Liturgical Homily – Emma Steil

Lent is the season where we are becoming the Christians we are supposed to be. We are
accompanying those who are about to become Christians as well as being drawn back to our own
Baptism. Through fasting and Repentance, we are taking away those activities that prevent us
from seeing God, Jesus, and ourselves for who we truly are. Jesus is the one who enables our
self-awareness and faith in him as seen in the liturgy for the third Sunday of Lent. It is the idea
that, no matter what, in following God we will always be provided for.

Right now, as a society, we are being faced with a challenge. We are experiencing a change in
our normal lifestyles. COVID-19 has taken away many aspects of our daily life and we as a
society are becoming fearful. However, though most churches have been shut down and we have
all been asked to self-isolate, God is still there providing to all of those that are faithful in him.
This in which we experiencing currently, serves as a lens into the readings in the liturgy.

In the first reading it is clear that the Israelites are losing faith in God, even doubting Him, while
hungry, thirsty, and grumbling to Moses. Later you see Moses crying to God and asking him for
help. God then provides the water from the rock that brings them life and salvation. This relates
to the whole idea of faith and that as humans we tend to be distracted but we should not lose faith
in God and the work he is doing through our souls, this is God's Mystery. No matter how thirsty
we may be, God provides for us being that eternal source of water. He made us flesh and eternal
in the sense that we can call upon him when in need and so he can work through us to keep us
infinitely sustained. We must not be like the Israelites and lose faith because of the suffering we
are experiencing. We must call to God and bring him closer than ever to us during this time. We
must allow our faith to be tested as well as strengthened, so that we can be like Christ himself,
providing for others in their times of need. Jesus healed people and so can we through faith.
During moments like this where we as humans become doubtful in God's work, we must allow
ourselves to see and experience him in and through all things. Remembering all he has done and
continues to do. We need to allow ourselves to stay unified with God and especially people to
enhance our spiritual growth and engagement to Him despite what is happening around us.

The Gospel speaks of a Samaritan woman coming to a well to get water from it at about noon.
Noon, as we know, is the time of the day where the sun has reached its highest peak and most
people tend to stay indoors. However, this woman was clearly in a state of self-isolation due to
the fact she is on her sixth husband while living in a highly patriarchal and shame-based society.
Much like she had to keep returning to the well to get more water, she seemed to keep turning
towards having more husbands in a way of finding the fulfillment she seemed to be missing in
her life. Jesus reminded her that the water from the well is not what is going to sustain her, for he
is the ultimate source of life. “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again; but
whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become him a
spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4). Christ is the one that will provide and satisfy
us fully. He had already known the women’s history, much like he knows us, and that we
become doubtful. But we must remain like him and be faithful, trusting in God's will for us, so
that we may bring forth the water of life for others. Faith is what drives us to see the truth and
come to realization that Christ is the source of life.
The Prayer over the People on page 217 relates to both the woman’s response to Jesus in the
Gospel and to us at the present time. “O Lord, we pray, the hearts of your faithful and in your
kindness grant your servants this grace: that, abiding in the love of you and their neighbor, they
may fulfill the whole of your commands. Through Christ our Lord”. Through Jesus, this woman
was able to overcome her shame, her state of self-imposed isolation, and with faith in him draws
others to believe. As for us, our faith in Jesus keeps him with us. Our love for him is that which
keeps us protected. There are reasons for why we are facing this current pandemic that are
beyond our control, but as humans made flesh through Christ we are and will be able to
overcome situation. For he only puts us through situations that make us stronger and become
closer to him.

We should be grateful, especially during these times that God sustains us as being the source of
our life. The sturdy rock holding us all together, which the church was built upon. As referred to
in the responsorial psalm he is the Rock of our salvation. The Church is where this water of
eternal life flows from. We need to celebrate the goodness that is made possible through the
death and resurrection of Jesus, made present in the body and blood of Christ- which embodies
his sacrifice. We need to worship him for he is the one who made us present and is our God.