Study and Meditations on this Sunday's Scripture Readings: March 20, 2711

[Fidelis]

To help us prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings, studies and reflections for this coming Sunday’s Scripture readings. This Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Cycle A, and in this Sundays Gospel Reading we will hear about Jesus’ meeting the Samaritan woman at the well.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under “Current Study.”

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn and Fr. Robert Barron.

Here are a trio of Catholic Bible study podcasts on the Gospel Reading, each about an hour long:

–Sunday Gospel Scripture Study
–Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother
–St. Martha’s Adult Faith Formation

The Navarre Bible Commentary for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/V8vA0ZKjRyo/SxMDwqW9rXI/AAAAAAAACfk/8Fj__vn61M/s400/ArtBook__036_036__JesusAndTheSamaritanWoman__.jpg

 

[Fidelis]

1st Reading - Exodus 17:3-7

The Book of Exodus (Greek for “going out”) relates the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt; the birth and education of Moses and his flight into the land of Midian; the appearance of God to Moses at Mount Sinai (Horeb); revelation of the sacred name of Yahweh (I AM), and the commissioning of Moses and Aaron to deliver the Israelites from bondage; the return of Moses to Egypt, and his vain appeal to Pharaoh to let Israel to go free; the first nine plagues (blood, frogs, gnats, flies, on livestock, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness); the institution of the Passover meal and the 10th plague (on the firstborn), and Israel’s departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the death of the pursuing Egyptians, the Song of Triumph, the manna, and other incidents of the journey through the wilderness; the sojourn at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law, including the 10 commandments and the book of the covenant; directions for the building of the tabernacle and the consecration of Aaron and the priests; the falling away of the people from Yahweh and the worshiping of the golden calf; the prayer of Moses for the people and their return to God’s favor; the construction of the tabernacle and its furniture.

Unfortunately, the author does not name the Pharaoh or Pharaohs under whom the events in Egypt transpired. 1 Kings 6:1 says that it was 480 years from the Exodus to Solomon’s temple. Since Solomon ascended to the throne in 960 B.C., the exodus would have been about 1440 B.C. This would place the events in the 15th century, but archaeological evidence points to a 13th century date. If one takes the 1st Kings 480 years to be a round number indicating 12 generations, a 13th century date is possible; in fact, 1280 is suggested by archaeological evidence (Rameses II was pharaoh from 1292-1225 B.C.). Tradition has Moses as the author of Exodus.

Today’s reading describes events which took place just before the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai. Since they arrived at Mount Sinai three months after they left Egypt, this is very early in the Exodus; but after the manna and the quail. From the wilderness of Sin the Israelites moved on to Rephidim which most scholars today locate in the Wadi Refayid, some 30 miles from Mount Sinai.

The Israelites, the Chosen People of God, were suffering slavery and the threat of total extermination in Egypt; God miraculously set them free and, with Moses as their leader, he led them towards the promised land of Canaan. But they soon forgot what God had done for them and began to murmur and rebel because of the difficulties of the long desert journey. One of these rebellious murmurings is put before us today for a purpose which we shall see.

Here is the 1st Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

In those days, in their thirst for water,
the people grumbled against Moses,
saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
Was it just to have us die here of thirst
with our children and our livestock?”
So Moses cried out to the LORD,
“What shall I do with this people?
a little more and they will stone me!”
The LORD answered Moses,
“Go over there in front of the people,
along with some of the elders of Israel,
holding in your hand, as you go,
the staff with which you struck the river.
I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it
for the people to drink.”
This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.
The place was called Massah and Meribah,
because the Israelites quarreled there
and tested the LORD, saying,
“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

http://www.oceansbridge.com/paintin...ck_for_water_1649_XX_st_petersburg_russia.JPG

 

[Fidelis]

From the *Navarre Bible Commentary *with RSV-CE texts:

The Water From the Rock
-----------------------
*[3] But the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” [4] So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” [5] And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. [6] Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. [7] And he called the name of the place Massah’ and Meribah, because of the faultfinding of the children of Israel, and because they put the Lord to the proof by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” *

**17:1-7. **The severity of desert life (notably hunger and thirst) leads God to help the Israelites in various ways, all of them full of theological implications. The miracle of the manna, which was preceded by that of the water which Moses made drinkable (15:22-25), is followed by a new work of wonder to do with water: Moses causes water to flow from a rock. This happened at Rephidim, probably what is now Wadi Refayid, some 13 km (8 miles) from Djébel Müsa.

The sons of Israel’s faith in God and Moses has been strengthening little by little; but they often doubt whether God is there at all (v. 7). They begin to murmur and to seek proofs of his presence: have they been brought out of Egypt to die, or to attain salvation? The water which Moses causes to come out of the rock is a further sign to bolster their faith. This episode names two places–Meribah, which in popular etymology means “contention”, “dispute”, “lawsuit”, and Massah, which is "proof’, “test”, “temptation”. Many biblical passages recall this sin (cf. Deut 6:16; 9:22-24; 33:8; Ps 95:8-9), even adding that Moses himself lacked faith and struck the rock twice (cf. Num 20:1-13; Deut 32:51; Ps 106:32). Lack of trust in the goodness and power of God means tempting God and it is a grave sin against faith–even more so in the case o Moses, who had experienced God’s special love and who ought to have given good example. When man meets some contradiction or some difficulty he cannot immediately solve, his faith may waver but he should never doubt because “if deliberately cultivated, doubt can lead to spiritual blindness” (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 2008).

