Text for the Mass for March 15, 2020, the Third Sunday in Lent
March 15th, 2020
Collect of the Day:
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
First Reading: Exodus 17:1-71
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lordamong us or not?”
Psalm 95
1Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
3For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
4In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.
5The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
6Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
8Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, *
at Meribah, and on that day at Massah,
when they tempted me.
9They put me to the test, *
though they had seen my works.
10Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *
“This people are wayward in their hearts;
they do not know my ways.”
11So I swore in my wrath, *
“They shall not enter into my rest.”
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Gospel: John 4:5-42
[Jesus] came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that 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 have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never 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 him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no 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 see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these 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 Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Sermon
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The Prayers of the People
For the Church throughout the world, that all who lead the people of God during the present age may have courage to endure the disputes and sufferings of our time, and to have the vision to see the places in which God is revealing his presence in our midst; let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
That we may not fear those whose ways are destructive to society, or who condemn the faith we cherish, or who commit acts which grieve the heart of Christ, that instead we may extend the hand of charity to all people, and witness to the power of transforming love; let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
For leaders of government, that they may drink from the waters of holy peace and bring to the world’s peoples the hope of a new and more prosperous life; let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
That we may extend the lamp of charity to all whom we have harmed and to all who have brought darkness to our souls, knowing that all have fallen short of God’s glory, and that all are invited into a redeemed and grace-filled life; let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
For Christians throughout the world who are offering their finest gifts of bread and wine on the Sabbath day, that through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Body and Blood of Christ will be received across every distinction of race, class, and nationality; let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
For an ever-deepening sense of God’s presence in all our lives, but most especially in those who will receive rites of initiation this Easter season; let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
For all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, and those whose faith is known to God alone; let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
Confident that we are all within reach of the saving embrace of Jesus, let us continue our prayers.
The people are invited to add their prayers, petitions and thanksgivings. Let us pray.
Kyrie eleison.
Let us join together in a prayer for this time of transition:
Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a rector for this parish, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty and eternal God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully accept the prayers of your people, and strengthen us to do your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Solemn Prayer Over the People
Look mercifully on this your family, Almighty God, that by your great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Passing the Plate
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The Faces of Easter.
It is a longer lesson, that is to be told in stages through Lent.