Pastor’s Pen
Third Sunday of Lent
March 12, 2023
St. Augustine Catholic Church
Church Family
In this week’s readings, there are interesting words that produce a theme for our reflections all week.
Water is essential to all living creatures and these words in the readings especially standout: rock, water, well and eternal life. Therefore, challenge yourself to read the reflection on these enlightening scripture passages. Once we are aware that God gives us life through the symbol of water as he gave to the Israelites, he gave them water which did more than just satisfy their thirst.
In the gospel, Jesus talks about water that is much more than just quenching our physical thirst. The scripture scholars tell us that these three gospels, which will be coming up in the next three Sundays, are like a three-paneled icon. (I knew you would like that). For those who are studying the Order of Christian Initiation, it is also a reminder for all of us on our Lenten journey to encounter in a deeper way our wonderful God.
The woman at the well is a figure who is strangely alienated from the other women in the Samaritan town. She must go to the well at the height of the day’s heat, likely to avoid the gossip and insults of the other women who can only see the infidelity of her marriages. Like many of us, she is a woman searching for a relationship not only with a husband, but for a relationship that will last forever and ever. So, we, too, are searching for such a relationship and when we find it, springs of water will be welling up for us to eternal life. So, join the journey in the next three weeks as we see the theme of searching for deeper and deeper relations with our God played out.
Love, Father Bob
P.S. Pray especially for healing as we have our traditional ceremonies of Anointing for our physical healing (March 19) and Reconciliation for our mental, emotional, and spiritual healing (March 26).
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