Daily
Gospel for Saturday, 22 March 2014 & Sunday, 23 March 2014
"Simon
Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal
life." John 6:68
Saturday
of the Second Week of Lent & Third Sunday of Lent - Year A
Saints of the Day:
Blessed
Clemens August von Galen
Bishop
of Münster
(1933-1946)
Clemens
August von Galen was born on 16 March 1878 in Dinklage Castle, Oldenburg,
Germany, the 11th of 13 children born to Count Ferdinand Heribert and Elisabeth
von Spee.
His
father belonged to the noble family of Westphalia, who since 1660 governed the
village of Dinklage. For over two centuries his ancestors carried out the
inherited office of camerlengo of the Diocese of Münster.
Clemens
August grew up in Dinklage Castle and in other family seats. Due to the
struggle between Church and State, he and his brothers were sent to a school
run by the Jesuits in Feldkirch, Austria.
He
remained there until 1894, when he transferred to the Antonianum in Vechta.
After graduation, he studied philosophy and theology in Frebur, Innsbruck and
Münster, and was ordained a priest on 28 May 1904 for the Diocese of Münster by
Bishop Hermann Dingelstadt.
Parish
priest, concern for poor
His
first two years as a priest were spent as vicar of the diocesan cathedral where
he became chaplain to his uncle, Bishop Maximilian Gerion von Galen.
From
1906 to 1929, Fr von Galen carried out much of his pastoral activity outside
Münster: in 1906 he was made chaplain of
the parish of St Matthias in Berlin-Schönberg; from 1911 to 1919 he was curate
of a new parish in Berlin before becoming parish priest of the Basilica of St
Matthias in Berlin-Schönberg, where he served for 10 years; here, he was
particularly remembered for his special concern for the poor and outcasts.
In
1929, Fr von Galen was called back to Münster when Bishop Johannes Poggenpohl
asked him to serve as parish priest of the Church of St Lambert.
"Nec
laudibus, nec timore'
In
January 1933, Bishop Poggenpohl died, leaving the See vacant. After two
candidates refused, on September 5, 1933 Fr Clemens was appointed Bishop of
Münster by Pope Pius XI.
On October
28, 1933 he was consecrated by Cardinal Joseph Schulte, Archbishop of Cologne;
Bishop von Galen was the first diocesan Bishop to be consecrated under Hitler's
regime.
As his
motto, he chose the formula of the rite of episcopal consecration: "Nec laudibus, nec timore" (Neither
praise nor threats will distance me from God).
Throughout
the 20 years that Bishop von Galen was curate and parish priest in Berlin, he
wrote on various political and social issues; in a pastoral letter dated 26
March 1934, he wrote very clearly and critically on the "neopaganism of
the national socialist ideology".
Due to
his outspoken criticism, he was called to Rome by Pope Pius XI in 1937 together
with the Bishop of Berlin, to confer with them on the situation in Germany and
speak of the eventual publication of an Encyclical.
On 14
March 1937 the Encyclical "Mit brennender Sorge" (To the Bishops of
Germany: The place of the Catholic Church in the German Reich) was published.
It was widely circulated by Bishop von Galen, notwithstanding Nazi opposition.
"Lion
of Munster'
In the
summer of 1941, in answer to unwarranted attacks by the National Socialists,
Bishop von Galen delivered three admonitory sermons between July and August. He
spoke in his old parish Church of St Lambert and in Liebfrauen-Ueberlassen
Church, since the diocesan cathedral had been bombed.
In his
famous speeches, Bishop von Galen spoke out against the State confiscation of
Church property and the programmatic euthanasia carried out by the regime.
The
clarity and incisiveness of his words and the unshakable fidelity of Catholics
in the Diocese of Münster embarrassed the Nazi regime, and on 10 October 1943
the Bishop's residence was bombed. Bishop von Galen was forced to take refuge
in nearby Borromeo College.
From 12
September 1944 on, he could no longer remain in the city of Münster, destroyed
by the war; he left for the zone of Sendenhorst.
