John 4,5-42

March 12, 2023 (Sunday)
Let us all remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

John 4,5-42
So, he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son
Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about
noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples
had gone to the city to buy food.) 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.) 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.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket,
and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who
gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks, drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks
of this water will be thirsty again, 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.” 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.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no
husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands,
and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I
see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where
people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, 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 know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now her, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship
him. God is spirit, and those who worship is must worship in spirit and truth.” 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.”
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” 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?” Then the women left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people,
“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat
something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So, the disciples said to
one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 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. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds, true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.” So, when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. 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.”

Reflection:
The healing of the invalid at the pool of Bethesda and the long contentious discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees on the identity of Jesus enables us to realize the level of hatred the Pharisees had for Jesus, in spite of witnessing many of his powerful deeds and listening to his authoritative words. Throughout the discussion, the Pharisees remain mentality stubborn with religious arrogance. They were sinfully convinced that they need not be taught or enlightened on religious precepts and there was nothing to adhere nor to listen to Jesus. Their only aim was to get rid of Jesus, because according to them he was the religious impostor who had no regard for Jewish religious practices, and dared to violate the rules of the day of Sabbath. On the other hand, Jesus declares himself as the true Son of God, equal to the Father, and authority to judge the world on the final day. Jesus tries to convince the Pharisees that His words and deeds are witnesses to His status as the Son of God. He reminded the Jews how John the Baptist himself accepted and indicated Jesus as the person sent by God to declare salvation. Finally, He warned the Pharisees that on the Judgement Day, Moses, the greatest Jewish leader himself would condemn the Pharisees for their stubbornness for not believing in Jesus. How serious are we about Jesus, His words and actions, all of which we read and read day after day? Do we really believe that Jesus’ words are life giving, capable of healing our spiritual sickness and enable us to walk in true spirit of freedom of the sons of God? “You are in a state in which you need to have a thorough knowledge of the truth of the Gospel, both for your own satisfaction and that of others.” (DLS Med. 166/01).

Lasallian Guiding Principle:
LGP states that, “Avenues and opportunities for self- propelled individual, collective and institutional life-affirming action to respond to varied social issues must be provided in every Lasallian institution.” As Lasallian we should always humble our self and admit that we are all sinner. We should allow our self to be the stream of Christ living water for our brothers and sisters.

Prayer:
Synod on Synodality Prayer

We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us, Make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.
All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever. Amen.

St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.

St. Miguel Febres Cordero, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sources:
C. (n.d.). Daily Gospel. Retrieved June 22, 2020, from https://dailygospel.org/M/AM/DLSU ITS, DLSU STRATCOM, DLSU IRPA. (n.d.). Guiding Principles of the Philippine Lasallian Family.
Retrieved June 22, 2020, from http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/inside/lasallian-guiding-principles/default.asp

Prepared by Pratik, Sati D., College of Humanities and Sciences- BS Biochemistry Student, through the DLSMHSI Lasallian Mission and Linkages and Advancement, Campus Ministry, and Chaplaincy

Our Daily Lasallian Gospel, Prayer and Reflection is a DLSMHSI gift to the Lasallian family for the 2019 Celebration of the Year of Vocation and the Tercentenary celebration of the death of our founder SJBDLS.
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https://www.dlshsi.edu.ph/daily-lasallian-reflection-prayer #300LaSalle