There is a rabbinical tradition which says that the rock stayed with the Israelites throughout their sojourn in the desert; St Paul refers to this legend when he says “the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). On the basis of biblical references to the wondrous nature of waters (cf. Ps 78:15-16; 105:4; Wis 11:4-14) the Fathers said this episode prefigures the wonderful effects of Baptism: “See the mystery: ‘Moses’ is the Prophet; the rod is the word of God; the priest touches the rock with the word of God, and water flows, and the people of God drink” (St Ambrose, “De Sacramentis”, 8,5, 1,3).

 

[Fidelis]

From the 1859 Haydock Commentary with DRV text:

**The people murmur again for want of drink: the Lord giveth them water out of a rock. **
*
3 So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured against Moses, saying: Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?

4 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me.

5 And the Lord said to Moses: Go before the people, and take with thee of the ancients of Israel: and take in thy hand the rod wherewith thou didst strike the river, *and go.

6 Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb: and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. Moses did so before the ancients of Israel:*

Ver. 6. Before thee, ready to grant thy request at Horeb, a rock to the west of Sinai, and a figure of Jesus Christ, according to St. Paul; who says, (1 Corinthians x. 4,) that the spiritual rock followed the Hebrews. Some say a part of the real rock was carried in a chariot. (St. Chrysostom) Others, that the rivulet of waters accompanied them till it fell into the sea near Asiengaber. (Usher.) — The Rabbins say, that these waters never failed the Israelites till the death of Mary, for whose sake they were given, and that the bright cloud disappeared with Aaron, and manna at the decease of Moses.
*
7 And he called the name of that place Temptation, because the chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord amongst us or not?*
**
Ver. 7.** Temptation. Massa and Meriba “quarrel,” as the Hebrew reads.

 

[Earnest_Bunbury]

Honestly, I probably won’t be around in 2711!

 

[Fidelis]

Honestly, I probably won’t be around in 2711!

LOL. Getting somewhat ahead of myself, aren’t I?

 

[Fidelis]

Other thoughts and commentary on the 1st Reading:

**
3 Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses:** This is the second incident involving water. The first (Exodus 15:22-27), involved water that was too bitter (alkaline) to drink. At that, the Israelites grumbled against Moses, the Lord told him to throw a piece of wood into the water, and it became sweet. There, the water was bitter, here there is none at all. They grumble against Moses again but their quarrel is really with God: they do not believe He can be their God in the wilderness and don’t trust Him to provide for them.

The word “grumbled” is often translated as “murmured [against God].” It is applied to the unbelieving opponents of Jesus in the New Testament (Matthew 20:11; John 6:41; 1 Cor 10:10).

**saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?”: **A desert journey has its difficulties; the scarcity of wells or oases is one of these. It necessitated taking supplies of water from one watering place to the next. The Israelites knew this and should have been ready to put up with a certain amount of difficulty, but this they were unwilling to do. Instead they accused the kind God who had brought them out of Egypt, of wishing to let them die of thirst.

4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!"

**5 The LORD answered Moses, "Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river: **The staff is the same one that turned into a serpent, brought forth the plagues of frogs and gnats, turned the Nile (“the river”) into blood, and parted the Red Sea.

**6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb: **“Horeb” is a general name for the mountain range that runs through the region. Sinai is one of its peaks. Generally, the name is used interchangeably with Sinai (see 1 Kings 19:8).

Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink." This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel: Moses appealed to God. Notice that there is no divine rebuke, but only the command to take some of the elders and go to the rock and strike it. And, notwithstanding the ingratitude and the mistrust of the people, God gave him the power to bring water from a rock.

The elders represent the people and are witnesses.

**7 The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the LORD: **(See Psalm 95:8) “Massah” means “the (place of the) testing” and “Meribah” means “the (place of the) quarreling” in Hebrew. They were probably two separate places where the doubting Israelites lost confidence in God, but both are joined together here. The exact location of these places cannot be identified.

saying, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”: This shows the weakness of their faith the little trust they had in God, in spite of all he had already done for them. God has provided manna and water in the desert, He has withstood their test and has shown His authority over the wilderness.

From this incident, later rabbis built an oral tradition that this rock as a source of water followed the Israelites through the desert. St. Paul refers to this oral tradition in 1 Corinthians 10:4. Yet, there are people today who state that oral tradition has no authority.

 

[Fidelis]

Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs referencing Exodus 17:3-7

**Symbols of the Holy Spirit
**
**694 ***Water. *The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As “by one Spirit we were all baptized,” so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit."27 Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified28 as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.29

27. 1 Cor 12:13.

28. Jn 19:34; 1 Jn 5:8.

29. Cf. Jn 4:10-14; 738; Ex 17:1-6; Isa 55:1; Zech 14:8; 1 Cor 10:4; Rev 21:6; 22:17.

2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act.49 Jesus opposed Satan with the word of God: "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test."50 The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. It always harbors doubt about his love, his providence, and his power.51

49. Cf. Lk 4:9.

50. Deut 6:16.

51. Cf. 1 Cor 10:9; Ex 17:2-7; Ps 95:9.

 

[Fidelis]

A meditation on the 1st Reading for practical application from Catholic Matters:

**APPLICATION: **This incident, which happened over 3,000 years ago and which brings out the ingratitude and the mistrust of the Israelites, is put before us today, not that we should criticize them, but rather that we should look into our own consciences and see how solid and how true is our own trust in God, and how sincere our gratitude to him is for all his past favors.

