Cycle A - Year II: 

23 March 2014: 3rd Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical color: Violet)

John 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

Jesus, our living water!

Who can forget the powerful typhoon Yolanda that devastated southern Philippines in late 2013? Its strong winds triggered a tsunami-like waves of sea water that inundated coastal areas. In such natural catastrophe, water becomes a destructive force. More than four months after Yolanda's onslaught, thousands of our countrymen affected by this calamity are still homeless and starving, made worse by very slow government response and rehabilitation efforts.

In today's gospel of St. John, we also hear about water, but this time about the usefulness of water. We know how precious water is, especially when we are thirsty, there is nothing like a drink of fresh water to quench our thirst. 

The gospel narrates the lively encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in Jacob's well. Jesus, tired from his journey, asked for a drink from the woman. Their conversation revolves around drinking water. Jesus takes this opportunity and uses the image of bubbling water and the human experience of thirst to preach about eternal life that he is offering to those who want to follow him.

Perhaps, it is no coincidence that the element of water is in the forefront of our consciousness these days, although with two different impact on human living and the rest of creation. Water in nature's wrath is destructive. But water used to quench thirst is life-sustaining.

On the human level, Jesus is thirsty but his thirst extends far beyond a mere desire for drinking water. Because our Lord thirsts for the Samaritan woman's faith, just as he also thirsts today for our faith, hope and love as his followers.

Interestingly, Jesus says to the Samaritan woman that will provide living water to her, in spite of the fact that it is Jesus who asks her for a drink. Well, this reminds us that even before we can reap the benefit of a life in Christ, it is Jesus himself who nourishes us with the living water of baptism and the Eucharist.

In practical life, all the good that we accomplish is merely a response to God's goodness. He asks for our faith, hope and love, and yet it is the Lord himself who first gives us the capacity to believe in Him, trust in Him, and love Him; it is a capacity given to us when we were baptized.

Jesus alone can satisfy our thirst for meaning in life, our thirst for the divine. Because Jesus is the living water that sustains us in our thirst for eternal life. 

Spend a moment of prayer for those who perished in the Yolanda's tragedy. May Jesus as the living water welcome them to the Father's home.

A blessed Sunday to us all, and thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!