Podcast: 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A
In today’s readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, year A, we are encouraged to keep our eyes on the Lord and our hearts open to heed his voice, recognizing that our souls thirst for the Living God.
Entrance Antiphon
My eyes are always on the Lord,
for he rescues my feet from the snare.
Turn to me and have mercy on me,
for I am alone and poor.
(Psalm 25:15-16)
Psalm 33
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Gospel Acclamation
“Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world;
give me living water, that I may never thirst again.”
(John 4:15, 42)
Communion Antiphon
For anyone who drinks it, says the Lord,
the water I shall give will become in him a spring
welling up to eternal life.
(John 4:14)
Featured Songs:
Entrance Antiphon – 3rd Lent (Mode I, De La Torre)
https://themodernpsalmist.com/songs/entrance-antiphon-3rd-lent-mode-i-de-la-torre/
Psalm 95: If Today [3rd Lent A] (Rebecca De La Torre)
https://themodernpsalmist.com/songs/psalm-95-if-today/
Lenten Gospel Acclamation – 3rd Sunday A (De La Torre, Mode II)
https://themodernpsalmist.com/songs/lenten-gospel-acclamation-3rd-lent-a-de-la-torre-mode-ii/
3rd Sunday of Lent: Communion Antiphon (John 4:14) (Rebecca De La Torre)
https://themodernpsalmist.com/songs/communion-antiphon-3rd-lent-a/
Psalm 63: My Soul Is Thirsting (Rebecca De La Torre)
https://themodernpsalmist.com/songs/psalm-63-my-soul-is-thirsting-2/
Podcast Web Page:
https://themodernpsalmist.com/podcast-episode/3rd-sunday-of-lent-year-a/
Featured Songs
Podcast Transcript
Hi and welcome to the Modern Psalmist Podcast. I’m Rebecca De La Torre.
In today’s readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, year A, we are encouraged to keep our eyes on the Lord and our hearts open to heed his voice, recognizing that our souls thirst for the Living God.
Our Entrance antiphon from Psalm 25 verses 15 & 16 opens our sacred mass, and focuses our hearts on the Lord:
“My eyes are always on the Lord,
for he rescues my feet from the snare.
Turn to me and have mercy on me,
for I am alone and poor.”
The psalm for today is from chapter 95:
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
And in the verses, we are reminded that God is our salvation and is worthy of our heartfelt worship and praise. But just like thirsty Israelites in the story of Moses bringing water from the rock in the first reading from Exodus, we, too, sometimes forget the blessings we have received from God. And we close our hearts to his instruction when we focus only on our challenges and difficulties. Instead, we need to bring our hurts and struggles to the Lord directly, and never harden our hearts to his word.
In the gospel, we have the story of the woman at the well, which is one of my personal favorite gospel passages. I love the metaphor of Jesus being living water that quenches our soul’s thirst. The gospel acclamation is a paraphrase of what the woman at the well said to Jesus.
It’s taken from John chapter 4, and the church leaders decided to blend verses 15 and 42 to form the acclamation:
“Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world;
give me living water, that I may never thirst again.”
Our communion antiphon is also taken from John chapter 4, but verse 14 in this case:
“For anyone who drinks it, says the Lord,
the water I shall give will become in him a spring
welling up to eternal life.”
The woman at the well was thirsting for God. She found him, right in front of her, and he changed her life forever.
Today I’d like to feature another psalm that expresses our soul’s longing for God. It’s from Psalm chapter 63. The response is
“My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.”
Whether we realize it or not, we all are thirsting for God. We were made for God, and like the woman at the well, the depths of our souls thirst for the living God.
That was “Psalm 63: My Soul Is Thirsting” as a featured song for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A. Links to each of the song recordings and sheet music can be found in the show notes below.
Join me next week for the 4th Sunday of Lent. Have a blessed week.
