The Gospel of John this 3rd Lent Sunday uses a simple water jar to drive home a powerful message.
After speaking with Jesus and learning that he might be the Christ, "The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people. . ."
The Evangelist John did not waste words. When he tells us something, there is an important reason for doing so. The jar that the woman carried was a vessel that she was going to use to bring water back to her house.
She needed water, as we all do. But for John, the Samaritan woman's need for water was a symbol of all of the many thirsts in her life. When she puts down the water jar, John is telling us that she finally recognizes the deeper need in her life. As she puts down her water jar, she is acknowledging that she finally recognizes what she really needs is not water, but to be faithful to her Savior.
The Samaritan woman clearly saw that what she thirsted for was not another drink, nor another husband, but GOD, who gives her Living water. Her desires and thirsts were real but these were just earthly and material. Now she understands that there is that Living water, freely made available to her.
What does our physical thirst make us do? Instinctively, it pushes us to get something to drink - a glass of water, a soft drink, or even a bottle of beer. But when our thirst becomes much more than simply quenching a dry throat, like; bigger pay, more profits, bigger house, better gadgets, it consumes us. Our actions and relationship with others are greatly influenced by the quenching of our "thirst". We ignore everything else and channel all our efforts into a seemingly endless craving of quenching our thirst for things of this world.
In the first reading from Exodus, the chosen people become angry and desperate as they called out to Mosses: "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it so that we should die of thirst, our children and our livestock?" You can hear the desperation in their voices. Can we hear the desperation in our voices as we cry out for our own needs to be satisfied? We carry our empty jars around with us, looking to fill them with whatever will satisfy us.
Our Lenten task is to put down our water jars. Simple enough, but we know that it is a lifelong and arduous task. We live in market-driven societies that constantly make use of direct and subtle advertising to influence everyone to be voracious consumers, to feed our every desire. After all, everything is about owning and making the most profit. Lent is our annual reminder to give more importance to the "thirst" of our soul, to give more importance on gaining Eternal Life rather than quenching our fleeting and short-lived earthly thirst.
Jesus promises the gift of "living water". "Living water" has both an earthly meaning and a deeper, spiritual meaning. On the literal level, it means running water as opposed to still water as in a cistern. This is how the woman first understands the phrase. But on the spiritual level, Jesus promises us that the water he will give will turn into a spring inside us, welling up to eternal life.
Part of our Lenten task is to recognize the thirsts that exist within us. Once we do this, we will have a better chance of controlling those thirsts. Some questions we might ask ourselves are: Outside of our family, school or work obligations, where do we spend our time and money? What takes us away from our family or from our other obligations? What do we spend our time thinking about or wishing for? These questions, and others that we come up with, will help us discover which thirsts are taking us away from the essential thirst for GOD, which usually crops up after we get tired of an earthly thirst quencher.
None of this will be possible unless we have the kind of openness to GOD that the Samaritan woman possessed. She was a woman searching and she knew she was searching. Allowing herself to be taught, she was able to come to a life-changing moment when she met Jesus. May the Lord grant us the grace to recognize our deepest thirst and follow that thirst to GOD.
GOD Loves us!
After speaking with Jesus and learning that he might be the Christ, "The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people. . ."
The Evangelist John did not waste words. When he tells us something, there is an important reason for doing so. The jar that the woman carried was a vessel that she was going to use to bring water back to her house.
She needed water, as we all do. But for John, the Samaritan woman's need for water was a symbol of all of the many thirsts in her life. When she puts down the water jar, John is telling us that she finally recognizes the deeper need in her life. As she puts down her water jar, she is acknowledging that she finally recognizes what she really needs is not water, but to be faithful to her Savior.
The Samaritan woman clearly saw that what she thirsted for was not another drink, nor another husband, but GOD, who gives her Living water. Her desires and thirsts were real but these were just earthly and material. Now she understands that there is that Living water, freely made available to her.
What does our physical thirst make us do? Instinctively, it pushes us to get something to drink - a glass of water, a soft drink, or even a bottle of beer. But when our thirst becomes much more than simply quenching a dry throat, like; bigger pay, more profits, bigger house, better gadgets, it consumes us. Our actions and relationship with others are greatly influenced by the quenching of our "thirst". We ignore everything else and channel all our efforts into a seemingly endless craving of quenching our thirst for things of this world.
In the first reading from Exodus, the chosen people become angry and desperate as they called out to Mosses: "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it so that we should die of thirst, our children and our livestock?" You can hear the desperation in their voices. Can we hear the desperation in our voices as we cry out for our own needs to be satisfied? We carry our empty jars around with us, looking to fill them with whatever will satisfy us.
Our Lenten task is to put down our water jars. Simple enough, but we know that it is a lifelong and arduous task. We live in market-driven societies that constantly make use of direct and subtle advertising to influence everyone to be voracious consumers, to feed our every desire. After all, everything is about owning and making the most profit. Lent is our annual reminder to give more importance to the "thirst" of our soul, to give more importance on gaining Eternal Life rather than quenching our fleeting and short-lived earthly thirst.
Jesus promises the gift of "living water". "Living water" has both an earthly meaning and a deeper, spiritual meaning. On the literal level, it means running water as opposed to still water as in a cistern. This is how the woman first understands the phrase. But on the spiritual level, Jesus promises us that the water he will give will turn into a spring inside us, welling up to eternal life.
Part of our Lenten task is to recognize the thirsts that exist within us. Once we do this, we will have a better chance of controlling those thirsts. Some questions we might ask ourselves are: Outside of our family, school or work obligations, where do we spend our time and money? What takes us away from our family or from our other obligations? What do we spend our time thinking about or wishing for? These questions, and others that we come up with, will help us discover which thirsts are taking us away from the essential thirst for GOD, which usually crops up after we get tired of an earthly thirst quencher.
None of this will be possible unless we have the kind of openness to GOD that the Samaritan woman possessed. She was a woman searching and she knew she was searching. Allowing herself to be taught, she was able to come to a life-changing moment when she met Jesus. May the Lord grant us the grace to recognize our deepest thirst and follow that thirst to GOD.
GOD Loves us!
Vir pro aliis ad maiorem DEI gloriam..
Bobby Mendiola
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