Unfortunately, we have to admit that many among us are fair-weather Christians. While their ship of life is sailing peacefully on smooth seas they respect God and trust him, because this puts no great strain on their energies. In times like these, to be a good Christian seems very easy, they don’t have to give it much thought. But when storms blow up, and the winds and the waves of life are tossing and throwing them about and threatening to engulf them, it is then that their true faith and sincerity is put to the test.

Like the thirsty Israelites in the desert, they then begin to doubt if God is really there, if he has any interest in them or is not rather a cruel, merciless, far-away being who delights in their misfortunes. All the past favors, all the days of good health and prosperity, are immediately forgotten, because these past benefits were rarely or never attributed to God with any real sincerity.

Such Christians, and there are more of them today perhaps than ever before, have forgotten that their earthly life is but a journey, not from the cradle to the grave, but from baptism to the beatific vision in heaven. Anyone, who realizes that he is on a journey, will expect inconveniences and difficulties and will accept them as such, knowing that they are of the essence of a journey. But the man who foolishly, against all the proofs and evidence of human history, thinks he can build an abode of permanent happiness for himself on this earth, is preparing himself for a rude and shocking awakening.

Yet, millions of our fellowman are today feverishly building an earthly Utopia, and are enticing others to join them and help find once more the earthly garden of Eden. Get rid of all governments, including the divine Ruler; get rid of all authority from above, including the ten commandments and the teaching Church; and then peace and brotherhood and plenty for all will flood the earth! These are the slogans of the new saviors of the human race.

The truth is very different: God created us and made us what we are. God gives each one of us a short period on this world during which, aided by the Incarnate Son of God, and by the means of grace and reconciliation he left us in his Church, we can wend our way to the true Utopia, eternal life with God. To reach this end that God has in store for us, the trials and tests of life are as important, and as useful, as the moments of quiet calm and earthly well-being. In many cases they may be far more useful, as they may be just what we need to reawaken in our drowsy minds the purpose for which we are on earth.

When next tempted to imitate the murmuring and ungrateful Israelites in the desert, think instead of the loving God who brought you out of the Egypt of nothingness and who is, through these very trials and sufferings, getting you ready to enter the promised land, not of Canaan, but of heaven.

 

[Fidelis]

2nd Reading - Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

The letter to the Romans was written by Paul during his third missionary journey (A.D. 55- 56). It was probably written from Corinth. Paul’s background was that of a Hebrew pharisee, and thus schooled in the concept of family covenant rather than in the Roman court as so many today try to assert. We must always be careful to interpret Scripture through the eyes and understanding of the sacred writer.

This Sunday’s brief section from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is an encouragement to all who have been given the gift of the Christian faith to persevere in spite of adversity (verses 3 & 4 which mention sufferings and their value, are omitted from this Sunday’s passage). It is the infinite love of God which is the basis of their hope–how could it grow weak? Christ was sent by the Father when we were most unworthy–full of sin; how much more so will he now show his love for us once we have been reconciled to him and have been made sharers in his glory as adopted sons?

Here is the 2nd Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith
to this grace in which we stand,
and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

 

[Fidelis]

From the Navarre Bible Commentary with RSV-CE texts:

**1-5. **In this very moving passage God helps us see “the divine interlacing of the three theological virtues which form the backing upon which the true life of every Christian man or woman has to be woven” ([St] J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 205). Faith, hope and charity act in us in turn, causing us to grow in the life of grace. Thus, faith leads us to know and be sure of things we hope for (cf. Hebrews 11:1); hope ensures that we shall attain them, and enlivens our love of God; charity, for its part, gives us energy to practise the other two theological virtues. The definitive outcome of this growth in love, faith and hope is the everlasting peace that is of the essence of eternal life.

As long as we are in this present life we do have peace to some degree–but with tribulation. Therefore, the peace attainable in this life does not consist in the contentment of someone who wants to have no problems, but rather in the resoluteness full of hope (“character”) of someone who manages to rise above suffering and stays faithful through endurance. Suffering is necessary for us, because it is the normal way to grow in virtue (cf. James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:5-7); that is why it is providential (cf. Philippians 1:19; Colossians 1:24) and leads to joy and happiness (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

“A person who hopes for something and strives eagerly to attain it is ready to endure all kinds of difficulty and distress. Thus, for example, a sick person if he is eager to be healthy, is happy to take the bitter medicine which will cure him. Therefore, one sign of the ardent hope that is ours thanks to Christ is that we glory not only in the hope of future glory, but also in the afflictions which we suffer in order to attain it” (St. Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Romans, ad. loc.”).

A person who lives by faith, hope and charity realizes that suffering is not something meaningless but rather is designed by God for our perfecting. Perfection consists “in the bringing of our wills so closely into conformity with the will of God that, as soon as we realize He wills anything, we desire it ourselves with all our might, and take the bitter with the sweet, knowing that to be His Majesty’s will …]. If our love is perfect, it has this quality of leading us to forget our own pleasure in order to please Him whom we love. And that is indeed what happens” (St. Teresa of Avila, “Book of Foundations”, Chapter 5).

Reconciliation Through Christ’s Sacrifice, the Basis of our Hope
----------------------------------------------------------------
*[1] Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through Him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

[5] and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.*

**5. **The love which St. Paul speaks of here is, at one and the same time, God’s love for us–manifested in His sending the Holy Spirit–and the love which God places in our soul to enable us to love Him. The Second Council of Orange, quoting St. Augustine, explains this as follows: “To love God is entirely a gift of God. He, without being loved, loves us and enabled us to love Him. We were loved when we were still displeasing to Him, so that we might be given something whereby we might please Him. So it is that the Spirit of the Father and the Son, whom we love with the Father and the son, pours charity into our hearts” (Second Council of Orange, “De Gratia”, Canon 25; cf. St. Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”, 102, 5).