In
1945, Vatican Radio announced that Pope Pius XII was to hold a Consistory and
that the Bishop of Münster was also to be present.
Creation
of a Cardinal
After a
long and difficult journey, due to the war and other impediments, Bishop von
Galen finally arrived in the "Eternal City". On 21 February 1946 the
Public Consistory was held in St Peter's Basilica and Bishop von Galen was
created a Cardinal.
On 16
March 1946 the 68-year-old Cardinal returned to Münster. He was cordially
welcomed back by the city Authorities and awarded honorary citizenship by the
burgomaster.
On the
site of what remained of the cathedral, Cardinal von Galen gave his first (and
what would be his last) discourse to the more than 50,000 people who had
gathered, thanking them for their fidelity to the then-Bishop of Münster during
the National Socialist regime. He explained that as a Bishop, it was his duty
to speak clearly and plainly about what was happening.
No one
knew that the Cardinal was gravely ill, and when he returned to Münster on 19
March 1946 he had to undergo an operation.
Cardinal
von Galen died just three days later, on 22 March. He was buried on 28 March in
the Ludgerus Chapel, which has become a place of pilgrimage to this defender of
the faith in the face of political oppression. - Copyright © Libreria Editrice
Vaticana
Saint
Nicholas Owen
Feastday:
March 22
Birth:
1550
Death:
1606
Nicholas
was born at Oxford, England. He became a carpenter or builder and served the
Jesuit priests in England for two decades by constructing hiding places for
them in mansions throughout the country. He became a Jesuit lay brother in
1580, and was arrested in 1594 with Father John Gerard, and despite prolonged
torture would not give the names of any of his Catholic colleagues; he was
released on the payment of a ransom by a wealthy Catholic. Nicholas is believed
responsible for Father Gerard's dramatic escape from the Tower of London in
1597. Nicholas was again arrested in 1606 with Father Henry Garnet, who he had
served eighteen years, Father Oldcorne, and Father Oldcorne's servant, Brother
Ralph Ashley, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Nicholas was subjected to
such vicious torture that he died of it on March 2nd. He was known as Little
John and Little Michael and used the aliases of Andrews and Draper. He was
canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and
Wales. His feast is March 22nd.
Saint
Lea
Feastday:
March 22
A
letter which St. Jerome wrote to St. Marcella provides the only information we
have about St. Lea, a devout fourth century widow. Upon the death of her
husband, she retired to a Roman monastery and ultimately became its Superior.
Since his correspondence was acquainted with the details of St. Lea's life, St.
Jerome omitted these in his letter. He concentrated instead on the fate of St.
Lea in comparison with that of a consul who had recently died. "Who will
praise the blessed Lea as she deserves? She renounced painting her face and
adorning her head with shining pearls. She exchanged her rich attire for
sackcloth, and ceased to command others in order to obey all. She dwelt in a
corner with a few bits of furniture; she spent her nights in prayer, and
instructed her companions through her example rather than through protests and
speeches. And she looked forward to her arrival in heaven in order to receive
her recompense for the virtues which she practiced on earth. "So it is
that thence forth she enjoyed perfect happiness. From Abraham's bosom, where
she resides with Lazarus, she sees our consul who was once decked out in
purple, now vested in a shameful robe, vainly begging for a drop of water to
quench his thirst. Although he went up to the capital to the plaudits of the
people, and his death occasioned widespread grief, it is futile for the wife to
assert that he has gone to heaven and possesses a great mansion there. The fact
is that he is plunged into the darkness outside, whereas Lea who was willing to
be considered a fool on earth, has been received into the house of the Father,
at the wedding feast of the Lamb. "Hence, I tearfully beg you to refrain
from seeking the favors of the world and to renounce all that is carnal. It is
impossible to follow both the world and Jesus. Let us live a life of
renunciation, for our bodies will soon be dust and nothing else will last any
longer." Her feast day is March 22.
