Gospel Reflections Compilation April 8, 2014

Abigail Marie R. Lorico

Date: March 23, 2014
Gospel: John 4: 5-42
Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacobs well: . . . whoever drinks the water I shall give will
never thirst, a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman
who testified, Come and see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be
the Christ?
Commentary:
Saint Maximus of Turin (?-c.420), Bishop
CC Sermon 22 ; PL 57, 477

"The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said: ' Come see a man who told me
everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah? ' "

Water quenches a flaming fire and alms atone for sin (Sir 3,29): water is compared to mercy.
But just as water flows from a source, so must I search for the source of mercy. And I have found
it in the prophet: With you is the source of life and in your light we see light (Ps 35[36],10).

It is indeed he who in the Gospel asks for water from the Samaritan woman... Our Savior asks
the woman for water and pretends to be thirsty so he can pass on eternal grace to the thirsty. For
indeed, the source cannot be thirsty and he in whom living water is to be found cannot drink the
polluted water of this earth. Was Christ thirsty? Indeed he was thirsty but not for our drink but
for our salvation. He was thirsty, not for earth's water but for the redemption of humankind.

Christ the source, seated at the well, miraculously causes the waters of mercy to spring up from
that same location. A woman who has already had six lovers is purified by the waves of living
water. Oh what a wonder! A loose woman who has come to the well of Samaria returns chaste
from Jesus' source! Having come in search of water, she departs with virtue. She immediately
confesses to the sins to which Jesus alludes, she recognizes the Christ and proclaims the Savior.
She leaves her water jar behind and... in its place brings grace back with her to the village;
relieved of her burden, she returns laden with holiness... She who came a sinner returns a
prophetess.

Reflection:
Jesus is a god of mercy. Through Him we have salvation. He accepts the weak and
forgives the sinner. As Christian catholic following God and doing His teaching is our task. We
must also forgive and refrain ourselves from judging others based on what they lack, instead we
must empower them to build a better community.

Gospel Reflections Compilation April 8, 2014
Abigail Marie R. Lorico

Date: March 30, 2014
Gospel: John 9: 1-41
The healing of the man born blind:
Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither he nor his
parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him . . . I came
into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do not see
might become blind.
Commentary:
A homily written in North Africa in the 5th or 6th centuries, wrongly attributed to saint
Fulgentius (467-532) , PL 65, 880
We are the clay and you the potter ; we are all the work of your hands (Is 64,7)
He who enlightens everyone coming into this world (Jn 1,9) is the true mirror of the Father.
Christ passes by as the refulgence of the Father's glory (Heb 1,3) and casts out the blindness in
the eyes of those who cannot see. The Christ who comes from heaven passes by that all flesh
might see him...; only those who are blind could not see Christ, mirror of the Father... Christ has
opened this prison; he has opened the blind man's eyes, who then saw in Christ the mirror of the
Father...
The first man was created radiant but, once he had left the serpent, he found himself to be blind.
This blind man began to be reborn when he started to believe... The man born blind was seated...
without asking any doctor for ointment to heal his eyes... The maker of the world comes along
and reflects his image into the mirror. He sees the wretchedness of the blind man seated there
begging. What a miracle of God's strength! It heals what it sees and enlightens that which it
visits...
He who created the earthly orb has now opened the orbs of the blind man's eyes... The potter
who made us (Gn 2,6; Is 64,7) saw those empty eyes...; he touched them, mixing his saliva with
earth and rubbing on this paste. The material that was used to form the eyes to begin with has
now healed them. Which is the greater marvel: to create the orb of the sun or to recreate the eyes
of the man born blind? The Lord, seated on his throne, made the sun to shine; passing through
earth's public squares he allowed the blind man to see. Light has come without our asking for it
and, even without making supplication, the blind man was freed from his infirmity from birth.
Reflection:
The question I thought of about the gospel was, Am I blind right now? I mean do not
know if I am able to see what God wants me to see. Do I or did I care enough for the living? Or
am I a commoner whos selfish enough think about my own benefits out of everything? My
generation, not only me should be more concern about current events happening into the world
and make a stand to contribute to the society as good citizens.
Gospel Reflections Compilation April 8, 2014
Abigail Marie R. Lorico
Date: April 6, 2014
Gospel: John 11: 1-45
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, tied hand and
food with burial bands, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Untie him and let him go.
Commentary of the day
Saint Ephrem (c.306-373), Deacon in Syria, Doctor of the Church
Commentary on the Diatessaron, 17, 7-10 ; SC 121
"I am the resurrection and the life"
When he asked: Where have you laid him?, tears came to our Lord's eyes. His tears were like
rain, Lazarus was like seed and the tomb like the earth. He cried out in a voice like thunder and
death trembled at his voice. Lazarus sprang up like the seed, came out and worshiped the Lord
who had raised him up.
Jesus... restored life to Lazarus and died in his place for, when he drew him out of the tomb and
sat down at his table, he himself was symbolically buried by the oil Mary poured over his head
(Mt 26,7). The power of the death that had overcome him for four days was wiped out... that
death might know how easy it was for the Lord to overcome it on the third day... His promise is
truthful: he had promised that he himself would come to life again on the third day (Mt 16,21)...
Therefore the Lord restored their joy to Mary and Martha by treading down death to demonstrate
that he himself would not be held by death for ever... From now on, every time someone says
that rising on the third day is impossible, let them consider him who was raised on the fourth
day...
Go and take away the stone. What is this? He who raised a dead man and restored him to life,
couldn't he have opened the tomb and overturned the stone? He who said to his disciples: If you
have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain: 'Move from here to there'
(Mt 17,20), could he not move aside the stone, shutting the entrance to the tomb with one word?
Certainly he could! He whose voice, when he hung on the cross, split rocks and sepulchers,
could have taken away the stone with his word (Mt 27,51-52). But because he was Lazarus'
friend, he said: Open it that the smell of decay may hit you, and you who wrapped him in his
winding sheet, unbind him, that you may surely recognize the one you buried.
Reflection:
God always bring new life. New life can be in many forms such as chances,
opportunities, and changes. We have a whole life time to serve Him and make things right for the
mistakes we did. We only had to look forward for the blessings He will bestow on our future. As
they say, Seize the day for everyday is a new beginning