[6] While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. [8] But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

**6-11. **The friendship which reigned in Paradise between God and man was followed by the enmity created by Adam’s sin. By promising a future redeemer, God once more offered mankind His friendship. The scale of God’s love for us can be seen in the “reconciliation” which the Apostle speaks about, which took place on the Cross, when Christ did away with this enmity, making our peace with God and reconciling us to Him (cf. Ephesians 2:15-16).

The petition in the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us”, is an invitation to imitate the way God treats us, because by loving our enemies “there shines forth in us some likeness to God our Father, who, by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition and reconciled to Himself the human race, which before was most unfriendly and hostile to Him” (“St. Pius V Catechism”, IV, 14, 19).

 

[Fidelis]

From the 1859 Haydock Commentary with DRV text:

The grounds we have for hope in Christ…

*1 Therefore, being justified by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
*
Ver. 1. The apostle proceeds in this chapter to shew how great a benefit it is to be truly justified by the coming of Christ. — Let us have peace with God. That is, says St. Chrysostom, by laying aside all contentions. Or let us have peace with God by sinning no more. And this peace we may have under the greatest tribulations, which conduce to our greater good, to an increase in virtues, in patience, in hope, in the love of God, &c. (Witham)

*2 *By whom also we have access through faith into this grace, wherein we stand, and glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God.

5 And hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured out into our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.
**
Ver. 5.** God having prevented us with his gifts when we did not at all deserve them, having showered upon us the blessings of faith, charity, patience, and fidelity, we cannot but have the greatest confidence that after this pledge and assurance of his good will towards us, he well finish the work he has begun, and bring us to his heavenly kingdom. (Calmet) — Not only the gift of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit himself, is given to us, who resides in our soul as in his own temple, who sanctifies it, and makes it partaker of his divine love. (Menochius)

*6 For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, *die for the ungodly?

7 For scarce for a just man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some one would venture to die.

8 But God commendeth his charity towards us; because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time,*

Ver. 6. &c. *Why did Christ…die for the ungodly? *He shews Christ’s great mercy and love for mankind, that he would die for us, who were sinners, and consequently his enemies. How few are there that will lay down their lives for a just man, or for a just cause? — Perhaps for a good man. That is, for another, who has been good to him, his friend or benefactor, we may find one that will expose or lay down his life. But Christ, in due time, appointed by the divine decree, died for sinners, for us all. And if we have been reconciled to God, and justified by his death; now being made the children of God, and his friends, we may with greater confidence hope to be saved. (Witham) — The text of the Greek is as follows: For when we were weak, he gave us our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us; shewing how much God loved us, to perform such stupendous acts of love in our behalf. But the reading of the Vulgate is conformable to St. Irenæus, (lib. iii. chap. 18.) and to the commentaries of this epistle, which have been published under the name of St. Ambrose, and St. Jerome. (Calmet) — St. Augustine says, those whom the apostle first calls weak, he afterwards calls impious, hos dixit infirmos quos impios. (Ep. lix. ad Paulinum.) — St. Jerome, and other fathers and commentators, explain the Greek text of this verse as follows: Scarcely would any one die for a just cause; for who would ever think of dying in defence of injustice? Others explain it thus: Scarcely a single man would die for one that was wicked and unjust: for we can hardly find a person ready to lay down his life for a good man; his friend and benefactor, who has been kind to him. (Calmet)

 

[Fidelis]

Other thoughts and commentary on the 2nd Reading:

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith: The earlier part of this book shows that faith is not just believing, but living out that belief because of certainty that God is true to His covenant. His covenant with Abraham (to provide worldwide blessing) is not yet finished. In fact, the first and last uses by Saint Paul of the word “faith” in this book of Romans (1:5 and 16:26) it is not “faith alone”, but “obedience of faith” to which he refers, thus setting the context for the use of the word “faith” throughout the entire epistle. The only use of the term “faith alone” in the entire Bible is in James 2:24 where it says “See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

“Let no one say to himself: ‘If [justification] is from faith, how is it freely given: If faith merits it, why is it not rather paid than given?’ Let the faithful man not say such a thing; for, if he says: ‘I have faith, therefore I merit justification,’ he will be answered: ‘What have you that you did not receive?’ If, therefore, faith entreats and receives justification, according as God has apportioned to each in the measure of his faith, nothing of human merit precedes the grace of God, but grace itself merits increase, and the increase merits perfection, with the will accompanying but not leading, following along but not going in advance.” (Saint Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 417), Letter to Paulinus of Nola, 186,3,7]

Justification for St. Paul is not merely the remission of personal sins but is an especially positive quality which makes us friends of God, adopted sons in fact, and therefore heirs to God’s eternal glory. This special gift, together with the remission of our sins, has come to us, who have accepted the Christian faith, through our Lord Jesus Christ
**
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: Because of Jesus’ all-perfect sacrifice, heaven is now opened and we are no longer slaves or servants, but children of God. The incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ, who is God, “Lord,” as well as man, were the means God used to make us Christians what we are. See also Romans 14:19.
**
2 through whom we have gained access (by faith) to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God: We have every reason to rejoice, for we are promised a share in the eternal glory of God.