SAINT
TURIBIUS of MONGROVEJO
Archbishop
of Lima
(1538-1606)
Turibius
Alphonsus Mongrovejo, whose feast the Church honors on April 27th, was born on
the 6th of November, 1538, at Mayorga in the kingdom of Leon in Spain. Brought
up in a pious family where devotion was hereditary, his youth was a model to
all who knew him. All his leisure was given to devotion or to works of charity.
His austerities were great, and he frequently made long pilgrimages on foot.
The
fame of Turibius as a master of canon and civil law soon reached the ears of
King Philip II., who made him judge at Granada. About that time the see of
Lima, in Peru, fell vacant, and among those proposed Philip found no one who
seemed better endowed than our Saint with all the qualities that were required
at that city, where much was to be done for religion. He sent to Rome the name
of the holy judge, and the Sovereign Pontiff confirmed his choice. Turibius in
vain sought to avoid the honor. The Pope, in reply, directed him to prepare to
receive Holy Orders and be consecrated. Yielding at last by direction of his
confessor, he was ordained priest and consecrated.
He
arrived at Lima in 1587, and entered on his duties. All was soon edification
and order in his episcopal city. A model of all virtue himself, he confessed
daily and prepared for Mass by long meditation. St. Turibius then began a
visitation of his vast diocese, which he traversed three times, his first
visitation lasting seven years and his second four. He held provincial
councils, framing decrees of such wisdom that his regulations were adopted in
many countries. Almost his entire revenues were bestowed on his creditors, as
he styled the poor.
While
discharging with zeal his duties he was seized with a fatal illness during his
third visitation, and died on the 23d of March, 1606, at Santa, exclaiming, as
he received the sacred Viaticum: "I rejoiced in the things that were said
to me: 'We shall go into the house of the Lord.'"
The
proofs of his holy life and of the favors granted through his intercession
induced Pope Innocent XI to beatify him, and he was canonized by Pope Benedict
XIII in the year 1726.
Lives
of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
STS.
VICTORIAN AND OTHERS
Martyrs
(+ 484)
Huneric,
the Arian king of the Vandals in Africa, succeeded his father Genseric in 477.
He behaved himself at first with moderation towards the Catholics, but in 480
he began a grievous persecution of the clergy and holy virgins, which in 484
became general, and vast numbers of Catholics were put to death.
Victorian,
one of the principal lords of the kingdom, had been made governor of Carthage,
with the Roman title of Proconsul. He was the wealthiest subject of the king,
who placed great confidence in him, and he had ever behaved with an inviolable
fidelity.
The
king, after he had published his cruel edicts, sent a message to the proconsul,
promising, if he would conform to his religion, to heap on him the greatest
wealth and the highest honors which it was in the power of a prince to bestow.
The
proconsul, who amidst the glittering pomps of the world perfectly understood
its emptiness, made this generous answer: "Tell the king that I trust in
Christ. His Majesty may condemn me to any torments, but I shall never consent
to renounce the Catholic Church, in which I have been baptized. Even if there
were no life after this, I would never be ungrateful and perfidious to God, Who
has granted me the happiness of knowing Him, and bestowed on me His most
precious graces."
The
tyrant became furious at this answer, nor can the tortures be imagined which he
caused the Saint to endure. Victorian suffered them with joy, and amidst them
finished his glorious martyrdom.
The
Roman Martyrology joins with him on this day four others who were crowned in
the same persecution.
Two
brothers, who were apprehended for the faith, had promised each other, if
possible, to die together; and they begged of God, as a favor, that they might
both suffer the same torments. The persecutors hung them in the air with great
weights at their feet. One of them, under the excess of pain, begged to be
taken down for a little ease. His brother, fearing that this might move him to
deny his faith, cried out from the rack, "God forbid, dear brother, that
you should ask such a thing. Is this what we promised to Jesus Christ?"
The other was so wonderfully encouraged that he cried out, "No, no; I ask
not to be released; increase my tortures, exert all your cruelties till they
are exhausted upon me." They were then burned with red-hot plates of iron,
and tormented so long that the executioners at last left them, saying,
"Everybody follows their example! no one now embraces our religion."
This they said chiefly because, notwithstanding these brothers had been so long
and so grievously tormented, there were no scars or bruises to be seen upon
them.
