First Reading: Exodus 17:3-7
Reflection:
A theme throughout the readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent is thirst. The first reading takes place during the Israelite’s wandering in the desert after the Exodus out of Egypt. As is imaginable, thirst was a common experience for them while in the desert. Here the people complained to Moses about it. The Israelites lacked trust that God would provide for them. They feared that they would die of thirst in the desert and, therefore, wished they could be back in Egypt, even though they had been slaves there. The Lord patiently and mercifully responded to their groaning and showed them His faithfulness in taking care of them. Through Moses striking the rock with his staff, God quenched the Israelite’s thirst. Here, God quenched the physical thirst of His people, a thirst that would return and need to be quenched again. In the Gospel reading, Jesus will reveal that he came to quench the spiritual thirst that all people have for God. The living water he offers will never run dry nor leave anyone thirsty.
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
Reflection:
Here the Apostle Paul speaks of salvation. It is by faith that we are justified (meaning made righteous before God). As a result, we have “peace with God” and “hope of the glory of God.” In other words, our relationship with God that was broken by sin can be restored and, as a result, we can have a founded hope of experiencing God’s glory in heaven. All of this is made possible through Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross. The imagery of thirst and water is present with the statement, “the love of God has been poured into our hearts.” Our thirst for God is quenched when God’s love fills our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Before Christ, we were “helpless” to quench our thirst for God because we were stuck in the desert of sin. In fact, because of our sinfulness, we were enemies of God. Yet, God did not leave us in that state. For “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” If we repent of our sins and put our faith in God, we can receive His love and be healed of our brokenness caused by sin. Let us, therefore, stand firm in the grace given to us through Christ and strive to follow Him each and every day through working our faith out in love.
Gospel Reading: John 4:5-42
Reflection:
In this story of the Woman at the Well, the fact that Jesus would even talk to a Samaritan woman shows the great extent of His love and mission, since the Jews and the Samaritans were enemies. In fact, most Jews would avoid even traveling through Samaria in order to avoid contact with the people. Jesus not only traveled through the region but stopped to talk with a Samaritan woman. In the conversation that ensued, Jesus used the circumstances of drawing water out of a well in order to reveal to the woman that her true thirst was for God. The woman had lived a promiscuous life. She was an outcast in society and far from God. Yet, Christ invited her back to God, showing her that He could quench the thirst of her soul and offer her eternal life. Through the conversation, the woman came to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and Savior. This realization transformed her life, so much so that she eagerly went to spread the message to the whole town. The simple statement that she “left her water jar” evidences that her thirst had been quenched, for she had found the true living water, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Application:
- Only God can fulfill our deep thirsts. Yet, often we try to quench our spiritual thirsts with things of this world. Reflect on what you can do this Lent to allow God to pour His love into your heart. What distracts you from God and how can you remove those distractions from your life?