**
5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us: Since our baptism, we have within us the Holy Spirit, God’s most special gift to us, the sure basis of our unflinching hope. As children of God, we have an inheritance – the kingdom of God.
**
6 For Christ, while we were still helpless: Mere man could not, of his own created nature, take one step towards friendship, much less sonship with God.
**
yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly: At the right time—that is, at the time preordained by God—Christ became man to raise us up to a new status. This he did even though we were not only mere creatures, but sinful ones. We were “ungodly,” far from meriting any special love or consideration from God.
**
7 Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die: Before the sacrifice of Christ, no one was justified and could do nothing to enable them to appear morally right before God. The sinfulness of mankind brings out all the more strongly the depths of divine love for us.
**
8 But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us:** God so loves us that He allowed His Son to die so that heaven might be opened and we could enter. There is no quid pro quo here, this is not repayment, but a gift to us who are so undeserving.
*
“If Christ gave Himself up to death at the right time for those who were unbelievers and enemies of God … how much more will He protect us with His help if we believe in Him! He died for us in order to obtain life and glory for us. So if He died for His enemies, just think what He will do for His friends!” *[The Ambrosiaster (A.D. 366-384), Commentaries on Thirteen Pauline Epistles]

In the eternal plan of the Incarnation, the future sins of the world were foreseen; also the consequences of these sins for the Incarnate Christ, namely, his cruel sufferings and death on the cross. But this did not hinder God’s love for us. He carried out the eternal plan for our elevation and redemption.

 

[Fidelis]

Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs referencing Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 include the following:

368 The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the biblical sense of the depths of one’s being, where the person decides for or against God.239

239. Cf. Jer 31:33; Deut 6:5; 29:3; Isa 29:13; Ezek 36:26; Mt 6:21; Lk 8:15; Rom 5:5.

**God takes the initiative of universal redeeming love

604 **By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins."408 God "shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."409

408. 1 Jn 4:10; 4:19.

409. Rom 5:8.

**The Holy Spirit - God’s gift

733** "God is Love"124 and love is his first gift, containing all others. "God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."125

124. 1 Jn 4:8,1.

125. Rom 5:5.

**
1820** Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus’ preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint."88 Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."89 Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: "Let us . . . put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation."90 It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation."91 Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire.

88. Rom 5:5.

89. Heb 6:19-20.

90. 1 Thes 5:8.

91. Rom 12:12.

**1964 **The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel. "The Law is a pedagogy and a prophecy of things to come."17 It prophesies and presages the work of liberation from sin which will be fulfilled in Christ: it provides the New Testament with images, “types,” and symbols for expressing the life according to the Spirit. Finally, the Law is completed by the teaching of the sapiential books and the prophets which set its course toward the New Covenant and the Kingdom of heaven.

   * There were . . . under the regimen of the Old Covenant, people who possessed the charity and grace of the Holy Spirit and longed above all for the spiritual and eternal promises by which they were associated with the New Law. Conversely, there exist carnal men under the New Covenant still distanced from the perfection of the New Law: the fear of punishment and certain temporal promises have been necessary, even under the New Covenant, to incite them to virtuous works. In any case, even though the Old Law prescribed charity, it did not give the Holy Spirit, through whom "God's charity has been poured into our hearts."*18

17. St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4,15,1:PG 7/1,1012.

18. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I-II,107,1 ad 2; cf. Rom 5:5.

2658 *“Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”*10 Prayer, formed by the liturgical life, draws everything into the love by which we are loved in Christ and which enables us to respond to him by loving as he has loved us. Love is the source of prayer; whoever draws from it reaches the summit of prayer. In the words of the Cure of Ars:

   * I love you, O my God, and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life. I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you. I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. . . . My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.*11

10. Rom 5:5.

11. St. John Vianney, Prayer.

 

[Fidelis]

A meditation on the 2nd Reading for practical application from Catholic Matters:

APPLICATION: The uppermost thought in any mind today must be gratitude, a heatfelt thankfulness, to the all-good, all-merciful God, who deigned to send his Son down to earth in order to raise us up and make us heirs to heaven. This seems almost too good to be true, because our finite minds are incapable of grasping what infinite love is. We all have a bit of true love for our neighbor in us, but how limited, how fickle it is! If we honestly try to help a neighbor, who is in great spiritual or temporal need, but find he is abusing our generosity and lapsing back into the same spiritual or worldly faults, how quickly we can grow tired of him! How easily we can persuade ourselves that we are wasting our efforts, that he has really proved himself unworthy of any claim on our charity!

Yet, God conferred the greatest benefit that even he could confer on a creature, when he adopted us as his sons, even though the whole human race almost had abused the gifts he had already given them, and even though he foresaw that many who would at first appreciate this, his greatest gift, would forget and abuse it later.

Many of us are among the latter; we have often sinned and strayed from the high road to heaven, marked out for us by him. It’s a cause for shame and confusion, and indeed a cause for the deepest despair, were it not that we know his mercy and love in our regard are infinite. He is like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, ever waiting for the return of the sinner. But, much as he would love to, he cannot welcome us back unless we return. He gave us our free-will and he will not force us to any unwilling act. Who is there among us who would say the Prodigal Son was foolish to return home to such love and luxury? Yet, all those among us who prefer to continue in their sinful ways are saying just that about themselves. They say that they prefer the swineherd’s job, and the husks fed to the swine, to being a respected and beloved son in their father’s home.

