Third Sunday of Lent, March 23, 2014

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Below, you'll find a reflection for today, the Third Sunday of Lent, by Alain Richard, ofm and Julia Occhiogrosso from Pax Christi USA's Lenten reflection booklet from 1996. This year's booklet is Embracing Possibilities: Reflections for Lent 2014, and is available for purchase by download on the PCUSA website. 

 

We have also set up a page for Lent 2014 on the site where we will archive reflections throughout the season and organize additional resources for individuals and groups, including prayers, prayer services, action opportunities, and information on undertaking a Way of the Cross event for Good Friday. You can find the page by clicking here.

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REFLECTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

By Alain Richard, ofm and Julia Occhiogrosso

 

Exodus 17:3-7 | Romans 5:1-8 | John 4:5-42

 

The thirst to be free from lies and barriers that separate us

 

Water. Sister Water, as St. Francis called her, is such a precious gift! We who live in Nevada have to remind our visitors to carry plenty of water when they go into the desert. Thirst comes quickly, and forgetting one's canteen could be fatal. In our Old Testament reading, Moses was about to be stoned by his own thirsty people. He was saved when God directed him to an abundant spring.

  

In our Gospel reading, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well far from her home. She had to walk carrying her heavy load, probably more than once a day.

 
Starting from her daily experience, Jesus awakens her thirst for a life really free. At first he shows his own freedom in the face of a very common separation. "You are a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?" Jews were at odds with Samaritans - and she was a woman! Jesus violates these barriers. He risks breaking the rules of his society because she needs to be freed at a deeper level...

In Christ's peace,

 

Johnny Zokovitch

Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA


P.S. To see more resources for Lent, visit us at http://paxchristiusa.org/programs/lent-2014/.