Hearing The Word

A weekly newsletter delivering context and insight into the Sunday Gospels.

March 8, 2026

Third Sunday of Lent

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?”

(Continue Reading)

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I Am He, The One Speaking With You

~Deacon Ernie Angiolilo

Parish Deacon, Saint Matthias Parish + Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

This Sunday’s gospel is a story about repentance, conversion and healing, reconciliation and resurrection. All themes we look to during Lent.

This healing is not the physical type. Jesus is interested in healing the Samaritan woman’s soul, her inner life, which is unsettled and going the wrong way. He deliberately walks through Samaritan territory is a sign that His mission of repentance and reconciliation works beyond the geographical limits of the Chosen People.

The dialogue begins with fear, doubt and even hostility on her part. Jesus responds with patience and politeness.

Water here is a symbol of her thirsting for something more, something better. She has gone after people who fail to satisfy her deepest yearnings for attention, affection and affiliation with someone greater than herself who loves her for who she is.

Jesus can see her pain: “You are right. You have had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband.” He knows what she should be thirsting for a relationship with God who will fill her with life and joy: “I am He, the one speaking with you.”

Her journey shows us that, through Jesus’s gentle yet firm teaching, she eventually reaches the right decision and asks for the water that brings everlasting life—a lesson for us in this Lenten season

If we leave our bucket at the well where we are trying hard to quench our thirst for ‘Other than God’ and accept the gift of life-giving water from Jesus, we will have been healed. We will have repented, or ‘re-thought’ our life and whom we follow and turn to the Lord.



We will have been reconciled to Him, restored and resurrected to the new life. And, like the Samaritan woman, we will bring that message to others.

Deepen Our Faith to Share Our Faith

~Anita Flynn

Nativity of Our Lord, Warminster + Pa.

The Samaritan woman is impressive. She takes a casual request for a drink and turns it into an on-ramp for a discussion with this stranger we know as Jesus. Probing, questioning, and listening, she realizes that this stranger is the Messiah that she has been waiting for…that they have been waiting for! And then, rather than just mulling this news over by herself and returning to home, she immediately goes into town to spread the word.

This is discipleship in its purest form. She did not second guess the information or concern herself with how the towns folk would receive it or if they would pass judgment on her. She was on fire to share it! Her passion succeeded, as people were moved to come see and hear this Messiah for themselves. What a dominant personality she is. Could each of us be more like her?



We in the pews today were gifted with our religion – and yet our effort to spread the news pales in comparison to the Samaritan woman. We easily share our thoughts on movies, sports, food, and other earthly things and yet hesitate to dip our toes into the topic of our faith. To share our faith, we need to participate in it. At mass, open the missal, pray the prayers aloud, join our voices in song with our fellow parishioners. Additionally, a weekly Adoration visit allows us to have our personal discussions with Jesus as did the Samaritan woman, and be aware of His presence in us. And each day we need to make time to deepen our connection with Jesus.

As we more fully commit to our faith, discipleship will naturally follow. In those moments when we could speak up—when we should speak up—especially with family and friends who have wandered from their faith, we will find the courage to gently remind them that Heaven is our goal, not our earthly wants and needs.