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From: Exodus 17:3-7

The Water from the Rock

[3] But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Mo-
ses, and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children
and our cattle with thirst?” [4] So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with
this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” [5] And the LORD said to Mo-
ses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel;
and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. [6] Behold,
I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock,
and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so, in
the sight of the elders of Israel. [7] And he called the name of the place Massah
and Meribah, because of the faultfinding of the children of Israel, and because
they put the Lord to the proof by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

17:1-7. The severity of desert life (notably hunger and thirst) leads God to help
the Israelites in various ways, all of them full of theological implications. The mi-
racle of the manna, which was preceded by that of the water which Moses made
drinkable (15:22-25), is followed by a new work of wonder to do with water: Mo-
ses causes water to flow from a rock. This happened at Rephidim, probably what
is now Wadi Refayid, some 13 km (8 miles) from Djebel Mfisa.

The sons of Israel’s faith in God and in Moses has been strengthening little by lit-
tle; but they often doubt whether God is there at all (v. 7). They begin to murmur
and to seek proofs of his presence: have they been brought out of Egypt to die,
or to attain salvation? The water which Moses causes to come out of the rock is
a further sign to bolster their faith. This episode names two places — Meribah,
which in popular etymology means “contention”, “dispute”, “lawsuit”, and Mas-
sah, which is “proof’, “test”, “temptation”. Many biblical passages recall this sin
( cf. Deut 6: 16; 9:22-24; 33:8; Ps 95:8-9), even adding that Moses himself lacked
faith and struck the rock twice (cf. Num 20:1-13; Deut: 32:51; Ps 106:32). Lack of
trust in the goodness and power of God means tempting God and it is a grave sin
against faith — even more so in the case of Moses, who had experienced God’s
special love and who ought to have given good example. When man meets some
contradiction or some difficulty he cannot immediately solve, his faith may waver
but he should never doubt, because “if deliberately cultivated, doubt can lead to
spiritual blindness” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 2008).

There is a rabbinical tradition which says that the rock stayed with the Israelites
throughout their sojourn in the desert; St Paul refers to this legend when he says
“the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). On the basis of biblical references to the won-
drous nature of waters (cf. Ps 78:15-16; 105:4; Wis 11:4-14) the Fathers said this
episode prefigures the wonderful effects of Baptism: “See the mystery: ‘Moses’ is
the Prophet; the rod is the word of God; the priest touches the rock with the word
of God, and water flows, and the people of God drink” (St Ambrose, “De Sacra-
mentis”, 8, 5, 1, 3).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

Reconciliation Through Christ’s Sacrifice, the Basis of our Hope

[1] Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through Him we have obtained access to this grace in
which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. [5] And
hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. [6] While we were yet helpless,
at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Why, one will hardly die for a righ-
teous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. [8] But God
shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

1-5. In this very moving passage God helps us see “the divine interlacing of the
three theological virtues which form the backing upon which the true life of every
Christian man or woman has to be woven” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 205).
Faith, hope and charity act in us in turn, causing us to grow in the life of grace.
Thus, faith leads us to know and be sure of things we hope for (cf. Hebrews 11:1);
hope ensures that we shall attain them, and enlivens our love of God; charity, for
its part, gives us energy to practise the other two theological virtues. The definitive
outcome of this growth in love, faith and hope is the everlasting peace that is of
the essence of eternal life.

As long as we are in this present life we do have peace to some degree—but with
tribulation. Therefore, the peace attainable in this life does not consist in the con-
tentment of someone who wants to have no problems, but rather in the resolute-
ness full of hope (”character”) of someone who manages to rise above suffering
and stays faithful through endurance. Suffering is necessary for us, because it is
the normal way to grow in virtue (cf. James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:5-7); that is why it is
providential (cf. Philippians 1:19; Colossians 1:24) and leads to joy and happi-
ness (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

“A person who hopes for something and strives eagerly to attain it is ready to
endure all kinds of difficulty and distress. Thus, for example, a sick person if he
is eager to be healthy, is happy to take the bitter medicine which will cure him.
Therefore, one sign of the ardent hope that is ours thanks to Christ is that we
glory not only in the hope of future glory, but also in the afflictions which we suf-
fer in order to attain it” (St. Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Romans, ad loc.”).

A person who lives by faith, hope and charity realizes that suffering is not some-
thing meaningless but rather is designed by God for our perfecting. Perfection
consists “in the bringing of our wills so closely into conformity with the will of
God that, as soon as we realize He wills anything, we desire it ourselves with all
our might, and take the bitter with the sweet, knowing that to be His Majesty’s
will [...]. If our love is perfect, it has this quality of leading us to forget our own
pleasure in order to please Him whom we love. And that is indeed what happens”
(St. Teresa of Avila, “Book of Foundations”, Chapter 5).

5. The love which St. Paul speaks of here is, at one and the same time, God’s
love for us—manifested in His sending the Holy Spirit—and the love which God pla-
ces in our soul to enable us to love Him. The Second Council of Orange, quoting
St. Augustine, explains this as follows: “To love God is entirely a gift of God. He,
without being loved, loves us and enabled us to love Him. We were loved when
we were still displeasing to Him, so that we might be given something whereby
we might please Him. So it is that the Spirit of the Father and the Son, whom we
love with the Father and the son, pours charity into our hearts” (Second Council
of Orange, “De Gratia”, Canon 25; cf. St. Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”, 102, 5).

6-11. The friendship which reigned in paradise between God and man was foll-
owed by the enmity created by Adam’s sin. By promising a future redeemer, God
once more offered mankind his friendship. The scale of God’s love for us can be
seen in the “reconciliation “ which the Apostle speaks about, which took place
on the Cross, when Christ did away with this enmity, making our peace with God
and reconciling us to him (cf. Eph 2:15-16).

The petition in the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us”, is an invitation to imitate the way God treats us, because by
loving our enemies “there shines forth in us some likeness to God our Father, who,
by the death of his Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition and reconciled to him-
self the human race, which before was most unfriendly and hostile to him “ (”St
Pius V Catechism”, IV, 14, 19).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 4:5-42

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

[5] He (Jesus) came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob
gave to his son Joseph. [6] Jacob’s well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as He
was with His journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

[7] There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me
a drink.” [8] For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. [9] The
Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a
woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. [10] Jesus an-
swered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give
Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
[11] The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is
deep; where do You get that living water? [12] Are You greater than our father Ja-
cob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cat-
tle?” [13] Jesus said to her, “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again,
[14] but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the wa-
ter I shall give him become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [15]
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come
here to draw.”

[16] Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” [17] The woman
answered Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying,
‘I have no husband.’; [18] for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now
have is not your husband; this you said truly.” [19] The woman said to Him, “Sir,
I perceive that you are a prophet. [20] Our fathers worshipped on this mountain;
and you say in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” [21] Jesus
said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this moun-
tain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. [22] You worship what you do
not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] But the
hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship Him. [24] God is spirit, and
those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” [25] The woman
said to Him, “I know that the Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when
He comes, He will show us all things.” [26] Jesus said to her, “I who speak to
you am He.”

[27] Just then the disciples came. They marvelled that He was talking with a wo-
man, but none said, “What do you wish?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
[28] So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the
people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the
Christ?” [30] They went out of the city and were coming to Him.

