Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk

Third Sunday of Lent, Year, A – March 19, 2017

Readings: Ex 17:3-7; Responsorial Psalm Ps 95:1-2.6-7abc.7d-9(R7d,8a);

 2^nd Rom 5:1-2.5-8; Gospel Jn 4-5-42 OR Jn 4:5-15.19b26.39a.40-42.

Theme: The Living Water: Marketing for Christ!

Friends in Christ, our readings present Jesus as a marketer per excellence. Perhaps business scholars were guided by biblical principles in formulating the Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action (AIDA) marketing model. According to this theory, one has to be aware of a product before he begins to develop an interest in the product. This is followed by the desire to acquire the product and the actual action of buying it. Marketing moguls use this principle as a bait to entice customers to buy their products.

The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman presents a scenario which brings out the AIDA principle. Jesus was aware of all this woman had gone through. He became interested in saving her. As such, he ignited the desire for “living water” in her. The good news is that she fell for his “product” because we are told, she left her water jar and ran back to the village where she told the people: “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” She becomes the first herald of the gospel in her city. 

It is important for us to pay attention to details in this narrative. A woman who goes in search of water, meets a stranger who takes her through the worship of the true God in Spirit and in Truth and also tells her all that she has ever done; at the jaw-breaking encounter, she throws her jar of water and goes to the city to give a testimony of her experience. And “many Samaritan from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” as the Johannine text records.

The woman’s testimony was not sufficient for her fellow citizens as their curiosity for an eye-witness account pushed them to the scene of the incident. The motto of Young Catholic Students, SEE, JUDGE and ACT comes to play here. The people went to see things for themselves. After having a personal encounter with him, they begged Jesus to stay with them for two days – which he did. That sound-judgement would lead to a positive act(ion) namely, as evident in their testimony to the woman about their personal experience of Jesus: “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.”    

What does that say to us? What begins from a well in Samaria is broadcast to us live, notwithstanding time and space. As worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, we must leave the Samaria of lack of water in search for the fountain of life, Jesus.  Like Jesus, we must be ready to break away from traditions and social prejudices which stop us from interacting with people from other races, sex or religion. We must challenge the status quo by engaging humanity in fighting for a just and equitable society.

On the day we were baptised, we were all recruited as marketers for Christ. Other sacraments like Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders are meant to help us fulfil our obligation as marketers of God’s kingdom. Like the Samaritan woman, we have the mandate of recruiting more disciples for Christ through our Annual Lenten Observances of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The woman desired water to quench her thirst and perhaps for her domestic chores but thirsts for her soul. His asking her for a drink was to ignite the desire for God in her soul.  

Rather than grumbling for mundane desires and putting the Lord our God to the test like the Israelites in the first reading (Ex 17:3-17), we are called upon to have an enduring-faith, trusting that God would give us the water of life. While Moses gave the Israelites water at Massah and Meribah, Jesus promises The Living Water to the Samaritan Woman. Both Moses and Jesus teach us to be marketers of God’s love, mercy and hope. This is because “hope does not disappoint us” as St. Paul insists in the second reading (Rom 5:1-2.5-8). As we rely on The Living Water, may the lessons of lent enrich us in every way. Have a blessed week ahead!