On the 5th Sunday of the Lent, also called of the Samaritan Woman, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest, together with His Grace Timotei Prahoveanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest, assisted by priests and deacons.
After reading the Evangelical pericope which presents us the dialogue of the Saviour with the Samaritan Woman, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a sermon in which he emphasised the teaching of the Bible text.
When Christ, our Lord, calls us to salvation, He gives His saving grace to those who answer His call
“We learn, first of all, that Christ, the Lord, calls to salvation not only the Jewish people, but also the Gentiles, so that He passes over the mental and cultural barriers which keep the people divided, separated, and feuded. Secondly, we learn that Christ, the Lord, gives His saving grace to those who answer His call. In today’s Gospel this saving grace is called Living Water, which stirs up the desire of eternal life in the human being, because the one who receives the Living Water becomes a deified being through whom rivers of Living Water are running to the eternal life, the Saviour says in today’s Gospel. It is the Living Water that guides man to the eternal life. The Living Water or the saving grace changes the life of the sinful people and calls them to holiness and helps them wish not temporary deceiving happiness, but the happiness of the eternal love of God, the only pure, steady, permanent and unlimited love. The Living Water reveals the right faith to man and the right worship of God or the true cult of God. Thirdly, the Gospel teaches that the saving grace calls various peoples to salvation and it constitutes the Church of Christ which is the anteroom of the Kingdom of Heaven. This Church is made up not only of Jews, but also of all the Gentiles who believed in Christ discovering the true faith”, His Beatitude said.
The true worshipers of the Heavenly Father will pray in the Holy Spirit and Truth
“It should be mentioned that the Saviour changes the life of this woman without insulting her. He does not tell her: you are immoral, inconstant, pagan, but He opens with much wisdom her desire to reach salvation, eternal life, perspective of unchanging love, a permanent love which is the holy, merciful and eternal love of God for humans. Jesus Christ, our Saviour, talks theology with this Gentile woman. When the disciples returned from the city, where they had gone to buy food, they were surprised to see Jesus talking with a woman. In ancient times, the man and woman had not the same value. The woman was considered a useful object, not a person with dignity and intrinsic value. Thus, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, passed over the mental barrier of the Jews’ superiority in comparison with the Samaritans, as well as over the barrier of the superiority of the man over a woman because He calls to salvation both men and women, not only men. He calls all peoples to salvation, not only the Jews. This is why we see lots of women in the Church calendar who deified themselves through the saving Grace, through the Living Water given by Christ. We see how this Living Water, the saving Grace, changes the woman’s life, helps her admit that Jesus is a prophet and finally that He is Messiah, because she says:”When He comes, He will proclaim all these things to us”, and then Jesus tells her: “I am He, the one who is speaking to you”. Thus, this is how Christ, our Lord, talks with this woman and tells her that the true faith and true worship of God is not in a certain place, that is the mount where the Samaritans prayed to God, namely Garizim or Jerusalem, but the true worshippers of the Heavenly Father will pray in the Spirit and Truth because God is Spirit. Therefore, the geographic place where people pray to God is not important, but the spiritual mood of the soul, and the right faith that they confess are”, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church underlined.
The Samaritan Woman – confessor of the love of Christ and missionary
The Samaritan Woman is a model of confessing Christ in society, the Patriarch of Romania also showed: “This woman, who brings a whole city to see Jesus, works for the Mystery of the Church. The Living Water, the saving Grace changes her life and makes her confessor of Christ as Messiah and missionary too, because she brings lots of people to Christ and then takes Christ to the city of Sihar where He stood for two days, at these Samaritans who were despised by the Jews. Thus, we see that today’s Gospel is a Gospel of the merciful love of God, of the Heavenly saving grace, of the Living Water which makes us look for the eternal life, wish eternal love and happiness, not cheating or temporary. May God help us become too, just like the Samaritan woman, confessors of the love of Christ and missionaries, the ones who call others to the Church, who urge to good deeds, for the glory of God and for our salvation. Amen.”
The answers at the Divine Liturgy were given by Nicolae Lungu chorus of the Romanian Patriarchate conducted by Archdeacon Razvan Constantin Stefan.
Hundreds of faithful attended the celebration.
