Vatican City, 23 March 2014 (VIS) –
On the third Sunday of Lent, the Holy Father appeared at the window
of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with
the faithful and pilgrims present. Before the Marian prayer, the
Pontiff commented on the Gospel passage in which the Samaritan woman
goes to collect water from the well and encounters in Jesus the water
of mercy; she finds what she had sought, and returned to the judged
and rejected to announce to them that she had encountered the one who
had changed her life. “We too have many questions to pose, but we
do not find the courage to put them to Jesus! Lent is the ideal time
to look within ourselves, to let our truest spiritual needs emerge,
and to ask the help of the Lord in prayer. The example of the
Samaritan woman invites us to express ourselves thus: 'Jesus, give me
the water so I may thirst no more'”.
“The result of this encounter at the
well was that the woman was transformed. … For every encounter with
Jesus changes our lives, always. It is a step ahead, a step closer to
God. And so every encounter with Jesus changes our lives, always. …
In this Gospel reading we also find the impetus to 'leave our
amphora', our water jar, the symbol of all that is seemingly
important, but which loses its value before 'God's love'. We all have
one, or more than one! … What is your inner amphora, what weighs
upon you, what distances you from God?” he asked the faithful. “Let
us set it aside a little and hear in our hearts Christ's voice,
offering us a different water, a water that brings us closer to the
Lord”.
The Pope continued, “We are called to
rediscover the importance and the meaning of our Christian life,
beginning with our Baptism and, like the Samaritan woman, to bear
witness to our brethren of the joy of the encounter with Jesus; bear
witness to the joy of this encounter. Each encounter with Jesus
changes our life, and each encounter with Jesus also fills us with
joy, that joy that comes from within. Let us tell how many marvellous
things the Lord is able to do within our hearts, once we find the
courage to let go of our amphora”.
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