[31] Meanwhile the disciples besought Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” [32] But He
said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” [33] So the disciples
said to one another, “Has any one brought Him food?” [34] Jesus said to them,
“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. [35]
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you,
lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. [36] He
who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and
reaper may rejoice together. [37] For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and
another reaps.’ [38] I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others
have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

[39] Many Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of the woman’s tes-
timony, “He told me all that I ever did.” [40] So when the Samaritans came to
Him, they asked Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. [41] And
many more believed because of His word. [42] They said to the woman, “It is no
longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and
we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

4-5. There are two normal routes for going from Judea to Galilee. The shorter one
went through the city of Samaria; the other, which followed the Jordan, was lon-
ger. Jesus took the Samaria route, perhaps not just because it was shorter and
busier but also to have a chance of preaching to the Samaritans. When He was
approaching Samaria, near Sychar, the present-day El ‘Askar, at the foot of
Mount Ebal, He met this Samaritan woman.

6. The Gospels, particularly St. John’s, sometimes gives us a little bit of informa-
tion which seem irrelevant but really are not. Like us, Jesus did get tired, He nee-
ded to take regular rest, He felt hunger and thirst; but despite His tiredness He
does not waste an opportunity to do good to souls.

“Recollect yourselves and go over the scene again slowly in your minds. Jesus
Christ, “perfectus Deus, perfectus homo”, is tired out from His travels and His
apostolic work. Perhaps there have been times when the same thing has hap-
pened to you and you have ended up worn out, because you have reached the
limit of your resources. It is a touching sight to see our Master so exhausted.
He is hungry too: His disciples have gone to a neighboring village to look for
food. And He is thirsty [...].

“Whenever we get tired—in our work, in our studies, in our apostolic endeavors
— when our horizon is darkened by lowering clouds, then let us turn our eyes to
Jesus, to Jesus who is so good, and who also gets tired; to Jesus who is hungry
and suffers thirst. Lord, how well you make yourself understood! How lovable you
are! You show us that you are just like us, in everything but sin, so that we can
feel utterly sure that, together with you, we can conquer all our evil inclinations,
all our faults. For neither weariness nor hunger matters, nor thirst, nor tears ...
since Christ also grew weary, knew hunger, was thirsty, and wept. What is im-
portant is that we struggle to fulfill the will of our Heavenly Father, battling away
goodheartedly, for our Lord is always at our side” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of
God”, 176 and 201).

7. Jesus has come to save what was lost. He spares no effort in this mission.
The hostility between Jews and Samaritans was proverbial; but Jesus embraced
everyone, He loved all souls and He shed His blood for each and every person.
He begins His conversation with this woman, by asking a favor of her — which
indicates God’s great respect for us: here we have Almighty God asking a mere
creature to do Him a favor. “Give Me a drink”: Jesus makes this request not just
to share His physical thirst but because His love made Him thirst for the salvation
of all men. When nailed to the cross He again said: “I thirst” (John 19:28).

9. The Samaritan woman’s reply starts the dialogue and shows how well she is
responding to the action of grace in her soul: her readiness to talk to Christ, who
was a Jew, is the first stage in her change of heart. Later (verse 11), by taking a
real interest in what Christ is saying, she opens up further to God’s influence. Her
religious feelings begin to revive (”our father Jacob”: verse 12). Jesus rewards her
and she replies truthfully: “I have no husband” (verse 17, omitted); and, seeing
that Jesus has penetrated the intimacy of her conscience, she makes an act of
faith: “I perceive that You are a prophet” (verse 19).

10. As in His dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus makes use of common expres-
sions, to get across teachings of a much deeper nature. Everyone knows from
experience that water is absolutely necessary for human life; similarly, the grace
of Christ is absolutely necessary for supernatural life. The water which can truly
quench man’s thirst does not come from this or any other well: it is Christ’s
grace, the “living water” which provides eternal life.

Once again, taking occasion of human interests and preoccupations, Jesus
awakes a desire for things supernatural; in the same way as He led St. Peter and
others away from their work as fishermen to involve them in the apostolic work of
being fishers of men, He leads the Samaritan woman away from her chore of
drawing water from the well to the point where she desires to find this better water
which wells up to eternal life (verse 14).

13-14. Our Lord’s reply is surprising and really captures the woman’s attention.
Here is something greater than Jacob, someone offering her water that will quench
her thirst once and for all. Christ is referring to the change worked in every person
by sanctifying grace, a share in God’s own life, the presence of the Holy Spirit in
the soul, the great gift which those who believe in Him will receive.

We worry about the future, we are full of desires to be happy and at peace; a per-
son who receives our Lord and remains united to Him as a branch to the vine (cf.
John 15:4-5) will not only slake his thirst but become a well of living water (cf.
John 7:37-39).

16-19. Although the woman cannot yet realize the deep meaning of what He is
saying, Jesus uses her growing interest to reveal to her His divinity, little by little:
He shows that He knows about her life, the secrets of her heart; He can read her
conscience. In this way, He gives her enough to motivate her to make her first
act of faith: “I perceive that You are a prophet”. Her conversion has begun.

20. The origin of the Samaritan people goes back to the period of the conquest
of Samaria by the Assyrians in the eight century before Christ (cf. 2 Kings 13:
24-31). They were foreigners who very quickly integrated with the Israelites in the
region. After the Babylonian captivity they tried to ally themselves with the Jews
for political reasons and to contribute to the rebuilding of the temple, but the Jews
would have none of them. From that time onwards the Jews and the Samaritans
were always hostile to each other (cf. Ezra 4:1ff; John 4:9).

On this occasion, the Samaritan woman, now fully aware that she is speaking
to someone of authority, asks our Lord one of the key questions affecting the re-
ligious life of the two peoples: where was the right place to offer worship to God;
the Jews held that only Jerusalem would do; whereas the Samaritans claimed
that the shrine erected on Mount Gerizim was also legitimate (they based their
claim on some passages in the Pentateuch: cf. Genesis 12:7; 33:20; 22:2).

21-24. Jesus not only answers the question but takes advantage of it to confirm
the value of the teachings of the prophets and thereby reaffirm revealed truth: the
Samaritans are in the dark about many of God’s plans because they do not ac-
cept any revelation not found in the first five books of Sacred Scripture, that is,
in the Law of Moses; the Jews, on the other hand, are much nearer the truth be-
cause they accept the whole of the Old Testament. But both Samaritans and
Jews need to open themselves to the new Revelation of Jesus Christ. With the
coming of the Messiah, whom both peoples are awaiting, and who is the true
dwelling-place of God among men (cf. John 2:19), the new, definitive, Alliance
has begun; and neither Gerizim nor Jerusalem count any more; what the Father
wishes is for all to accept the Messiah, His Son, the new temple of God, by
offering Him a form of worship which comes right from the heart (cf. John 12:1;
2 Timothy 2:22) and which the Spirit of God Himself stirs people to render (cf.
Romans 8:15).

This is why the Church’s solemn Magisterium teaches that through Baptism we
become true worshippers of God: “By Baptism men are grafted into the paschal
mystery of Christ; they die with him, are buried with Him, and rise with Him. They
receive the spirit of adoption as sons ‘in which we cry, Abba, Father’ (Romans 8:
15) and thus become true adorers as the Father seeks” (Vatican II, “Sacrosanc-
tum Concilium”, 6).