We would all deny that we are making any such foolish choice. But unless we abandon sin, and return to God with a sincere heart, we are excluding ourselves from the eternal home Christ won for us, and becoming instead eternal prodigals. Granted God’s mercy to be infinite, our human life is not. And the man who tries to convince himself that he will put all things right with God when his end is nearer, is only adding the sin of presumption to his other actual and habitual sins.

Eternity is too long to take any foolish chances with it. Human life on earth is too short and too uncertain to count on even an extra day, one extra hour. Let us use this holy season of Lent to put ourselves right with God. Nobody else can do this for us, not even the all-merciful God unless we cooperate with him.

 

[Fidelis]

Gospel Reading: John 4:5-42

* This Sunday’s Gospel reading takes place early in Jesus’ ministry, on the heels of his baptism in the Jordan, the wedding at Cana, and his conversation with Nicodemus about the need to be born anew from water and the Spirit (John 1-3).

* Jesus and his disciples are traveling from Judea, north to Galilee. There were two possible routes—through Samaria, or a longer route that bypassed that area.

* Most Jews making the journey avoided going through Samaria. This was because of the longstanding enmity between the two peoples (verse 9) going back to Old Testament times (Ezra 4:1ff). The Jews considered the Samaritans, who claimed some ancestry to the Old Testament patriarchs (verse 12), to be half-pagan (2 Kings 17:24-41).

* The meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman takes place at noon. Going to the village well to retrieve the day’s household water supply was a task usually done in the morning. The fact that this woman chooses a time when there would be no other women around indicates she wanted to avoid contact with them, perhaps because of her reputation.

* These facts, coupled with the cultural and religious taboos against men speaking with unrelated women, made Jesus’ addressing this woman all the more shocking.

* A careful reading of this story shows the gradual unfolding of conversion as Jesus, starting from a casual conversation, brings her to a deeper understanding.

The Gospel this Sunday has a “long form” and an optional shorter version. Here is the full text of the Gospel as it will be heard this Sunday:

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him,
“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who 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 do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not 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 and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a 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 can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand,
because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.”

At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?”
They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life,
so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

 

[Fidelis]

From the Navarre Bible Commentary (you can find the RSV-CE translation of this text here):

**4-5. **There are two normal routes for going from Judea to Galilee. The shorter one went through the city of Samaria; the other, which followed the Jordan, was longer. Jesus took the Samaria route, perhaps not just because it was shorter and busier but also to have a chance of preaching to the Samaritans. When He was approaching Samaria, near Sychar, the present-day El 'Askar, at the foot of Mount Ebal, He met this Samaritan woman.

**6. **The Gospels, particularly St. John’s, sometimes gives us a little bit of information which seem irrelevant but really are not. Like us, Jesus did get tired, He needed to take regular rest, He felt hunger and thirst; but despite His tiredness He does not waste an opportunity to do good to souls.

"Recollect yourselves and go over the scene again slowly in your minds. Jesus Christ, “perfectus Deus, perfectus homo”, is tired out from His travels and His apostolic work. Perhaps there have been times when the same thing has happened to you and you have ended up worn out, because you have reached the limit of your resources. It is a touching sight to see our Master so exhausted. He is hungry too: His disciples have gone to a neighboring village to look for food. And He is thirsty …].

“Whenever we get tired–in our work, in our studies, in our apostolic endeavors–when our horizon is darkened by lowering clouds, then let us turn our eyes to Jesus, to Jesus who is so good, and who also gets tired; to Jesus who is hungry and suffers thirst. Lord, how well you make yourself understood! How lovable you are! You show us that you are just like us, in everything but sin, so that we can feel utterly sure that, together with you, we can conquer all our evil inclinations, all our faults. For neither weariness nor hunger matters, nor thirst, nor tears…since Christ also grew weary, knew hunger, was thirsty, and wept. What is important is that we struggle to fulfill the will of our Heavenly Father, battling away goodheartedly, for our Lord is always at our side” ([St] J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 176 and 201).

7. Jesus has come to save what was lost. He spares no effort in this mission. The hostility between Jews and Samaritans was proverbial; but Jesus embraced everyone, He loved all souls and He shed His blood for each and every person. He begins His conversation with this woman, by asking a favor of her–which indicates God’s great respect for us: here we have Almighty God asking a mere creature to do Him a favor. “Give Me a drink”: Jesus makes this request not just to share His physical thirst but because His love made Him thirst for the salvation of all men. When nailed to the cross He again said: “I thirst” (John 19:28).
**
9. The Samaritan woman’s reply starts the dialogue and shows how well she is responding to the action of grace in her soul: her readiness to talk to Christ, who was a Jew, is the first stage in her change of heart. Later (verse 11), by taking a real interest in what Christ is saying, she opens up further to God’s influence. Her religious feelings begin to revive (“our father Jacob”: verse 12). Jesus rewards her and she replies truthfully: “I have no husband” (verse 17, omitted); and, seeing that Jesus has penetrated the intimacy of her conscience, she makes an act of faith: “I perceive that You are a prophet” (verse 19).
**
10. As in His dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus makes use of common expressions, to get across teachings of a much deeper nature. Everyone knows from experience that water is absolutely necessary for human life; similarly, the grace of Christ is absolutely necessary for supernatural life. The water which can truly quench man’s thirst does not come from this or any other well: it is Christ’s grace, the “living water” which provides eternal life.

Once again, taking occasion of human interests and preoccupations, Jesus awakes a desire for things supernatural; in the same way as He led St. Peter and others away from their work as fishermen to involve them in the apostolic work of being fishers of men, He leads the Samaritan woman away from her chore of drawing water from the well to the point where she desires to find this better water which wells up to eternal life (verse 14).

