Hope and Testing

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to act in faith and dialogue with the people at our well about a fulfilling life.

The Living Water

The Reading from the Book of Exodus presents Water from the Rock

* [17:7] Massah…Meribah: Hebrew words meaning, respectively, “the place of the test” and “the place of strife, of quarreling.” (Exodus, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 95 calls the people to praise and worship God

* [Psalm 95] Twice the Psalm calls the people to praise and worship God (Ps 95:1–2, 6), the king of all creatures (Ps 95:3–5) and shepherd of the flock (Ps 95:7a, 7b). The last strophe warns the people to be more faithful than were their ancestors in the journey to the promised land (Ps 95:7c–11). This invitation to praise God regularly opens the Church’s official prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours. (Psalms, PSALM 95 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans proclaims Faith, Hope, and Love

* [5:1–11] Popular piety frequently construed reverses and troubles as punishment for sin; cf. Jn 9:2. Paul therefore assures believers that God’s justifying action in Jesus Christ is a declaration of peace. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ displays God’s initiative in certifying humanity for unimpeded access into the divine presence. Reconciliation is God’s gift of pardon to the entire human race. Through faith one benefits personally from this pardon or, in Paul’s term, is justified. The ultimate aim of God is to liberate believers from the pre-Christian self as described in Rom 1–3. Since this liberation will first find completion in the believer’s resurrection, salvation is described as future in Rom 5:10. Because this fullness of salvation belongs to the future it is called the Christian hope. Paul’s Greek term for hope does not, however, suggest a note of uncertainty, to the effect: “I wonder whether God really means it.” Rather, God’s promise in the gospel fills believers with expectation and anticipation for the climactic gift of unalloyed commitment in the holy Spirit to the performance of the will of God. The persecutions that attend Christian commitment are to teach believers patience and to strengthen this hope, which will not disappoint them because the holy Spirit dwells in their hearts and imbues them with God’s love (Rom 5:5). (Romans, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John presents Jesus encounter with The Samaritan Woman.

* [4:4] He had to: a theological necessity; geographically, Jews often bypassed Samaria by taking a route across the Jordan.

* [4:5] Sychar: Jerome identifies this with Shechem, a reading found in Syriac manuscripts.

* [4:9] Samaritan women were regarded by Jews as ritually impure, and therefore Jews were forbidden to drink from any vessel they had handled.

* [4:10] Living water: the water of life, i.e., the revelation that Jesus brings; the woman thinks of “flowing water,” so much more desirable than stagnant cistern water. On John’s device of such misunderstanding, cf. note on Jn 3:3.

* [4:11] Sir: the Greek kyrios means “master” or “lord,” as a respectful mode of address for a human being or a deity; cf. Jn 4:19. It is also the word used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew ’adônai, substituted for the tetragrammaton YHWH.

* [4:20] This mountain: Gerizim, on which a temple was erected in the fourth century B.C. by Samaritans to rival Mount Zion in Jerusalem; cf. Dt 27:4 (Mount Ebal = the Jews’ term for Gerizim).

* [4:23] In Spirit and truth: not a reference to an interior worship within one’s own spirit. The Spirit is the spirit given by God that reveals truth and enables one to worship God appropriately (Jn 14:16–17). Cf. “born of water and Spirit” (Jn 3:5).

* [4:25] The expectations of the Samaritans are expressed here in Jewish terminology. They did not expect a messianic king of the house of David but a prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15).

* [4:26] I am he: it could also be translated “I am,” an Old Testament self-designation of Yahweh (Is 43:3, etc.); cf. Jn 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5–6, 8. See note on Mk 6:50.

* [4:27] Talking with a woman: a religious and social restriction that Jesus is pictured treating as unimportant.

* [4:35] ‘In four months… ’: probably a proverb; cf. Mt 9:37–38.

* [4:36] Already: this word may go with the preceding verse rather than with Jn 4:36.

* [4:39] The woman is presented as a missionary, described in virtually the same words as the disciples are in Jesus’ prayer (Jn 17:20). (John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Larry Gillick, SJ comments on the Readings today.

A Spring of Water Welling up to Eternal Life

Don Schwager quotes “The Living Water of the Spirit,” by John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD.

Sometimes Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit "fire," other times it calls it "water." In this way, it shows that these names are not descriptive of its essence but of its operation. For the Spirit, which is invisible and simple, cannot be made up of different substances... In the same way that he calls the Spirit by the name of "fire," alluding to the rousing and warming property of grace and its power of destroying sins, he calls it "water" in order to highlight the cleansing it does and the great refreshment it provides those minds that receive it. For it makes the willing soul like a kind of garden, thick with all kinds of fruitful and productive trees, allowing it neither to feel despondency nor the plots of Satan. It quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the readings today.

The Word Among Us Meditation is on Exodus 17:3-7.

An Illusion of Separateness

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, explores a broad definition of the word “sin”:

We seek the Wisdom and Calm of the Spirit to engage the people on our journey about our “living water” that is our faith in Christ.

References

Exodus, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/17?3 

John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/4?5 

Psalms, PSALM 95 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/95?1 

Romans, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/5?1 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). A Spring of Water Welling up to Eternal Life. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/