25-26. This is the last stage in the Samaritan woman’s conversion: she has come
from acknowledging her sins to accepting the true teaching about worshipping the
Father in spirit and truth. But she still has to recognize Jesus as the Messiah; on
this subject she simply confesses her ignorance. Seeing that she is favorably dis-
posed, Jesus explicitly reveals that He is the Messiah: “I who speak to you am
He”.

These words of our Lord are especially significant: He declares that He is the
Messiah, and He uses words—’I...am He”—which evoke the words Yahweh used
to reveal Himself to Moses (cf. Exodus 3:14) and which on Jesus’ lips indicate a
revelation not only of His messiahship but also of His divinity (cf. John 8:24, 28,
58; 18:6).

27. “During the course of His life on earth, Jesus our Lord had all manner of insults
heaped upon Him and was mistreated in every way possible. Remember the way
it was rumored that He was a trouble-maker and how He was said to possessed
(cf. Matthew 11:18). At other times, demonstrations of His infinite Love were deli-
berately misinterpreted, and He was accused of being a friend of sinners (cf. Mat-
thew 9:11).

“Later on He, who personified penance and moderation, was accused of haunting
the tables of the rich (cf. Luke 19:7). He was also contemptuously referred to as
“fabri filius” (Matthew 13:55), the carpenter’s son, the worker’s son, as if this were
an insult. He allowed Himself to be denounced as a glutton and a drunkard....He
let His enemies accuse Him of everything, except that He was not chaste. On
this point He sealed their lips, because He wanted us to keep a vivid memory of
His immaculate example—a wonderful example of purity, of cleanliness, of light,
of a love that can set the whole world on fire in order to purify it.

“For myself, I always like to consider holy purity in the light of our Lord’s own be-
havior. In practicing this virtue, what refinement He showed! See what St. John
says about Jesus when “fatigatus ex itinere, sedebat sic super fontem” (John 4:
6), wearied as He was from the journey, He was sitting by the well. [...]

“But tired though His body is, His thirst for souls is even greater. So when the
Samaritan woman, the sinner, arrives, Christ with His priestly heart turns eagerly
to save the lost sheep, and He forgets His tiredness, His hunger and His thirst.

Our Lord was busy with this great work of charity the Apostles came back from
the village, and they “mirabantur quia cum muliere loquebatur” (John 4:27), they
were astonished to find Him takking to a woman, alone. How careful He was!
What love He had for the beautiful virtue of holy purity, that virtue which helps us
to be stronger, more manly, more fruitful, better able to work for God, and more
capable of undertaking great things!” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 176).

28-30. Grace brings about an amazing change in this woman. Now her whole thin-
king centers around Jesus; she forgets what brought her to the well; she leaves
her pitcher behind her and goes off to the town to tell people about her discovery.
“The Apostles, when they were called, left their nets; this woman leaves her wa-
ter jar and proclaims the Gospel, calling not just one person but influencing the
whole city” (St. John Chrysostom, “Hom. on St. John”, 33). Every genuine con-
version is necessarily projected towards others, in a desire to have them share
in the joy of encountering Jesus.

32-38. Our Lord uses the occasion to speak about a spiritual form of food—doing
the will of God. He has just brought about the conversion of a sinful woman and
His spirit feels replete. The conversion of souls must be the Apostles’ food also,
and the food of all those who through priestly ordination are sacramentally asso-
ciated with Christ’s ministry (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9-15; 2 Corinthians 4:7-12; 11:
27-29). Apostolic work sometimes means sowing, with no apparent results, and
sometimes reaping where others sowed. The Apostles will reap what was gene-
rously sown by the patriarchs and prophets and especially by Christ. And they
in their turn must prepare the ground, with the same generosity, so that others
can later reap the harvest.

But it is not only ministers who have this apostolic role: all the faithful are called
to take part in the work of apostolate: “Since all Christians have different gifts they
should collaborate in the work of the Gospel, each according to his opportunity,
ability, charism and ministry; all who sow and reap, plant and water, should be
one so that ‘working together for the same end in a free and orderly manner’ they
might together devote their powers to the building up of the Church (Vatican II,
“Ad Gentes”, 28).

39-42. This episode shows a whole evangelization process at work, beginning
with the Samaritan woman’s enthusiasm. ‘The same thing happens today with
those who are outside, who are not Christians: they receive tidings of Christ
through Christian friends; like that woman, they learn of Christ through the
Church; then they come to Christ, that is, they believe in Christ through this re-
port, and then Jesus stays two days among them and many more believe, and
believe more firmly, that He indeed is the Savior of the world” (St. Augustine,
“In Ioann. Evang.”, 15, 33).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

Exodus 17:3-7 ©

Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses. ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt?’ they said. ‘Was it so that I should die of thirst, my children too, and my cattle?’

Moses appealed to the Lord. ‘How am I to deal with this people?” he said. ‘A little more and they will stone me!’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take with you some of the elders of Israel and move on to the forefront of the people; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the river, and go. I shall be standing before you there on the rock, at Horeb. You must strike the rock, and water will flow from it for the people to drink.’ This is what Moses did, in the sight of the elders of Israel. The place was named Massah and Meribah because of the grumbling of the sons of Israel and because they put the Lord to the test by saying, ‘Is the Lord with us, or not?’

Psalm

Psalm 94:1-2,6-9 ©

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;

hail the rock who saves us.

Let us come before him, giving thanks,

with songs let us hail the Lord.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come in; let us bow and bend low;

let us kneel before the God who made us:

for he is our God and we

the people who belong to his pasture,

the flock that is led by his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

O that today you would listen to his voice!

‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

as on that day at Massah in the desert

when your fathers put me to the test;

when they tried me, though they saw my work.’

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Second reading

Romans 5:1-2,5-8 ©

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. And this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us. We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful men. It is not easy to die even for a good man – though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die – but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn4:42,15

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Lord, you are really the saviour of the world:

give me the living water, so that I may never get thirsty.

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

EITHER:

Gospel

John 4:5-42 ©

Jesus came to the Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat straight down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman 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, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ – Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus replied:

‘If you only knew what God is offering

and who it is that is saying to you:

Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask,

and he would have given you living water.’

‘You have no bucket, sir,’ she answered ‘and the well is deep: how could you get this living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?’ Jesus replied:

‘Whoever drinks this water

will get thirsty again;

but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give

will never be thirsty again:

the water that I shall give

will turn into a spring inside him,

welling up to eternal life.’

‘Sir,’ said the woman ‘give me some of that water, so that I may never get thirsty and never have to come here again to draw water.’ ‘Go and call your husband’ said Jesus to her ‘and come back here.’ The woman answered, ‘I have no husband.’ He said to her, ‘You are right to say, “I have no husband”; for although you have had five, the one you have now is not your husband. You spoke the truth there.’ ‘I see you are a prophet, sir’ said the woman. ‘Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said:

‘Believe me, woman,

the hour is coming

when you will worship the Father

neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You worship what you do not know;

we worship what we do know:

for salvation comes from the Jews.

But the hour will come

– in fact it is here already –

when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth:

that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants.

God is spirit,

and those who worship

must worship in spirit and truth.’

The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah – that is, Christ – is coming; and when he comes he will tell us everything.’ ‘I who am speaking to you,’ said Jesus ‘I am he.’

At this point his disciples returned, and were surprised to find him speaking to a woman, though none of them asked, ‘What do you want from her?’ or, ‘Why are you talking to her?’ The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people. ‘Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did; I wonder if he is the Christ?’ This brought people out of the town and they started walking towards him.

Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, do have something to eat; but he said, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples asked one another, ‘Has someone been bringing him food?’ But Jesus said:

‘My food is to do the will of the one who sent me,

and to complete his work.

Have you not got a saying:

Four months and then the harvest?

Well, I tell you:

Look around you, look at the fields;

already they are white, ready for harvest!

Already the reaper is being paid his wages,

already he is bringing in the grain for eternal life,

and thus sower and reaper rejoice together.

For here the proverb holds good:

one sows, another reaps;

I sent you to reap a harvest you had not worked for.

Others worked for it;

and you have come into the rewards of their trouble.’

Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him on the strength of the woman’s testimony when she said, ‘He told me all I have ever done’, so, when the Samaritans came up to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed for two days, and when he spoke to them many more came to believe; and they said to the woman, ‘Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world.’

OR:

Alternative Gospel

John 4:5-16,19-26,39-42 ©

Jesus came to the Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat straight down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman 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, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ – Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus replied:

‘If you only knew what God is offering

and who it is that is saying to you:

Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask,

and he would have given you living water.’

‘You have no bucket, sir,’ she answered ‘and the well is deep: how could you get this living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?’ Jesus replied:

‘Whoever drinks this water

will get thirsty again;

but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give

will never be thirsty again:

the water that I shall give

will turn into a spring inside him,

welling up to eternal life.’

‘Sir,’ said the woman ‘give me some of that water, so that I may never get thirsty and never have to come here again to draw water. I see you are a prophet, sir. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’

Jesus said:

‘Believe me, woman,

the hour is coming

when you will worship the Father

neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You worship what you do not know;

we worship what we do know:

for salvation comes from the Jews.

But the hour will come

– in fact it is here already –

when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth:

that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants.

God is spirit,

and those who worship

must worship in spirit and truth.’

The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah – that is, Christ – is coming; and when he comes he will tell us everything.’ ‘I who am speaking to you,’ said Jesus ‘I am he.’

Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him on the strength of the woman’s testimony when she said, ‘He told me all I have ever done’, so, when the Samaritans came up to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed for two days, and when he spoke to them many more came to believe; and they said to the woman, ‘Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world.’

Every Round Goes Higher, Higher! – A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent A Lenten Meditation on the Cross as a Place of Love, even joy
Ten Tips for the Best Lent [Catholic Caucus]
Lenten Station Churches of Rome - Ash Wednesday - Santa Sabina (LIVE coverage 10:30 am)

EWTN adds Lenten scripture challenge to app
Make Your Lent Beautiful with Lent at Ephesus
Ancient Lenten pilgrimage comes to life through new book
Detox Your Soul This Lent
Lent is coming: Time to prepare Printable Lent Worksheet
Cdl. Bergoglio's Lenten Letter, 2013
Your Guide To A Catholic Lent
Following the Truth: Lent: Becoming Uncomfortable About Being Comfortable [Catholic and Open]
Following the Truth: Spiritual Exercises – Week One [of Lent] In Review
Clerical Narcissism and Lent
Content of Pope's Lenten spiritual exercises revealed
How Lent Can Make a Difference in Your Relationship with God (Ecumenical Thread)
A Call from the FSSP French District: offer up your Lent for Catholic Unity [Catholic Caucus]
A Call from the FSSP French District: offer up your Lent for Catholic Unity [Catholic Caucus]
On the 40 Days of Lent
Christians Tailor Lent Outside Catholic Traditions
Christians Tailor Lent Outside Catholic Traditions
Lent, A Time to Shoulder Our Christian Responsibilities
Consecrate this Lent to Jesus through Mary, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity [Catholic Caucus]
Opinion: Lent for Redacted [Ekoomenikal]

Ash (or Clean) Monday - Lent Begins (for some Catholics) - February 20, 2012
[Why I Am Catholic]: Lent And Holy Week (A Primer) [Catholic Caucus]
Lent, A Time to Give from the Heart [Catholic caucus}
Learning the beatitudes during Lent -- use your Rosary to learn the Beatitutdes [Catholic Caucus]
Lenten Ember Days: March 16th, 18th, and 19th, 2011 (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
St. Vincent Ferrer - Sermon for the First Sunday of Lent [Ecumenical]
Pope describes ‘Lenten road’ that leads to renewal
St. Andrew of Crete, Great Canon of Repentance - Tuesday's portion (Orthodox/Latin Caucus)
The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete (Monday's portion) [Orth/Cath Caucus]
Penance and Reparation: A Lenten Meditation(Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
For Lent - Top 10 Bible Verses on Penance
Cana Sunday: Entrance into Great Lent
2011 Catechetical Homily on the opening of Holy and Great Lent
8 Ways to Pray During Lent [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Baptists, Lent, and the Rummage Sale
So What Shall We Do during These Forty Days of Lent? [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Lenten Traditions (Catholic Caucus)
Are You Scrupulous? A Lenten Homily by John Cardinal O’Connor
Blow the Trumpet! Call the Assembly! The Blessings of Fasting
Lenten Challenges

Lent and the Catholic Business Professional (Interview)
Temptations Correspond to Our Vulnerabilities: Biblical Reflection for 1st Sunday of Lent
A Lenten “Weight” Loss Program
On the Lenten Season
Lent 2010: Pierce Thou My Heart, Love Crucified [Catholic Caucus]
US seminarians begin Lenten pilgrimage to Rome's ancient churches
Conversion "is going against the current" of an "illusory way of life"[Pope Benedict XVI for Lent]
vanity] Hope you all make a good Lent [Catholic Caucus]
Lent -- Easter 2010, Reflections, Prayer, Actions Day by Day
Stational Churches (Virtually visit one each day and pray)
40 Ways to Get the Most Out of Lent!
What to Give Up (for Lent)? The List
On the Spiritual Advantages of Fasting [Pope Clement XIII]
Christ's temptation and ours (Reflection for the First Sunday of Lent)
Pope Benedict XVI Message for Lent 2010 (Feb 15 = Ash Monday & Feb 17 = Ash Wednesday)
Whatever happened to (Lenten) obligations? [Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving]Archbishop John Vlazny
Vatican Presents Lenten Website: LENT 2009
A Scriptural Way of the Cross with Meditations by Saint Alphonsus Liguori (Lenten Prayer/Devotional)
Prayer, Fasting and Mercy by St. Peter Chrysologus, Early Church Father [Catholic Caucus]
History of Lent (Did the Church always have this time before Easter?)

