Readings:
Exodus 17: 1-7
Romans 5: 1-11
John 4: 5-42
Water is the most significant and essential element in our lives. There would be no life on earth without water. The human body consists of 75% water, and 2/3 of the earth’s surface is water. It is easy to see all of the things that depend on water for life and sustenance.
No wonder today’s readings use water for our reflection which is presented as a gift from God, the source of love and all life.
In the first reading, God provides water in the desert to sustain his people, a symbol of God’s constant care and presence not only for the Israelites, but for us as well.
The second reading tells that God’s love for us is poured out into our hearts even though we are sinners..and God will help us if we truly believe and trust in the immensity of God’s love for us. There is nothing that we can say or do that will take that love from us.
We are all familiar with today’s gospel story which tells us of the sensitive but controversial meeting of Jesus with the un-named Samaritan women at the well. This was a unlikely encounter, since a Jewish man would not be seen speaking to a woman in public and to complicate it more…to a non- Jewish woman with a reputation!
Jesus asks her for a drink but did not really thirst for water . Christ thirsted for her faith and wanted to awaken that faith in her heart by proceeding to tell her that he knows all about her tainted life. He offers her the Living Water of God’s love and boldly tells her that he is the Messiah, the one they are waiting for. She is amazed at his knowledge of all she has done and runs into town to tell the people what she has seen and heard. They also began to believe and invited him to stay a few days in Samaria, which he did, although against Jewish law.
Does this story give us hope and trust as well? Do we really believe in God’s loving care and concern for us? Can we likewise reach out in friendship and love to others to offer them the Living Water of Jesus, the good news of God’s unconditional love for them?
Lent is a special season of grace in the church and a good time for us to examine our own lives and nourish our souls with the Living Water of God’s love, which will transform us in unimaginable ways!
A happy and blessed Lent to you.
Sister Josita DiVita, F.D.C.