Fr. Mike's Gospel Reflection for - Sunday, March 8, 2026

“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

In the Gospel passage this weekend we hear about a Samaritan woman who went to a well when she thought no one else would be there. She didn’t want to socialize or to get advice. She just wanted to get water and quickly return to the safety of her home. However, she unexpectedly hears God’s voice through a Jewish man who ruins her plan. At first, she is reluctant. She knows He should not be speaking to her. However, as Jesus speaks, she becomes hopeful. Her heart is softened and she is willing to abandon the voice in her head, break all the rules, and listen to the intriguing words of this Jewish stranger.

As His words touch her heart, she stops being uncomfortable. She hears and believes that this is the voice of the “the Messiah!”What she hears turns her hot, dusty, confused world upside down. She is amazed by His words and becomes refreshed with the living water of God’s voice.She is so moved by the encounter that she is able to rise above her status as a social outcast and boldly inspires her townsfolk with words of her own. Because of her, they hear His voice and open their hearts to Him.

In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, we learn about “Holy Indifference” which means a total openness to the will of God in one’s life. It requires that we fully surrender our plans, dreams, expectations, and aspirations so that we can gratefully accept in faith and love the future to which God calls us. In my case, I certainly never expected that God would call me here. Indeed, when I first heard His voice, I was reluctant. I guess you could say that I hardened my heart. Yet, He persisted and here I am.

God’s voice is always in our midst. It comes to us from both expected and surprising sources. Sometimes it confirms what we are thinking; sometimes it challenges us to think radically differently. We must listen for it, discern it carefully, be open to it (even if it’s uncomfortable), and then act on it. One thing is certain, whenever we hear God’s voice and from whomever it comes to us, we must not harden our hearts.

Fr. Mike