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Our Lady of Victory
490 Charles Street
Gatineau, Qu?bec
J8L 2K5
(819)986-3763
olv@videotron.ca
Mass: Sunday 9:00 AM
Thursday 10:00 AM |
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St. Malachy
3889 Route 315
Mayo, Qu?bec
J8L 3Z8
(819)986-3763
olv@videotron.ca
Mass: Saturday 7:00 PM
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Fr. Albanus' Reflections on the Sunday Liturgy |
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| The Living Water |
Living water represents God's Spirit who comes to us in Baptism, penetrating every aspect of our lives and quenching our spiritual thirst. The Holy Spirit of God, the Word of God and the Sacraments of God in the Church are the primary sources of the living water of Divine Grace. We are assembled here in the Church to drink this water of eternal life and salvation. Washed in it at Baptism, renewed by its abundance at each Eucharist, invited to it in every proclamation of the Word and daily empowered by the anointing of the Spirit, we are challenged by today?s Gospel to remain thirsty for the living water, which only God can give (Tony Kadavil). The first reading taken from Exodus tells the story of the Jews complaining about the thirst, a figure of human longing for God and spiritual satisfaction. The Israelites doubted God's faithfulness and promises. The rock which Moses strikes represents God who gives the water (God's own life) essential for our spiritual life. The reading shows us a time when God's people literally thirsted, and God satisfied them. In the second reading St. Paul states that as the Saviour of mankind, Jesus poured the living water, or the gift of the Holy Spirit, into our hearts. We need the Holy Spirit to sustain us spiritually, just as we need water to sustain us physically. Paul realized that he and all the Jews who kept the Law of Moses were trying to become justified on their own. But keeping the Law is not an adequate means of justification because we are unable to make ourselves worthy of God's favor, whether by good works, keeping the Commandments, rituals or prayers. Grace means the gratuitous, unearned, undeserved love and favor of God for us.
The Gospel presents the detailed dialogue between Jesus and an ostracized Samaritan woman. In revealing Himself as the Messiah to the woman, Jesus speaks to her of the fountain of water. He will give her the life-giving water. The water that Jesus promises is closely linked to, conversion and forgiveness of sin. Jesus wants to get personal with us, especially during this Lenten season. Jesus wants to get into our 'private' lives. We have a "private" personal life which is contrary to the will of God. Christ wishes to come into that "private" life, not to embarrass us, not to judge or condemn us, not to be unkind or malicious to us. Rather, Christ comes into our "private" personal life to free us, to change us and to offer us what we really need: living water. The living water is God the Holy Spirit who enters the soul of the woman through Jesus and His love. We human beings are composed of four parts: mind, body, emotions and spirit. When we let God the Holy Spirit come into us and take control of our thinking, our physical activity, our emotions and our spirit, He can bring harmony to the way we live with all four parts of our humanity. We can find this living water in the Sacraments, in prayer and in the Holy Bible.
This Gospel also teaches us how to get along with those who are different, sharing with them the love of God. Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well shows how free and independent His behaviour is, something that should make us reflect. He is not bound by restrictive customs that discriminate and are based on suspicion. Furthermore, He recognizes the gifts and ministries of women in His future Church. This Gospel is also a narrative about God wooing the outsider or, as Paul will say, "the godless". The Jewish man of that time would not have anything to do with the Samaritan and definitely not with the woman. The woman would be as surprised about it as anybody. When she just met Jesus, she was surprised that even He talked to her. Once converted, she became an evangelist, authoritatively introducing Jesus to her fellow villagers. Her past did not hinder her from being a messenger of the Good News. She did not keep her experience a secret. She turned her experience of Jesus into a message for others. A big lesson for us all!
Happy Sunday!
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