Daily Readings - Sun Mar 12 2023
Exodus
3But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"4Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."5The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.6I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.7And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
Romans
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John
5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. )10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."19"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."25The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."26Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.41And because of his words many more became believers.42They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter powerful reminders of God’s providence and the gift of faith. The first reading from Exodus describes the Israelites’ thirst in the wilderness and their murmuring against Moses. Despite their lack of trust, God provides water from the rock, a prefiguration of the living water Jesus offers. The second reading from Romans emphasizes the peace and hope that come from being justified by faith. Paul highlights God’s love, demonstrated in Christ’s willingness to die for sinners, a sacrifice that transcends human understanding. The Gospel from John presents Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, where he reveals himself as the source of living water, satisfying the deepest thirst of the human soul. This encounter also touches on the theme of worship, as Jesus explains that true worship is not bound by place but is offered in spirit and truth.
These readings are deeply connected, as they all point to the gift of God’s grace and the transformative power of faith. In Exodus, the Israelites’ physical thirst mirrors the spiritual thirst that Jesus addresses in the Gospel. Paul’s letter to the Romans bridges these two accounts by explaining how faith opens us to God’s love and hope. Together, they remind us that God’s love is not earned but freely given, and that true life comes from trusting in him.
In our daily lives, these readings invite us to reflect on our own thirsts and doubts. Like the Israelites, we may feel frustrated or uncertain in challenging times, but God remains our rock. Like the Samaritan woman, we may feel unworthy or disconnected, but Jesus offers us living water that quenches our deepest longings. Like Paul, we are called to trust in God’s love, even when it seems inexplicable. Let us turn to God with faith, trusting that he will provide for us, and let us worship him in spirit and truth, for he is the source of all life and hope.