Beginning of Lent
Lent (Catholic Encyclopedia - Caucus Thread)
At Lent, let us pray for the Pope (converts ask us to pray for the pope)
Daily Lenten Reflections 2009
LENTEN STATIONS [Stational Churches for Lent] (Catholic Caucus)
40 Days for Life campaign is now under way (February 25 - April 5]
This Lent, live as if Jesus Christ is indeed Lord of your life
Reconciliation, forgiveness, hope – and Lent
Intro to Fast and Abstinence 101
Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself (with Scriptural references)
40 Ways to Improve Your Lent
Everything Lent (Lots of links)
The Best Kind of Fasting
Getting Serious About Lent
Lent Overview
Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ [Devotional]
On Lent... and Lourdes (Benedict XVI's Angelus address)
Lent for Newbies
Lent -- 2008 -- Come and Pray Each Day
Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself

Lenten Workshop [lots of ideas for all]
Lent and Reality
Forty Days (of Lent) [Devotional/Reflections]
Pope Benedict takes his own advice, plans to go on retreat for Lent
GUIDE FOR LENT - What the Catholic Church Says
Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2008
40 Days for Life: 2008 Campaigns [Lent Registration this week]
Vatican Web Site Focuses on Lent
Almsgiving [Lent]
Conversion Through Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving [Lent]
Lenten Stations -- Stational Churches - visit each with us during Lent {Catholic Caucus}
Something New for Lent: Part I -- Holy Souls Saturdays
Reflections for Lent (February, March and April, 2007)
Lent 2007: The Love Letter Written by Pope Benedict
Pre-Lent through Easter Prayer and Reflections -- 2007
Stations of the Cross [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
For study and reflection during Lent - Mind, Heart, Soul [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Fast-Family observance Lenten season [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Pre-Lenten Days -- Family activities-Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
40 Ways to Get the Most Out of Lent! [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

Lenten Fasting or Feasting? [Catholic Caucus]
Pope's Message for Lent-2007
THE TRUE NATURE OF FASTING (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
The Triduum and 40 Days
The Three Practices of Lent: Praying, Fasting. Almsgiving
Why We Need Lent
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2006
Lent a Time for Renewal, Says Benedict XVI
Why You Should Celebrate Lent
Getting the Most Out of Lent
Lent: A Time to Fast >From Media and Criticism Says President of Pontifical Liturgical Institute
Give it up (making a Lenten sacrifice)
The History of Lent
The Holy Season of Lent -- Fast and Abstinence
The Holy Season of Lent -- The Stations of the Cross
Lent and Fasting
Mardi Gras' Catholic Roots [Shrove Tuesday]
Kids and Holiness: Making Lent Meaningful to Children
Ash Wednesday
All About Lent

40 Days for Life -- March 3 through April 13 -- Pray to End Abortion

Perpetual Novena for the Nation (Ecumenical)

Prayers for The Religion Forum (Ecumenical)

Jesus, High Priest

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

The 1961 Missal says to use the Sorrowful Mysteries from Ash Wednesday to Easter.

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

Pray the Rosary

1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. The Apostles Creed: II BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.

End with the Hail Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Final step -- The Sign of the Cross

The Mysteries of the Rosary

By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Sorrowful Mysteries
(Tuesdays and Fridays)
1. The Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46) [Spiritual fruit - God's will be done]
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1) [Spiritual fruit - Mortification of the senses]
3. The Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:27-30, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:2) [Spiritual fruit - Reign of Christ in our heart]
4. The Carrying of the Cross (Matthew 27:31-32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26-32, John 19:17) [Spiritual fruit - Patient bearing of trials]
5. The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-39, Luke 23:33-49, John 19:17-37) [Spiritual fruit - Pardoning of Injuries]

~ PRAYER ~

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+

A Prayer for our Free Nation Under God
God Save Our Country web site (prayer warriors)
Prayer Chain Request for the United States of America
Pray for Nancy Pelosi
Prayer and fasting will help defeat health care reform (Freeper Prayer Thread)
Prayer Campaign Started to Convert Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians to Pro-Life
[Catholic Caucus] One Million Rosaries
Non-stop Rosary vigil to defeat ObamaCare

From an Obama bumper sticker on a car:

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8"

PLEASE JOIN US -

Evening Prayer
Someone has said that if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.
Did you know that during WWII there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace?

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (7:00 PM Mountain) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Please forward this to your praying friends.

March Devotion: Saint Joseph

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. Due to the solemnity of Saint Joseph on March 19, this month is devoted to this great saint, the foster father of Christ. "It greatly behooves Christians, while honoring the Virgin Mother of God, constantly to invoke with deep piety and confidence her most chaste spouse, Saint Joseph. We have a well grounded conviction that such is the special desire of the Blessed Virgin herself." --Pope Leo XIII

FOR OUR WORK
Glorious Saint Joseph, pattern of all who are devoted to toil, obtain for me the grace to toil in the spirit of penance, in order thereby to atone for my many sins; to toil conscientiously, putting devotion to duty before my own inclinations; to labor with thankfulness and joy, deeming it an honor to employ and to develop, by my labor, the gifts I have received from Almighty God; to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties; to work above all with a pure intention and with detachment from self, having always before my eyes the hour of death and the accounting which I must then render of time ill-spent, of talents unemployed, of good undone, and of my empty pride in success, which is so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all in imitation of thee, 0 Patriarch Joseph! This shall be my motto in life and in death. Amen.

FOR THE INTERCESSION OF SAINT JOSEPH
O Joseph, virgin-father of Jesus, most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray every day for us to the same Jesus, the Son of God, that we, being defended by the power of His grace and striving dutifully in life, may be crowned by Him at the hour of death.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

St. Joseph
St. Joseph was an ordinary manual laborer although descended from the royal house of David. In the designs of Providence he was destined to become the spouse of the Mother of God. His high privilege is expressed in a single phrase, "Foster-father of Jesus." About him Sacred Scripture has little more to say than that he was a just man-an expression which indicates how faithfully he fulfilled his high trust of protecting and guarding God's greatest treasures upon earth, Jesus and Mary.

The darkest hours of his life may well have been those when he first learned of Mary's pregnancy; but precisely in this time of trial Joseph showed himself great. His suffering, which likewise formed a part of the work of the redemption, was not without great providential import: Joseph was to be, for all times, the trustworthy witness of the Messiah's virgin birth. After this, he modestly retires into the background of holy Scripture.

Of St. Joseph's death the Bible tells us nothing. There are indications, however, that he died before the beginning of Christ's public life. His was the most beautiful death that one could have, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Humbly and unknown, he passed his years at Nazareth, silent and almost forgotten he remained in the background through centuries of Church history. Only in more recent times has he been accorded greater honor. Liturgical veneration of St. Joseph began in the fifteenth century, fostered by Sts. Brigid of Sweden and Bernadine of Siena. St. Teresa, too, did much to further his cult.

At present there are two major feasts in his honor. On March 19 our veneration is directed to him personally and to his part in the work of redemption, while on May 1 we honor him as the patron of workmen throughout the world and as our guide in the difficult matter of establishing equitable norms regarding obligations and rights in the social order.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.

St. Joseph is invoked as patron for many causes. He is the patron of the Universal Church. He is the patron of the dying because Jesus and Mary were at his death-bed. He is also the patron of fathers, of carpenters, and of social justice. Many religious orders and communities are placed under his patronage.

Patron: Against doubt; against hesitation; Americas; Austria; Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; California; Belgium; Bohemia; bursars; cabinetmakers; Canada; Carinthia; carpenters; China; Church; confectioners; craftsmen; Croatian people (in 1687 by decree of the Croatian parliament) dying people; emigrants; engineers; expectant mothers; families; fathers; Florence, Italy; happy death; holy death; house hunters; immigrants; interior souls; Korea; laborers; Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin; Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky; Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire; Mexico; Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee; New France; New World; Oblates of Saint Joseph; people in doubt; people who fight Communism; Peru; pioneers; pregnant women; protection of the Church; Diocese of San Jose, California; diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; social justice; Styria, Austria; travelers; Turin Italy; Tyrol Austria; unborn children Universal Church; Vatican II; Viet Nam; Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston West Virginia; wheelwrights; workers; working people.

