FORMATION
FORMATION 2004
THEME NO. 5
“Dialogue and Cooperation”
Call to Prayer
Leader:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All:
Amen.
Opening Prayer
Leader:
Blessed are you Lord God of all creation, for you care for us with steadfast love and guide us through your Word.
All:
Strengthen us, O gracious God, now and always, that through our reflection on your Word, we may learn your way ever more clearly and witness to your love through care of your people and praise of your Holy Name. Blessed are you, God, forever. Amen.
Word of God
The Gospel according to John 4: 7—30
The Word of God is now read aloud slowly and prayerfully
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that 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 have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you." Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" They left the city and were on their way to him.
For the next five minutes silently read and reflect on the scripture text. Underline what you consider to be key words and/or phrases for you.
The Sharing
Take 10 minutes now to share your insights from the reading of the Word of God.
Closing Prayer
Leader:
Let us pray.
All:
Gracious God, in this time of prayer and reflection on your Word,
we have been reminded of how we are called to work together to serve you and your people. Strengthen us in our efforts to remain faithful to your purpose in our lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever. Amen.
You are encouraged to continue the practice of ‘Lectio Divina’ in the weeks between meetings. For your reflection, further Scripture texts relating to the Theme "Dialogue and Cooperation" are included here.
Mark 1: 16—22; Luke 5: 1—11; 1 Corinthians 3: 1—16; 1 Peter 4: 9—11.
