Cycle A - Year 1:

19 March 2017: Third Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

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

Jesus, our Living Water!

In the exploration of the universe, scientists would look for the presence of water element as indication of possible life outside our world. For every living organism needs water to survive, Thus, without water all life forms cannot exist or will cease to exist.

In the Gospel of St. John this Sunday, we will hear about water and how our Lord Jesus Christ uses the image of water in the preaching of God's kingdom. Now we know from experience 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 a Samaritan woman in Jacob's well. Tired from His journey, Jesus asked for a drink from the woman He encountered in the well. Their conversation revolves around drinking water. Jesus takes this opportunity to preach about eternal life that He is offering to those who want to follow Him.

On the human level, Jesus is thirsty but His thirst extends far beyond a mere desire for drinking water. Our Lord thirsts for the Samaritan woman's faith, just as He also thirsts today for our faith, to believe that He is indeed the Living Water that will quench our thirst for life eternal.

Interestingly, Jesus says to the woman that He will provide living water to her, although He was the one who first asked 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.

For we believe that 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.

In sum, 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; it is the capacity given to us when we were baptized.

Let us pray, therefore, that our Eucharistic celebration at Mass become our participation in the banquet of eternal life. Amen.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!