Symbols: Bible; branch; capenter's square; carpenter's tools; chalice; cross; hand tools; infant Jesus; ladder; lamb; lily; monstrance; old man holding a lily and a carpenter's tool such as a square; old man holding the infant Jesus; plane; rod.

Prayer to St. Joseph

Pope Pius X composed this prayer to St. Joseph, patron of working people, that expresses concisely the Christian attitude toward labor. It summarizes also for us the lessons of the Holy Family's work at Nazareth.

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who devote their lives to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in order thereby to atone for my many sins; to work conscientiously, setting devotion to duty in preference to my own whims; to work with thankfulness and joy, deeming it an honor to employ and to develop by my labor the gifts I have received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties; to work above all with a pure intention and with detachment from self, having always before my eyes the hour of death and the accounting which I must then render of time ill spent, of talents wasted, of good omitted, and of vain complacency in success, which is so fatal to the work of God.

All for Jesus, all through Mary, all in imitation of you, O Patriarch Joseph! This shall be my motto in life and in death, Amen.

Litany of Saint Joseph
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Joseph, pray for us.
Illustrious Son of David, pray for us.
Light of the Patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Chaste Guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster-Father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Faithful Protector of Christ, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph most just, pray for us.
Joseph most chaste, pray for us.
Joseph most prudent, pray for us.
Joseph most courageous, pray for us.
Joseph most obedient, pray for us.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.
Mirror of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of working men, pray for us.
Ornament of the domestic life, pray for us.
Guardian of virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of the family, pray for us.
Consoler of the miserable, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of demons, pray for us.
Protector of the Holy Church, pray for us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.
V. He hath made him master of His house.
R. And ruler of all His possessions.

Let us pray.
O God, who in Thy ineffable providence didst vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the Spouse of Thy most holy Mother: grant, we beseech Thee, that we may have him for our intercessor in Heaven, whom on earth we venerate as out most holy Protector. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

Was St. Joseph a tzadik?
St. Joseph: Patron saint of three Popes [Catholic Caucus]
St. Joseph and the Staircase
St. Joseph, Foster Father, Novena [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Patron of a “Happy Death” A Special Role for St. Joseph [Catholic/Orhtodox Caucus]
Lists Every Catholic Should be Familiar With: The 7 Sorrows and 7 Joys of St. Joseph
Catholic Group Blasts Pelosi For Invoking St. Joseph on Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
THE SEVEN SORROWS AND SEVEN JOYS OF ST. JOSEPH
Joseph, Mary and Jesus: A Model Family
Season of Announcement - Revelation to Joseph

In hard times, don't forget about the humble carpenter Joseph
Saint Joseph: Complete submission to the will of God (Pope Benedict XVI) (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
St. Joseph as Head of the Holy Family (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
St. Joseph, Patron of a Peaceful Death [Catholic Caucus]
Octave: St. Joseph, A 'Man’s Man', Calling Men to Jesus
St. Teresa de Avila's Devotion to St. Joseph (Catholic Caucus)
Catholic Men's National Day of Prayer, MARCH 15, 2008, The Solemnity of St. Joseph (Catholic Caucus)
The Role and Responsibility of Fatherhood - St. Joseph as Model
St. Joseph - Foster Father of Jesus
Some divine intervention in real estate-[Bury St. Joseph Statues in Ground]

Many Turn To Higher Power For Home Sales
St. Joseph the Worker, Memorial, May 1
Catholic Devotions: St. Joseph the Worker
Nothing Will Be Denied Him (St. Joseph)
The Heart of a Father [St. Joseph]
St. Joseph's DAY
Quemadmodum Deus - Decree Under Blessed Pius IX, Making St. Joseph Patron of the Church
Father & Child (Preaching on St. Joseph)
March 19 - Feast of St. Joseph - Husband of Mary - Intercessor of civil leaders
St. Joseph's Spirit of Silence

St. Joseph's Humility (By St. Francis de Sales)
St. Joseph [Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary], Solemnity, March 19
St Joseph’s Paternal Love
The Heart of St. Joseph
MORE THAN PATRON OF HOMES, IT'S TIME FOR ST. JOSEPH TO GAIN HIGHEST OF RECOGNITION [Fatherhood]
The Importance of Devotion to St. Joseph
St. Francis de Sales on St. Joseph (Some Excerpts for St. Joseph's Day 2004)
St. Joseph: REDEMPTORIS CUSTOS (Guardian Of The Redeemer)
(Saint) Joseph the Patriarch: A Reflection on the Solemnity of St. Joseph
How I Rediscovered a "Neglected" Saint: Work of Art Inspires Young Man to Rediscover St. Joseph

Novena to Saint Joseph

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath, Amen.

O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. O Saint Joseph, pray for me. (mention your intention)

St. Joseph Novena

O good father Joseph! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows and joys, to obtain for me what I ask.

(Here name your petition).

Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers, everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Be near to me in my last moments, that I may eternally sing the praises of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Amen.

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be)

Daily Gospel Commentary

Third Sunday of Lent - Year A

Commentary of the day
Saint Maximus of Turin (?-c.420), Bishop
CC Sermon 22 ; PL 57, 477

"The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said: ' Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah? ' "

“Water quenches a flaming fire and alms atone for sin” (Sir 3,29): water is compared to mercy. But just as water flows from a source, so must I search for the source of mercy. And I have found it in the prophet: “With you is the source of life and in your light we see light” (Ps 35[36],10).

It is indeed he who in the Gospel asks for water from the Samaritan woman... Our Savior asks the woman for water and pretends to be thirsty so he can pass on eternal grace to the thirsty. For indeed, the source cannot be thirsty and he in whom living water is to be found cannot drink the polluted water of this earth. Was Christ thirsty? Indeed he was thirsty but not for our drink but for our salvation. He was thirsty, not for earth's water but for the redemption of humankind.

Christ the source, seated at the well, miraculously causes the waters of mercy to spring up from that same location. A woman who has already had six lovers is purified by the waves of living water. Oh what a wonder! A loose woman who has come to the well of Samaria returns chaste from Jesus' source! Having come in search of water, she departs with virtue. She immediately confesses to the sins to which Jesus alludes, she recognizes the Christ and proclaims the Savior. She leaves her water jar behind and... in its place brings grace back with her to the village; relieved of her burden, she returns laden with holiness... She who came a sinner returns a prophetess.

Zenit.org/Lectio Divina

Lent: the Meeting of Two Thirsts

Lectio Divina: 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A

Paris, March 21, 2014 (Zenit.org) Monsignor Francesco Follo | 439 hits

1) A poor one who asks to donate.

In his exodus Jesus passes through Samaria and stops at Jacob's well near the town of Sychar. He sits on the wall that surrounds the well because he is thirsty and tired of walking, but he is poor and has no means to draw water. He waits for someone who can draw water for him and quench his thirst, but his humble request is a "pretext” to give himself.

Christ is so thirsty for us that he does not hesitate to ask for water for his body to be able to offer himself as the source of the water that quenches the thirst forever, because he knows that those who go to the well to fetch water are thirsty for another water, even if they think they do not need it.

Christ is thirsty, but his is not just a physical thirst, it is a spiritual thirst for us, represented by the Samaritan woman. Jesus becomes the Good Samaritan for the Samaritan woman and by offering the water that quenches even the heart, invites her to repentance.

