Sunday Homily – 12 March 2023

Third Sunday of Lent

Also Read: Mass Readings for 12 March 2023 Mass Reading Reflection for 12 March 2023

Gospel: John 4: 5-42

God loves to talk to you. Jesus wants to talk to you in person, without anyone bothering both of you. Jesus wants to hear your part of the story, even if it has many shades of grey.

Today’s gospel is about an encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman. She preferred less attention from the people as is evident from the fact that she came to the well alone.

She came to the well to draw some water. She forgot her jar at the feet of Jesus. Lent is our time to engage in conversation with Jesus. It is our time to leave something behind at the feet of Jesus, and go back to the same places to proclaim Jesus. Probably she came to the well at an odd hour to escape the not-so-appreciative glances of her people. She went back to the same people proclaiming Jesus, inviting them to see and hear Him.

Today she has the Messiah to talk about. She is no more the old person she used to be. She is the one introducing the Messiah they waited for generations.

The conversation itself attracts us. In the whole story, no word is spoken about sin or conversion. Jesus gently helped her unfold her story. She was not proud of her life but Jesus was not judgmental about it.

At times she attempts to divert the discussion. She did not want to discuss her life hence she has questions for Jesus. His answers always brought her back to herself. He helped her know herself. He helped her to know the Messiah.

She started calling him a ‘Jew’. As the conversation builds up, she calls him ‘Sir’. But as she was introducing him to her people, she described him as Messiah. She found Him to be Messiah. But she left it to the people to draw their own conclusion.

She is one of the early preachers of Jesus. She organized the people to welcome Jesus. She encouraged them to listen to Jesus a foreigner to their culture and creed.

Even if you have many shades of grey, Jesus loves to talk to you. Take a break, talk to him in silence. Share your side of the story. He loves to hear you and wants to make you His ambassador. You will return to the place where you were looked down upon, and you will have with you the Messiah no one can deny.

Amen.