Msgr. John N. Fell

Third Sunday of Lent (A) Our Gospel reading this Sunday is the well-known story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. In this passage, St. John provides a theologically and spiritually rich commentary on the person of Jesus and the process of coming to salvation. Placed on this Third Sunday of Lent, this Gospel is intended to whet the thirst of those preparing for the life-giving water of baptism, and to remind those already baptized of the ultimate source of their strength, the streams of life-giving water already flowing within them.

Pope Francis has declared this coming Sunday to be the “Sunday of the Word of God,” a special annual celebration reminding us that “the word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world” (Aperuit Illis, 2).

This Sunday, we celebrate the great feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Jesus’ glory. Like Christmas itself, the Epiphany is one of the most ancient feasts in Christendom, having been observed as early as the mid 300's in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. Actually, immediately after the legalization of Christianity, the Church borrowed the pagan festival known as the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” and baptized it as the Epiphany, the feast of God’s Son gloriously shining among his people. By doing so, the Church was able to re-direct people’s allegiance from the pagan deities to Jesus Christ.