What does “conversion” mean? It is not only an act of the will, but is a response to God's Love that has made its way into our often complicated, confusing or disorderly way of living that makes us hungry for everything. Let’s ask Christ to pour true love in our hearts so to have a constant desire for Him. Then the desert of life will bloom, and we will be in his loving and steadfast hands forever.

The journey to conversion that the heart of the woman of Samaria makes is not without resistance. The search for God in the human being is always in danger of closing in on itself and is always threatened. John the Evangelist lays bare the roots of this closure pointing out that, at the beginning, the Samaritan woman does not understand. In fact, when man abandons himself to his instinct and reactivity, he is no longer capable of understanding the word of God, or correctly interpreting his own expectations. The heart is thirsty and like a deer longs for water, but looks in the wrong direction with pretensions and prejudices. The woman understands something of the gift of which Christ speaks about (the water), but she plays it on the tape of her concerns, "Sir” said the woman “[1] give me this water so, that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw". The temptation of those who seek God is always to lock up the gift of God within their expectations. But God doesn’t allow himself to be locked up in man's expectations: he expands them. The woman tries to situate Jesus in the traditional religious categories, but Jesus does not hesitate to show their inadequacies. Twice - about the gift of water and the place of worship - the woman evokes the grandeur of the patriarchs[2] and of the past. Her search is shut in the past. Jesus forces her to look to the future and to realize that in the world the novelty has arrived and renews the problem from the ground up. The news is not in something that quenches the thirsty body, but in One who quenches the heart by filling it.

Saint Paul had already understood that Jesus is “the water that quenches thirst," when he said "And the Rock was Christ "[3], in reference to the text of today's first reading. At times we may feel challenged by the dryness of thirst, but Jesus will always be near with the living water of His love.

The water that is Christ Himself, not only quenches thirst, but purifies and gives life. In fact, from the side of Christ flowed water and blood, the symbols of the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. But it is not enough to be quenched, purified and revived by the Water of Christ. This water is not just for us, it is for everyone.

The Samaritan woman understood. She left Jesus for a few minutes and went into the city, becoming a "missionary" to her fellow citizens. The entire humanity needs to be quenched and washed with this water of Christ. The first person who does it is the woman that, having arrived to the point where Jesus wanted to lead her, leaves her previous concerns and runs into the city (cf. Jn 4:28 ). Her encounter with Christ becomes communal and her journey becomes missionary.

This research and this meeting of the woman of Samaria and of her fellow citizens are of course a picture of the journey of each man toward God

2 ) The thirst of Jesus the Teacher.

The Gospel speaks of an unusual "school” environment, a well, and of an unexpected teacher, God. A Teacher who chooses a wall as a pulpit to teach, not from above but at heart’s high, and a woman as listener. Of this fact the disciples were astonished because the listener was a Samaritan[4] and because she was a woman, not knowing yet that the Church of Christ would place a woman as a mediator between the children and the Son, Our Lady who gathered around her, unique one of all women, the two supreme perfections of womanhood, the Virgin and the Mother, and who suffered for us from the night of the birth to the one of the death of Jesus, our brother.

A Teacher, who to draw the truth from his heart, asks for a drink. Only twice in the Gospel it is said that Jesus was thirsty: in this encounter with the Samaritan woman and on the Cross. And on the Cross He keeps saying "I am thirsty", addressing each one of us, because he is thirsty for each one of us and tells us: "I know your heart, your loneliness and your pain, reactions, judgments and humiliation. I have endured all this before you. I carried it all on Me for you so that you can also share My strength and victory. I know especially your need for love and the need to drink from the fountain of love and consolation. How many times your thirst was in vain, quenching your thirst in a selfish way, filling your thirst of illusory pleasures, that is the greater emptiness of sin? Do you thirst for love? "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink” (John 7:37). I will give to drink to fullness. Do you thirst to be loved? I love you more than you can imagine, to the point of dying on the cross for you.  I'm thirsty for your love. Yes, this is the only way to tell My love: I THIRST FOR YOU. I thirst to love and be loved. To show you how precious you are to Me! I THIRST FOR YOU. Never doubt of My grace, my desire to forgive, to bless and to live my life in you. I THIRST FOR YOU. Open to me, come to me, be thirsty for me, and offer me your life. And I’ll show how much you are dear to My heart."[5] Jesus Christ, the Son of God thirsts for our thirst (cf. St. Gregory of Nazianzus), has desire of our desire. He needs us, he is thirsty for siblings.

Our question is the response to the thirst of Christ. It is not so paradoxical to say that our prayer of petition is a response. It is a given fact. With the power of love we are called to respond to the plea of the living God. "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to dig cisterns, broken cisterns,[6]" It is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation[7] , loving response to the thirst of the only Son[8].

To all it is renew the invitation of God “All you who are thirsty come to the water! You who have no money come, buy grain and eat; come buy grain without money, wine and milk without cost!”[9] "Let the one who is thirsty come forward and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water "[10] It is a clear call of Jesus Christ to all men. It is an encouragement to "drink" from the eternal source, the only one who quenches the thirst of the heart and mind and heals the soul and the body, the only one who gives salvation, the only one who gives happiness that lasts forever.

But let’s keep in mind that this water also comes from those who believed in Him as Savior, who, like earthen vessels, are called to be filled with the Water of Life[11] , and humbly share it.

The Consecrated Virgins are called to live this sharing through the consecration and the total donation to God that they carry as sacred vessels, as fragile as the clay but strengthened by His grace from which they draw the love that God has poured into them.

The Consecrated Virgins, then, with their dedication to constant prayer testify that prayer and genuine spiritual life are similar to the primary instinctive drive of thirst that is a primary and elementary need. It is a necessity almost “animalistic”, similar to that depicted by the prophet Jeremiah in the thirst of wild donkeys, which during the drought “stop on the bare heights gasping for breath like jackals. Their eyes grow dim, because there is no grass.[12] But by living prayer and life as a response to the thirst for God allows them and us to pray: "For your love is better than life, my lips shell ever praise you![13]" These women testify to having learned the lesson of Jesus to the Samaritan woman. They do not seek God on the mountain of Samaria, nor of Zion. They seek and find Him in their hearts, wells from which flows water of eternal life.

With their lives these women say, like Abraham[14] , "I trust you, I trust in You, Lord." They remind us that to believe in God means to base our life on Him and to let His Word direct it daily, in the concrete choices, without fear of losing something of ourselves and without hesitation to consecrate completely ourselves to God .

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Roman Rite - Third Sunday of Lent - Year A - March 23, 2014

Ex 17:3 - 7; Ps 95; Rom 5, 1-2.5-8; Jn 4:5-42

The thirst of Jesus and the one of the Samaritan woman.

Ambrosian Rite - Third Sunday of Lent

Ex 34:1-10; Ps 105 Gal 3:3- 14; Jn 8:31 - 59

Abraham’s Sunday.

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[1] Jn 4:15

[2] Jn 4:12-24

[3] 1 Cor 10:4

[4] We must not forget that between Jews and Samaritans, there was bad blood since the latter had formed an independent kingdom and cult. They were schismatic, and moreover mixed with foreign settlers (Assyrian) practicing pagan cults. Their relationships were marked with hostility, the personal ones were condemned and they avoided crossing the region, located between Judea and Galilee, following a path much longer, just to prevent meeting them. The Samaritans opposed to the Temple in Jerusalem theirs on Mount Gerizim. It is clear that for the Jews this was a very serious matter, because they considered essential to the uniqueness of the Temple, the place of Yahweh's presence among the people.

