Lent's long Gospels prepare us to be transformed at Easter

Catholic Herald, 26 March 2020

The Gospel accounts of the Samaritan woman, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus are fundamental to our understanding of Lent.

Sunday Mass, if we were able to go to it, would be a bit longer these weeks, even without the Gloria. We are in the midst of Lent’s long Gospels.

That’s not their official name. Compared to regular Sunday fare though, the Gospel readings are much longer than usual. The three passages from John’s Gospel read on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent are among the longest Gospel passages read at Mass throughout the year. The passages tell of three encounters with Jesus. They are fundamental to our understanding of Lent: the Samaritan woman (John 4:5-42), the man born blind (John 9:1-41) and the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45).

So important are these three passages that, while they are mandated for one year of the lectionary’s three-year cycle – Year A, which falls this year – they can be used for all three years if the pastor so chooses. Moreover, they are recommended if there are catechumens in the parish.

Why are these three encounters so important?

“In the early Church, the explanation of those Gospels completed the catechumens’ preparation for baptism,” wrote George Weigel in his book on Lent, Roman Pilgrimage: “How am I responding to Christ’s thirst for my friendship in prayer, in light of Jesus’s invitation to the Samaritan woman, whom he asked for a drink of water? How are my eyes being opened to the demands of my mission, by the Christ who gave sight to the man born blind? Do I, like Martha, truly believe that Jesus is the Son of the living God, with power to raise me, like Lazarus, from the bonds of sin and death?”

Placing these three “catechumenate” Gospels in Lent thus gives the season a catechumenal character. In Lent, all of us are preparing for baptism, insofar as all of us are invited by the Easter liturgy to renew our baptismal promises. That is why we substitute the Apostles’ Creed for the Nicene Creed in Lent.

We are preparing to renew our baptismal promises at Easter, and so we return to the Church’s ancient baptismal formula, the Apostles’ Creed, which is still used in baptisms today. At Easter we are sprinkled with the newly blessed Easter water, baptismal water. Easter is a “new” baptism; we are all catechumens in Lent. John’s three encounters focus on water, light and life. These are made concrete in the baptismal and Easter liturgies.

Continue reading at the Catholic Herald:
https://catholicherald.co.uk/lents-long-gospels-prepare-us-to-be-transformed-at-easter/