Two
merchants of Carthage, who both bore the name of Frumentius, suffered martyrdom
about the sane time. Among many glorious confessors at that time, one
Liberatus, an eminent physician, was sent into banishment with his wife. He
only grieved to see his infant children torn from him. His wife checked his
tears by these words: "Think no more of them: Jesus Christ Himself will
have care of them and protect their souls." Whilst in prison she was told
that her husband had conformed. Accordingly, when she met him at the bar before
judge, she upbraided him in open court for having basely abandoned God; but discovered
by his answer that a cheat had been put upon her to deceive her into her ruin.
Twelve young children, when dragged away by the persecutors, held their
companions by the knees till they were torn away by violence. They were most
cruelly beaten and scourged every day for a long time; yet by God's grace every
one of them persevered in the faith to the end of the persecution.
Lives
of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saturday
of the Second Week of Lent & Third Sunday of Lent - Year A
Micah
7: 14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your heritage,
who dwell by themselves in a forest,
in the middle of fertile pasture land, let
them feed;
in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of
old.
15 “As
in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them marvelous things.”
18 Who
is a God like you, who pardons iniquity,
and passes over the disobedience of the
remnant of his heritage?
He
doesn’t retain his anger forever,
because he delights in loving kindness.
19 He
will again have compassion on us.
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
and you will cast all their sins into the
depths of the sea.
20 You
will give truth to Jacob,
and mercy to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers from the
days of old.
Psalm
103: By David.
1
Praise Yahweh, my soul!
All that is within me, praise his holy
name!
2
Praise Yahweh, my soul,
and don’t forget all his benefits;
3 who
forgives all your sins;
who heals all your diseases;
4 who
redeems your life from destruction;
who crowns you with loving kindness and
tender mercies;
9 He
will not always accuse;
neither will he stay angry forever.
10 He
has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us for our iniquities.
11 For
as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his loving kindness toward
those who fear him.
12 As
far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions
from us.
Exodus
17: 3 The people were thirsty for water there; and the people murmured against
Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our
children, and our livestock with thirst?”
4 Moses
cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost
ready to stone me.”
5
Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel
with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike
the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did
so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place
Massah,[a] and Meribah,[b] because the children of Israel quarreled, and
because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”
Footnotes:
a. Exodus 17:7 Massah means testing.
b. Exodus
17:7 Meribah means quarreling.
Psalm
95:1 Oh come, let’s sing to Yahweh.
Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our
salvation!
2 Let’s
come before his presence with thanksgiving.
Let’s extol him with songs!
6 Oh
come, let’s worship and bow down.
Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,
7 for
he is our God.
We are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep in his care.
Today,
oh that you would hear his voice!
8 Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 when
your fathers tempted me,
tested me, and saw my work.
Romans
5:1 Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ; 2 through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace
in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
5 and
hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were yet
weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die
for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare
to die. 8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
Holy
Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 15:1 Now all the tax collectors
and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. 2 The Pharisees and the
scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
3 He
told them this parable.
11 He
said, “A certain man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father,
‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between
them. 13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and
traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country,
and he began to be in need. 15 He went and joined himself to one of the
citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He
wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him
any. 17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my
father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! 18 I will get
up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and in your sight. 19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make
me as one of your hired servants.”’
20 “He
arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw
him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed
him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your
sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But
the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him.
Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf, kill
it, and let us eat, and celebrate; 24 for this, my son, was dead, and is alive
again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.
25 “Now
his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music
and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going
on. 27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the
fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ 28 But he
was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and
I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I
might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this, your son, came, who has
devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31 “He
said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32
But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was
dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
John
4:5 So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground
that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore,
being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth
hour.[a] 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a
drink.” 8 For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 The
Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask
for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with
Samaritans.)
10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to
you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you
living water.”
11 The
woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.
So where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father,
Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and
his livestock?”
13
Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, 14
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again;
but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing
up to eternal life.”
15 The
woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty,
neither come all the way here to draw.”
16
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The
woman answered, “I have no husband.”
