3rd Sunday of Lent
Processional Hymn - 487 - Again We Keep this Solemn Fast
Again we keep this solemn fast,
A gift of faith from ages past,
This Lent which binds us lovingly
to faith and hope and charity.
The law and prophets from of old
In figured ways this Lent foretold,
Which Christ, all ages’ Lord and Guide,
In these last days has sanctified.
More sparing, therefore, let us make
The words we speak, the food we take,
Our sleep, our laughter, ev’ry sense
Learn peace through holy penitence.
Let us avoid each harmful way
That lures the careless mind astray;
By watchful prayer our spirits free
From scheming of the Enemy.
We pray, O blessed Three in One,
Our God while endless ages run,
That this, our Lent of forty days,
May bring us growth and give you praise.
1st Reading –
Ezekiel 17:3-7
In those days, in their thirst for water,
the people grumbled against Moses,
saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
Was it just to have us die here of thirst
with our children and our livestock?”
So Moses cried out to the LORD,
“What shall I do with this people?
a little more and they will stone me!”
The LORD answered Moses,
“Go over there in front of the people,
along with some of the elders of Israel,
holding in your hand, as you go,
the staff with which you struck the river.
I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.”
This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.
The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the LORD, saying,
“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”
Responsorial Psalm –
Psalm 95
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us ring out our joy to the LORD;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come into his presence giving thanks;
let us hail him with a song of praise.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
O come, let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us.
For he is our God,
and we the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert,
Where your forebears put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
2nd Reading –
Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8
Brothers and sisters:
Since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand,
and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
And hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Gospel –
John 4: 5-42
Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,
near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.
It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
“Give me a drink.”
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
The Samaritan woman said to him,
“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”
—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—
Jesus answered and said to her,
“If you knew the gift of God
and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep;
where then can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”
Jesus answered and said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her,
“Go call your husband and come back.”
The woman answered and said to him,
“I do not have a husband.”
Jesus answered her,
“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’
For you have had five husbands,
and the one you have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;
but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus said to her,
“Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand;
we worship what we understand,
because salvation is from the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and is now here,
when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;
and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in Spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him,
“I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Jesus said to her,
“I am he, the one speaking with you.”
At that moment his disciples returned,
and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
The woman left her water jar
and went into the town and said to the people,
“Come see a man who told me everything I have done.
Could he possibly be the Christ?”
They went out of the town and came to him.
Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.”
But he said to them,
“I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
So the disciples said to one another,
“Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.
Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’?
I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
The reaper is already receiving payment
and gathering crops for eternal life,
so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.
For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for;
others have done the work,
and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified,
“He told me everything I have done.”
When the Samaritans came to him,
they invited him to stay with them;
and he stayed there two days.
Many more began to believe in him because of his word,
and they said to the woman,
“We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
Prayer for Our Lady of Angels Parish
Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together and calling us to serve as your disciples.
You have charged us through your Son, Jesus, with the great mission of evangelizing and witnessing your love to the world.
Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will for the spiritual renewal of our parish.
Give us strength, courage, and clear vision as we use our gifts to serve you.
We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother, and ask for her intercession and guidance, as we strive to build a parish that loves God, embraces all people, and shares the Gospel joyfully.
Amen.
Offertory Hymn - Deep Within
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
I will give you a new heart,
A new spirit within you,
For I will be your strength.
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
Seek my face, and see your God,
For I will be your hope.
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
Return to me, with all your heart,
and I will bring you back.
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
Communion Hymn - 485 - Turn, Turn to the Living God
Turn, turn to the living God,
the God of healing and comfort,
and with delight, God will turn to you.
With delight, God will turn to you.
For now is the time of fulfillment.
The reign of our God is at hand.
Reform your life,
turn from sin
and believe this glorious news.Come, and return to the Lord.
All you weary,
bring your grieving hearts.
With kindness and mercy
God’s compassion will fill
your hearts with love.Have mercy, O Lord,
on your people.
In your goodness
wipe away our guilt.
Wash us clean, free us,
to become your living song of praise .Come, sing with joy to the Lord.
Listen with an open heart.
Hear God’s voice and follow;
our good Shepherd is guiding the way.
n - 469 - Remember You Are Dust
Turn away from sin
and be faithful to the Gospel.
Remember you are dust
and to dust you shall return.
Cantor: Repent, the kingdom is at hand.
All: Repent, the kingdom is at hand.
Cantor: v.5 Seek the God of compassion
v. 6 Live in kindness and mercy
Now, the acceptable time.
Now, the acceptable time.