A Thirst for Holiness: reflections and insights on the Third Sunday of Lent

Hello there, again!

I will post twice this week. This one is for the Third Sunday in the Lenten Season, while I will also post tomorrow the propers on the Solemnity of the Annunciation. It's also been a year since I graduated from college, so pardon me if I will intersperse in these back-to-back reflections some "throwback thoughts" that I failed to write on a Thursday (well, I hope you all know what I mean).

Here we go…

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READINGS AND PROPERS

Extraordinary Form (Third Sunday in Lent)

[STATION AT ST. LAWRENCE'S OUTSIDE THE WALLS]

INTROIT ¤ Ps. 24. 15, 16

Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quia ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos: repice in me, et miserere mei, quoniam unicus et pauper sum ego. -- Ad te, Domine, levavi animam meam: Deus meus, in te confido, non erubescam. V.: Gloria Patri . . . -- Oculi mei semper ad Dominum . . .

My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for He shall pluck my feet out of the snare: look Thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor. -- (Ps. 24. 1, 2). To Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in Thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me be not ashamed. V.: Glory to the Father . . . -- My eyes are ever towards the Lord . . .

The Gloria is not said.

   COLLECT.--We beseech Thee, O almighty God, look upon the desires of Thy humble servants: and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to be our defense. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth . . .

EPISTLE ¤ Ephesians 5. 1-9

Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians.

[Let us live as children of the light, performing actions good, just and true.]

   Brethren, Be ye followers of God, as most dear children: and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. For know you this, and undersatnd, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person, which is a serving of idols, hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them. For you were heretofore darkness: but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth.

GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 9. 20, 4

Exsurge, Domine, non praevaleat homo: judicenter gentes in conspectu tuo. V.: In convertendo inimicum meum retrorsum, infirmabuntur, et peribunt a facie tua.

Arise, O Lord, and let not man be strengthened; let the Gentiles be judged in Thy sight. V.: When the enemy shall be turned back, they shall be weakened and perish before Thy face.

TRACT ¤ Ps. 122. 1-3

Ad te levavi oculos meos, qui habitas in coelis. V.: Ecce sicut oculi servorum in manibus dominorum suorum. V.: Et sicut oculi ancillae in manibus dominae suae: ita oculi nostri ad Dominum Deum nostrum donec misereatur nostri. V.: Miserere nobis, Domine, miserere nobis.

To Thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven. V.: Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters. V.: And as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us. V.: Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

GOSPEL ¤ Luke 11. 14-28

† Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke.

[Our Lord is in open conflict with Satan. He disarms him and expels him from the body of one possessed.]

   At that time Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb. And when He had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke, and the multitudes were in admiration by it. But some of them said: He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. And others, tempting, asked of Him a sign from heaven. But He, seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? But if I by the finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he is come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck. But He said: Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.

OFFERTORY ¤ Ps. 18. 9-12

Justitiae Domini rectae, laetificantes corda, et judicia ejus dulciora super mel et facum: nam et servus tuus custodit ea.

The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and His judgments are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb: for Thy servant keepeth them.

   SECRET.--May this victim, O Lord, we beseech Thee, cleanse away our sins: and sanctify the bodies and minds of Thy servants for the celebration of the sacrifice. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . . .

PREFACE

Preface for Lent

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere: Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus. Qui corporali jejunio vitia comprimis, mentem elevas, virtutem largiris et praemia: per Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem majestatem tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Coeli, coelorumque Virtutes, ac beata Seraphim, socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti jubeas deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes:

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who by this bodily fast, dost curb our vices, dost lift up our minds and bestow on us strength and rewards; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:

COMMUNION ¤ Ps. 83. 4, 5

Passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum ubi reponat pullos suos: altaria tua, Domine virtutem, Rex meus, et Deus meus: beati qui habitant in domo tua, in saeculum saeculi laudabunt te.

The sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest, where she may lay her young ones: Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God: blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they shall praise Thee for ever and ever.

   POSTCOMMUNION.--In Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, do Thou from all guilt and peril absolve us, whom Thou grantest to be sharers in so great a mystery. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who . . .

Ordinary Form (Third Sunday of Lent)

Prophecy: Ex. 17:3-7

In those days: 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? And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me. 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. 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: And he called the name of that place Temptation, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord amongst us or not?

Responsorial: Ps. 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R: If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.

Come let us praise the Lord with joy:

let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;

and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.

Come let us adore and fall down:

and weep before the Lord that made us.

For he is the Lord our God:

and we are the people of his pasture

and the sheep of his hand.

To day if you shall hear his voice,

harden not your hearts:

As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness:

where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.

Epistle: Rom. 5:1-2, 5-8 (1-8)

Brethren: Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: 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.

(And not only so: but we glory also in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience trial; and trial hope;)

And hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost who is given to us. For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, die for the ungodly? For scarce for a just man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some one would dare to die. But God commendeth his charity towards us: because when as yet we were sinners according to the time.

Gospel: Jn. 4:5-42

At that time: Jesus cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sichar, near the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour.

There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her: Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: How dost thou, being a Jew; ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her: If thou didst know the gift of God and who he is that saith to thee: Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith to him: Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank thereof, himself and his children and his cattle?

Jesus answered and said to her: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him shall not thirst for ever. But the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.

The woman said to him: Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw. Jesus saith to her: Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

The woman answered and said: I have no husband. Jesus said to her: Thou hast said well: I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands: and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. This, thou hast said truly.