Prayer of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who wanted next to the crucifix behind the altar of the chapel each of the Houses of her Sisters there is written "I THIRST" = I'm thirsty. It may be helpful to consult http://www.motherteresa.org.

[5] Prayer of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who wanted that next to the crucifix behind the altar of the chapel in each of the Houses of her Sisters is written "I THIRST". It may be helpful to consult http://www.motherteresa.org.

[6] Jer 2:13

[7] Cfr Jn7:37-39; Is12:3;51:1

[8] Cfr Jn 19:28;Zc 12:10;13:1

[9] Is 55:1

[10] Rev 22:17

[11] Jn 38-39

[12] Jer 14:6

[13] Ps 63:4

[14]To this Patriarch is "dedicated" the second Sunday of Lent in the Ambrosian Rite. Abraham, the believer, teaches us faith, and, as a stranger on earth, shows us the true homeland. Faith makes us pilgrims on earth integrated into the world and in history but on the way to the heavenly homeland. Believing in God makes us bearers of values that often do not coincide with the fashion and opinion of the moment. In many societies God has become the ' great missing ' and in His place there are many idols, various idols and especially ownership and the '' I ' self. Also the significant and positive progress of science and technology has given to humans an illusion of omnipotence and self-sufficiency. A growing self-centeredness has created many imbalances within interpersonal relationships and social behaviors. Yet the thirst for God has not extinguished and the Gospel message continues to resonate through the words and deeds of many men and women of faith.

Arlington Catholic Herald

GOSPEL COMMENTARY JN 4:5-42

Thirst

Fr. Robert Wagner

Two strangers meet at an ancient well outside of a Samaritan town. One is a Samaritan woman, coming to draw water. The other is Jesus Christ, in His humanity weary from traveling. He is waiting at the well while His disciples are getting food in town. It is noon and the sun is at its peak. Most townspeople are looking for shade, so Jesus and the woman likely are alone at the well.

And in the heat of the day, they share a common desire: They thirst.

Jesus asks the woman for a drink, and she is taken aback. It is not customary for Jews to speak to Samaritans, or for men to speak so freely with women who are alone. The conversation takes another awkward turn when Jesus speaks spiritually about the “living water” He will offer those who seek it, and the woman takes His words in a worldly sense. Yes, she would like to receive the “spring of water welling up to eternal life” because she thinks it would save her from the drudgery of going to the well every day. She does not yet comprehend that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit.

Despite her initial apprehension and current misunderstanding, the Samaritan woman continues to interact with Jesus. He next speaks of her past as if He has always known her. For all who know that Jesus is the One through Whom all things were made (Col 1:16), His intimate knowledge of her — and all of us — is expected. However, she must be shocked to hear this stranger reveal that He knows she has been married five times and now lives with a man who is not her husband. The sins of her past may be the reason she comes to the well in the heat of the day. She knows she will be alone and not the object of gossip. She has made herself an outcast, and yet Jesus treats her with the dignity she deserves as one created in His image.

Seeing Jesus as a prophet, the woman asks Him about the differences between her beliefs as a Samaritan and those of the Jews. Our Lord leads her to recognize both groups await a promised Messiah.

“I am He,” Jesus tells her.

Immediately, she runs into town to tell everyone that she has met the Messiah.

Before Jesus, the Samaritan woman searched fruitlessly for satisfaction. She could not find it in her first five husbands or the man with whom she is living. She cannot find it in her work, for she wishes she did not have to come to the well alone over and over again. Nothing of this world — not even the water from the well — can satisfy her. Her thirst comes from deep within, and it is the thirst our Creator has placed in each one of us: the longing for an intimate relationship with our God, who is love (1 Jn 4:16). She finally finds fulfillment in knowing and believing in Jesus Christ, and when she hurries off to share her joy, she leaves her water jug — and her unquenchable thirst — behind.

Jesus thirsts, too. “My food is to do the will of the One who sent Me and to finish His work,” He tells His disciples. The will of the Father is our salvation, and Jesus shares this desire. Commenting on this Gospel, Pope Benedict XVI tells us, “God thirsts for our faith and our love. As a good and merciful father, He wants our total, possible good, and this good is He Himself” (Angelus, Feb. 24, 2008).

In our sinful humanity, each of us seeks satisfaction where it cannot be found. This Lent, using the instruments of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we are called to purify our desires and to focus our thirst on the One who can satisfy us perfectly. By freely accepting God's grace, love and salvation, we can quench both His thirst and ours. Day after day, Our Lord waits to give us what we truly desire. May we always seek Him in faith, knowing that He alone can fill our emptiness with peace, joy and unending life.

Fr. Wagner is Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s secretary.

The Work of God

Year A - Third Sunday of Lent

True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth

John 4:5-42

5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."
8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?"
13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."
15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back."
17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband';
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!"
19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet.
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us."
26 Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?"
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people,
29 "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?"
30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something."
32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
33 So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?"
34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.
35 Do you not say, 'Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.
36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'
38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done."
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.
41 And many more believed because of his word.
42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world." (NRSV)

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I said to the Samaritan woman that those who drink the water that I have to offer will never be thirsty again. And indeed what I am offering is the living spirit so that you may drink of it and never be thirsty.

My words are spirit and truth, my food on earth was to do the will of my Heavenly Father, and I invite you to eat of the spiritual food that I have prepared for your souls.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth, I have come to teach you spiritual things, so that you learn more about the spirit since you are destined to leave the flesh to enter into spiritual bodies for all eternity.

The living water that I give becomes a spring that supplies purity and life for the thirsty spirit. Those who drink of my spirit receive the fire of my love; they feel the hunger and thirst of the soul, which can only be satisfied by my own flesh and blood.

Just as my food was to do the will of the Heavenly Father, his will for you is to accept me as his Divine Son and as your Lord and Master. He has entrusted all creation to Me. I have provided the means to sustain your souls and to prepare them for Heaven through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. By eating of my flesh and drinking of my blood, your souls receive the nourishment they need to be pure and holy, by receiving the living waters of my Spirit, your souls live refreshed and fragrant until the time of departure from this life.

God is Spirit and the father of all spirits. You are flesh and blood, soul and spirit. As human beings you are bodies with a mind, souls with a spirit.

Just as you cannot see your minds but know that you have one, your souls are eternal bodies that have received the breath of God and are part of you. The soul has a superior part, which is the spirit; the spirit can only take life from Me so that you can become children of God.

I have come to awaken your souls and spirits, I have come to provide the food and drink for the life of your souls here on earth, and to those who respond to my call I will resurrect them on the last day and give them the gift of everlasting life.

Very politely I showed the Samaritan woman that she was living a life of sin and I invited her to be purified by the living waters of Grace. She accepted me as Her Savior and her life began to change immediately. She was compelled to share the good news with her neighbors and to testify that I was really the Messiah from God.

When you depart from your life of sin, I give you my Holy Spirit. He begins to burn within you giving you the wisdom to accept and desire my Word. As you leave the world behind and concentrate more in heavenly things, you become more spiritual, and then by a life of prayer and desire for God, you begin to understand how to worship God in spirit and in truth. My desire is that you change your life into a more spiritual life so that you can truly live my words. Follow me!

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary