3rd Sunday of Lent
The whole thing started at a well when Jesus asked a woman for a drink of water. It was high noon. The sun was intense. Jesus was tired. His disciples left him there alone so they could buy provisions in the little town nearby. After a bit of time, a woman came to draw water. He didn’t have a bucket, so he asked her to give him some water. She was not nice at all. She snapped at him. “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink!?” A simple request ignited a long-standing hostility between Jews and Samaritans. He responded to her in a very strange way. “If you knew who I was, you would ask me for ‘living water,’ and I would lead you to the spring of eternal life.”
Every time he spoke, something within her was healed. She didn’t feel so isolated, so unwanted, so unacceptable. She got chills. Looking straight into his eyes, she said, “When the Messiah comes, he’ll teach us everything.” Could her hunch about this man be correct? He returned her gaze. “I am he.” She gasped.
Today, we share this story with our catechumens. They’ve been longing for that same “living water.” By sharing the woman’s story, we share our own stories. Each of us met him during the heat of the day as we were searching, consciously or subconsciously, for living water.
Today, let’s remember how we met him. What were the circumstances? What people or events led us to discover him? What spiritual blocks were removed, allowing him into our lives? Although baptized, we’re still searching for him. Every day is an opportunity to meet him. Every day we have an opportunity to listen to his words of consolation and healing. Every day, we can approach the well of living water.
Prayer:
Gracious Father, thank you for the gift of new life you gave us at our baptism. May we continue to grow in faith, hope, and love as we share the message of your love through Christ our Lord. Amen.