Continued on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

13-14. Our Lord’s reply is surprising and really captures the woman’s attention. Here is something greater than Jacob, someone offering her water that will quench her thirst once and for all. Christ is referring to the change worked in every person by sanctifying grace, a share in God’s own life, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the soul, the great gift which those who believe in Him will receive.

We worry about the future, we are full of desires to be happy and at peace; a person who receives our Lord and remains united to Him as a branch to the vine (cf. John 15:4-5) will not only slake his thirst but become a well of living water (cf. John 7:37-39).

**16-19. **Although the woman cannot yet realize the deep meaning of what He is saying, Jesus uses her growing interest to reveal to her His divinity, little by little: He shows that He knows about her life, the secrets of her heart; He can read her conscience. In this way, He gives her enough to motivate her to make her first act of faith: “I perceive that You are a prophet”. Her conversion has begun.
**
20. **The origin of the Samaritan people goes back to the period of the conquest of Samaria by the Assyrians in the eight century before Christ (cf. 2 Kings 13:24-31). They were foreigners who very quickly integrated with the Israelites in the region. After the Babylonian captivity they tried to ally themselves with the Jews for political reasons and to contribute to the rebuilding of the temple, but the Jews would have none of them. From that time onwards the Jews and the Samaritans were always hostile to each other (cf. Ezra 4:1ff; John 4:9).

On this occasion, the Samaritan woman, now fully aware that she is speaking to someone of authority, asks our Lord one of the key questions affecting the religious life of the two peoples: where was the right place to offer worship to God; the Jews held that only Jerusalem would do; whereas the Samaritans claimed that the shrine erected on Mount Gerizim was also legitimate (they based their claim on some passages in the Pentateuch: cf. Genesis 12:7; 33:20; 22:2).

**
21-24.** Jesus not only answers the question but takes advantage of it to confirm the value of the teachings of the prophets and thereby reaffirm revealed truth: the Samaritans are in the dark about many of God’s plans because they do not accept any revelation not found in the first five books of Sacred Scripture, that is, in the Law of Moses; the Jews, on the other hand, are much nearer the truth because they accept the whole of the Old Testament. But both Samaritans and Jews need to open themselves to the new Revelation of Jesus Christ. With the coming of the Messiah, whom both peoples are awaiting, and who is the true dwelling-place of God among men (cf. John 2:19), the new, definitive, Alliance has begun; and neither Gerizim nor Jerusalem count any more; what the Father wishes is for all to accept the Messiah, His Son, the new temple of God, by offering Him a form of worship which comes right from the heart (cf. John 12:1; 2 Timothy 2:22) and which the Spirit of God Himself stirs people to render (cf. Romans 8:15).

This is why the Church’s solemn Magisterium teaches that through Baptism we become true worshippers of God: “By Baptism men are grafted into the paschal mystery of Christ; they die with him, are buried with Him, and rise with Him. They receive the spirit of adoption as sons ‘in which we cry, Abba, Father’ (Romans 8:15) and thus become true adorers as the Father seeks” (Vatican II, “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 6).

Concluded on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

**
25-26.** This is the last stage in the Samaritan woman’s conversion: she has come from acknowledging her sins to accepting the true teaching about worshipping the Father in spirit and truth. But she still has to recognize Jesus as the Messiah; on this subject she simply confesses her ignorance. Seeing that she is favorably disposed, Jesus explicitly reveals that He is the Messiah: “I who speak to you am He”.

These words of our Lord are especially significant: He declares that He is the Messiah, and He uses words–‘I…am He"–which evoke the words Yahweh used to reveal Himself to Moses (cf. Exodus 3:14) and which on Jesus’ lips indicate a revelation not only of His messiahship but also of His divinity (cf. John 8:24, 28, 58; 18:6).

27. "During the course of His life on earth, Jesus our Lord had all manner of insults heaped upon Him and was mistreated in every way possible. Remember the way it was rumored that He was a trouble-maker and how He was said to possessed (cf. Matthew 11:18). At other times, demonstrations of His infinite Love were deliberately misinterpreted, and He was accused of being a friend of sinners (cf. Matthew 9:11).

"Later on He, who personified penance and moderation, was accused of haunting the tables of the rich (cf. Luke 19:7). He was also contemptuously referred to as “fabri filius” (Matthew 13:55), the carpenter’s son, the worker’s son, as if this were an insult. He allowed Himself to be denounced as a glutton and a drunkard…He let His enemies accuse Him of everything, except that He was not chaste. On this point He sealed their lips, because He wanted us to keep a vivid memory of His immaculate example–a wonderful example of purity, of cleanliness, of light, of a love that can set the whole world on fire in order to purify it.

"For myself, I always like to consider holy purity in the light of our Lord’s own behavior. In practicing this virtue, what refinement He showed! See what St. John says about Jesus when “fatigatus ex itinere, sedebat sic super fontem” (John 4:6), wearied as He was from the journey, He was sitting by the well. …]

"But tired though His body is, His thirst for souls is even greater. So when the Samaritan woman, the sinner, arrives, Christ with His priestly heart turns eagerly to save the lost sheep, and He forgets His tiredness, His hunger and His thirst.

Our Lord was busy with this great work of charity the Apostles came back from the village, and they “mirabantur quia cum muliere loquebatur” (John 4:27), they were astonished to find Him taking to a woman alone. How careful He was! What love He had for the beautiful virtue of holy purity, that virtue which helps us to be stronger, more manly, more fruitful, better able to work for God, and more capable of undertaking great things!" ([St] J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 176).