Jesus
said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands;
and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”
19 The
woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers
worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place
where people ought to worship.”
21
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this
mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. 22 You worship that
which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the
Jews. 23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The
woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he
has come, he will declare to us all things.”
26
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.” 27 At this, his
disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one
said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?” 28 So the
woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people,
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”
30 They
went out of the city, and were coming to him. 31 In the meanwhile, the
disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But
he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The
disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to
eat?”
34
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to
accomplish his work. 35 Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the
harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that
they are white for harvest already. 36 He who reaps receives wages, and gathers
fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice
together. 37 For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ 38
I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and
you have entered into their labor.”
39 From
that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the
woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.” 40 So when the
Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two
days. 41 Many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman,
“Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves,
and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
Footnotes:
a. John
4:6 noon
Saturday
of the Second Week of Lent & Third Sunday of Lent - Year A
Commentary for Today:
Saint Romanos Melodios (?-c.560), composer of hymns
Hymn 55 ; SC 283
"Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on
him"
How many there are who, through repentance, have been
worthy to receive the love you hold for humankind. You justified the anguished
publican and the weeping woman who was a sinner (Lk 18.14; 7,50) for, through a
predetermined design, you foresee and grant pardon. Convert me also together
with them, you who desire that all should be saved.
My soul was soiled as it put on the garment of its
sins (Gn 3,21). O let me make fountains flow from my eyes that I may purify it
by repentance. Clothe me with the shining robe worthy of your wedding (Mt
22,12), you who desire that all should be saved...
O heavenly Father, have compassion for my cry as you
did for the prodigal son, for I, too, am throwing myself at your feet and
crying aloud as he cried: “Father, I have sinned!” Do not reject me your
unworthy child, O my Savior, but cause your angels to rejoice also on my
behalf, O God of goodness who desire that all should be saved.
For you have made me your child and your own heir
through grace (Rm 8,17). Yet as for me, because I have offended you, am here a
prisoner, an unhappy slave sold over to sin! Take pity on your own image (Gn
1,26) and call it back from exile, O Savior, you who desire that all should be
saved...
Now is the time for repentance... The words of Paul
urge me to persevere in prayer (Col 4,2) and await you. Therefore with trust I
pray for I well know your mercy, I know you come the first towards me and I am
calling out for help. Should you delay it is to give me the reward for
perseverance, you who desire that all should be saved.
Grant me always to extol you and give you glory by
leading a life that is pure. Grant that my deeds may be in accord with my words
that I may sing to you, Almighty... with pure prayer, Christ alone who desires
that all should be saved.
Saint Maximus of Turin (?-c.420), Bishop
CC Sermon 22 ; PL 57, 477
"The woman left her water jar and went into the
town and said: ' Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he
possibly be the Messiah? ' "
“Water quenches a flaming fire and alms atone for sin”
(Sir 3,29): water is compared to mercy. But just as water flows from a source,
so must I search for the source of mercy. And I have found it in the prophet:
“With you is the source of life and in your light we see light” (Ps 35[36],10).
It is indeed he who in the Gospel asks for water from
the Samaritan woman... Our Savior asks the woman for water and pretends to be
thirsty so he can pass on eternal grace to the thirsty. For indeed, the source
cannot be thirsty and he in whom living water is to be found cannot drink the
polluted water of this earth. Was Christ thirsty? Indeed he was thirsty but not
for our drink but for our salvation. He was thirsty, not for earth's water but
for the redemption of humankind.
Christ the source, seated at the well, miraculously
causes the waters of mercy to spring up from that same location. A woman who
has already had six lovers is purified by the waves of living water. Oh what a
wonder! A loose woman who has come to the well of Samaria returns chaste from
Jesus' source! Having come in search of water, she departs with virtue. She
immediately confesses to the sins to which Jesus alludes, she recognizes the
Christ and proclaims the Savior. She leaves her water jar behind and... in its
place brings grace back with her to the village; relieved of her burden, she
returns laden with holiness... She who came a sinner returns a prophetess.
-------
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