3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to finish his work.” These words of Jesus we heard in today’s gospel reading, from the gospel of Saint John, Chapter 4, Verse 5 to 42, reminds us once again, what the goal of our call to discipleship is. Our call to discipleship here on earth as stated by Jesus is - to do the will of His Father and to finish His work on earth, by establishing God’s kingdom here in our world.
Remember my dear friends in Christ like Saint Paul said in today’s second reading in his Letter to the Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 1 to 2, and Verses 5 to 8, “The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us, and 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.”
So with our justification by faith; the gifts of the Holy Spirit we have received; and all the love and peace poured into our hearts by God Himself, are we doing the will of God today? Are we finishing His work on earth by establishing His kingdom here in our world? Just like Jesus woke up the spirit of the Samaritan woman to go out and proclaim the gospel of Christ to other Samaritans and bring them closer to God, so He is waking us up today, to change our lives for good, follow His ways and to proclaim His gospel to the world.
How can we change our lives today so as to do the will of God and finish His work on earth by establishing His kingdom? This can be done through the three practices of Lent, that is through Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.
Prayer - by praying constantly. Start by setting aside more time for prayer and have consistent conversations with God this Lenten season. Draw closer to Him by talking to Him daily. Prayer as we are reminded by Pope Francis, will give voice to our profound desire to encounter the Father, and will bring us back to Him.
Fasting - Give up food and other things you love doing or indulging in, not to torture yourself, but to share in the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to free yourself from undue attachment to earthly things and pleasure. When we do this, we destroy and eliminate all barriers between us and God. Remember that Fasting according to Pope Francis, will be the spiritual training ground where we joyfully renounce the superfluous things that weigh us down, grow in interior freedom and return to the truth about ourselves. Fasting helps us to keep our spirit in shape. It makes us appreciate things for their true worth; and it reminds us that life must not be made dependent upon the fleeting landscape of the present world.
Almsgiving - by giving to those in need, that is, the poor, the downtrodden, the abandoned, the hungry, the forgotten and the homeless, we show our gratitude to God for all His blessings, graces and mercies upon us. And we also reciprocate His love for us. For Pope Francis Almsgiving, (that is) charity, will be a sign of our compassion toward those in need, and help us to return to others. Almsgiving practised far from the spotlight, gives peace and hope to the heart. It reveals to us the beauty of giving, which then becomes receiving, and thus enables us to discover a precious secret, that our hearts find more joy in giving than in receiving as stated in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 20, Verse 35.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us share the love of God given us and poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit by doing the will of God, and finishing His work on earth by establishing His kingdom, through Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving this Lenten season.