The woman saith to him: Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers adored on this mountain: and you say that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore.

Jesus saith to her: Woman, believe me that the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, adore the Father. You adore that which you know not: we adore that which we know. For salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore him. God is a spirit: and they that adore him must adore him in spirit and in truth.

The woman saith to him: I know that the Messias cometh (who is called Christ): therefore, when he is come, he will tell us all things.

Jesus saith to her: I am he, who am speaking with thee.

And immediately his disciples came. And they wondered that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said: What seekest thou? Or: Why talkest thou with her?

The woman therefore left her waterpot and went her way into the city and saith to the men there: Come, and see a man who has told me all things whatsoever I have done. Is not he the Christ? They went therefore out of the city and came unto him.

In the mean time, the disciples prayed him, saying: Rabbi, eat. But he said to them: I have meat to eat which you know not. The disciples therefore said one to another: Hath any man brought him to eat? Jesus saith to them: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that I may perfect his work. Do not you say: There are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the countries. For they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life everlasting: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. For in this is the saying true: That it is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth. I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labour. Others have laboured: and you have entered into their labours.

Now of that city many of the Samaritans believed in him, for the word of the woman giving testimony: He told me all things whatsoever I have done. So when the Samaritans were come to him, they desired that he would tarry there. And he abode there two days.

And many more believed in him, because of his own word. And they said to the woman: We now believe, not for thy saying: for we ourselves have heard him and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.

 

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REFLECTIONS AND INSIGHTS

We thirst. We always will. It comes in different aspects; but the greatest thirst that we may experience is the thirst for holiness.

In the Gospels of both Forms, we see that this thirst for holiness is both transcending all others (as the Lord endorsed the everlasting "water" in which those who drink it shall never thirst anymore); and is constant (wherein the Lord also cast out demons and explained that apart from Him, no man can do anything (cf. Jn. 15:5)).

The concept of being thirsty is mainly located in the Readings of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite: starting from the story of the Israelites grumbling out of thirst that they threatened Moses to do something lest he be stoned by them; to the exhortation of St. Paul to the Romans that we thirst for grace and that only God can satisfy it by sending His only Son to take away the sin of the world and pour out the Holy Spirit to all men; to the story of the Samaritan woman whom Jesus have conversed one (very) hot afternoon. (Well, we have to understand that Israel and the Palestine area is part desert, part hills, and part lowlands; so I hope you got what I said.)

As for the two readings of the Old Rite, we tackle in the Gospel that Jesus casted out demons in His own power; yet some in the crowd criticised Him for casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub. Because of this, He explained that "a house is not a house if its members are divided". This also means the same for Holy Mother Church, which is suffering division from within as much as She is suffering persecution from without. In the end most of those who witnessed our Lord speak praised Him, and in the case of the woman mentioned near the end of the Gospel, praised the Blessed Virgin Mary, in whose womb He was bourne.

So what is the bottom line?

We thirst for Christ.

He Himself who exclaimed "I thirst" in the cross, is the one who satisfies our thirst for grace, which only comes from Him. Although only the priest can drink the Blood of Christ in the appearance of wine at Mass, we believe that we are receiving the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus every time we receive Holy Communion; that although His Body is broken and divided and although we cannot receive Him in the appearance of wine, we still receive Him whole and entire.

In a rather poor (and maybe unofficial) comparison, we who thirst for Christ are divided by our whims, specifications, talents, graces, and vocations, yet we remain (and continually strive to be) united under one roof: the Church. We remain to be the Mystical Body of Christ because we always long for Him who is the Head of that Mystical Body.

In a personal note: The mercy of the Lord gave me hope, and although I am not paid for devoting more than six hours just to compose these reflections, in addition to being not recognised for being a staunch Catholic in a school which should be promoting their products who promote Catholicism in the real world as result of the inspiration they have within the classroom, I feel contented that I have done my little and insignificant opinion and insight on the written Word of God and infusing in it insights on the Most Holy Eucharist. (Besides, it is no longer important if I have been given due credit or not.) Although I commit shortcomings in my personal life which affects my life in the online ministry, there is still this inner voice which tells me "Ian Joseph, My son: courage! Learn My ways  and continue to fight for My Church!" And up to this day, I still obey it.

This only means that everyone (yes, every single mortal on earth!) who thirsts for Christ, for the holiness which He Himself practiced, is welcome to drink in the Fountain of Life. For some reason, we can be that Samaritan woman or the woman who praised Mary in both Gospels. We are unknown to many, but the Lord bids us to come and drink for He knows us before we were even conceived. We may have sinned (and I am not ashamed to tell that I am a very dirty sinner), yet the Lord invites us still to drink and be cleansed. We may have some resentment to the Church because we are either disappointed that She cannot defend herself from the persecutions of this world or we are disappointed of her erring sons and daughters--or even both; her Bridegroom still calls us to learn His ways and be filled by the water He gives.

Now, we ask: Am I continuing to be brave by trusting in God's mercy through His invitation to holiness? Will I imitate the Samaritan woman who turned her back from her sinful past to follow the Lord, or the woman who praised Mary, His Mother?

 

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PRAYING THE COLLECT
 

We beseech Thee, O almighty God, look upon the desires of Thy humble servants: and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to be our defense.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost: One God, world without end. Amen.