes up to eternal life. Water that, once tasted, will never have anyone thirsty again.
Spiritual life is closely tied with the moral life; the life of the soul is intertwined with virtue, and moral character. Jesus states the obvious when he says to the woman, “you are right in saying ‘I have no husband’...’the one you have now is not your husband’”. The sixth commandment, “you shall not commit adultery” also needs to be repeated in our times. If our moral life is wounded by mortal sin, our spiritual life will be wounded as well, it will be weakened. Now is the time for conversion and repentance.
At one point in the conversation, the Samaritan woman says to Our Lord, “Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is Jerusalem”. The woman is speaking out of the Samaritan tradition; she is in a way defending this tradition in front of someone who was observing other traditions, Jewish traditions. It is good to hold on to traditions, but it is also desirable, as we hold on to traditions, to let go of any spiritual pride: a spiritual pride that whispers enticingly, “I know best”.
For us Catholics, living waters flow from the Sacraments of the Church. These sacraments are not the sacraments of the priest, whether he be diocesan or religious; however pious or zealous a priest may be, he dispenses sacraments which belong to the Church. The priest dispenses the sacraments in union with, and in obedience to his bishop, a bishop who in turn is in union with, and obedient to, the Holy Father. We need the sacraments, particularly the Holy Mass, to live. However, in exceptional circumstances, the public celebration of the sacraments can be suspended. It has now been almost a year that we are without a bishop in Pembroke. Still, we have an Apostolic Administrator, Archbishop Mulhall. He, in virtue of his authority as the diocesan administrator, has decided to cancel the Lord’s Day Masses next weekend. Please accept his decision in a spirit of Lenten penitence. Weekday Masses will go on as planned. I encourage you to read the bulletin closely, and to monitor the parish website.
Living Water flows to us from the heart of Our Lord, through the sacraments, through prayer, and through charity shown to neighbour. May Our Lady assist us in the task of ongoing conversion.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, March 15, 2020)