**28-30. **Grace brings about an amazing change in this woman. Now her whole thinking centers around Jesus; she forgets what brought her to the well’ she leaves her pitcher behind her and goes off to the town to tell people about her discovery. “The Apostles, when they were called, left their nets; this woman leaves her water jar and proclaims the Gospel, calling not just one person but influencing the whole city” (St. John Chrysostom, “Hom. on St. John”, 33). Every genuine conversion is necessarily projected towards others, in a desire to have them share in the joy of encountering Jesus.

32-38. Our Lord uses the occasion to speak about a spiritual form of food–doing the will of God. He has just brought about the conversion of a sinful woman and His spirit feels replete. The conversion of souls must be the Apostles’ food also, and the food of all those who through priestly ordination are sacramentally associated with Christ’s ministry (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9-15; 2 Corinthians 4:7-12; 11:27-29). Apostolic work sometimes means sowing, with no apparent results, and sometimes reaping where others sowed. The Apostles will reap what was generously sown by the patriarchs and prophets and especially by Christ. And they in their turn must prepare the ground, with the same generosity, so that others can later reap the harvest.

But it is not only ministers who have this apostolic role: all the faithful are called to take part in the work of apostolate: "Since all Christians have different gifts they should collaborate in the work of the Gospel, each according to his opportunity, ability, charism and ministry; all who sow and reap, plant and water, should be one so that ‘working together for the same end in a free and orderly manner’ they might together devote their powers to the building up of the Church (Vatican II, “Ad Gentes”, 28).

39-42. This episode shows a whole evangelization process at work, beginning with the Samaritan woman’s enthusiasm. 'The same think happens today with those who are outside, who are not Christians: they receive tidings of Christ through Christian friends; like that woman, they learn of Christ through the Church; then they come to Christ, that is, they believe in Christ through this report, and then Jesus stays two days among them and many more believe, and believe more firmly, that He indeed is the Savior of the world" (St. Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”, 15, 33).

http://olmc.hwcdsb.ca/site_data/56/Image/Mongiat/Religion/JesusAndWomanAtWell1.jpg

 

[Fidelis]

From the 1859 Haydock Commentary (you can find the Douay-Rheims text of the reading here):

**Ver. 5. **This is what Jacob gave to his son Joseph, when calling him to him just before he died, he said: (Genesis xlviii. ver. 22.) I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite, with my sword and bow. (Theophylactus) — It was thirty-six miles from Jerusalem, and the same place as Sichem, (Genesis xxxiv.) the capital of Samaria, now called Neplosa.
**
Ver. 10. **Thou didst know the gift of God; i.e. the favour now offered thee by my presence, of believing in me. — And he would have given thee living water, meaning divine graces; but the woman understood him literally of such water as was there in the well. (Witham)
**
Ver. 12. **The Samaritan woman says, our father Jacob; because the Samaritans claimed lineage from Abraham, who was himself a Chaldean; and they; therefore, called Jacob their father, because he was Abraham’s grandson. (St. Chrysostom) — Or she calls him their father because they lived under the law of Moses, and were in possession of that spot of ground which Jacob had bequeathed to his son Joseph. (Ven. Bede)

Ver. 13. Shall thirst again. After any water, or any drink, a man naturally thirsts again; but Christ speaks of the spiritual water of grace in this life, and of glory in the next, which will perfectly satisfy the desires of man’s immortal soul for ever.
**
Ver. 15.** Sir, give me this water. The woman, says St. Augustine, does not yet understand his meaning, but longs for water, after which she should never thirst. (Witham)

Ver. 16. Call thy husband. Christ begins to shew her that he knows her life, to make her know him and herself. (Witham)
**
Ver. 20.** Our fathers adored on this mountain, &c. She means Jacob and the ancient patriarchs, whom the Samaritans called their fathers; and by the mountain, that of Garizim, where the Samaritans had built a temple, and where they would have all persons adore,* and not at Jerusalem*; now she had a curiosity to hear what Christ would say of these two temples, and of the different worship of the Jews and of the Samaritans. (Witham) — Sichem was at the foot of Mount Garizim. The Samaritans supposed the patriarchs had exercised their religious acts on this mountain. (Bible de Vence) — Josephus (Antiquities, lib. xiii. chap. 6.) gives the dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans. Both parties referred themselves to the arbitration of king Ptolemy Philometer, who gave judgment in favour of the Jews, upon their stating the antiquity of their temple, and the uninterrupted succession of the priesthood, officiating there throughout all ages. In this controversy, the intelligent reader will see some resemblance to that which subsists between Catholics and Protestants. See Dr. Kellison’s Survey of the New Religion, p. 129. — The woman in this place must mean offering sacrifice, for adoration was never limited to any particular place. It is clear from 3 Kings ix. 3. from 2 Paralipomenon vii. 12. that God had chosen the temple of Jerusalem; but the Samaritans rejected all the books of Scripture, except the Pentateuch of Moses. The schism was begun by Manasses, a fugitive priest, that he might hold his unlawful wife thereby, and obtain superiority in schism; which he could not do whilst he remained in the unity of his brethren. How forcibly do these circumstances remind us of a much later promoter of schism, king Henry VIII. It is true the Protestants appeal to the primitive Christians, as the Samaritans appealed to the patriarchs, but in the argument both must stand or fall by the incontrovertible proof of continual succession.

Concluded on the next post…