Fr Marco Lazzaron
very three years, on this Third Sunday of Lent, we encounter a passage that, from the earliest centuries of Christianity, accompanied the journey of the catechumens (and other Christians) toward Easter. It is an intense dialogue centered on the meaning of the “living water” that Jesus intends to give in such a way that there will no longer be any need to draw from a well, at an hour not particularly favourable, like noon (“the sixth hour”).
It is beautiful to let ourselves be surprised by the Lord, giving Him a chance in our lives—allowing Him to enter into our daily routine and make it new each day, overcoming the habits that, also because of the tiredness that often marks our days, tend to repeat the same things without any wonder or freshness.
Thus Jesus, weary from the journey, makes Himself available to offer us a word of life and above all the “living water,” which is He Himself. Like this woman, we too are invited to quench our thirst at this spring and fountain of life.
So, like this woman, let us leave behind our jar and run to tell everyone who Jesus is for us. We will experience hearing that others, too, have finally reached certainty: “We ourselves have heard and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.”
Prayer
O God, source of life, who offer humanity the living water of your grace, grant that your people may confess that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and worship you in spirit and truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who is God, and lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
And for those who are tired of the journey and stop at a spiritual well and still want to read…
The voice of a Pope
In the encounter with the Samaritan woman, the symbol of water stands out in the foreground, clearly indicating the sacrament of Baptism, the source of new life through faith in the grace of God. This water represents the Holy Spirit, the supreme ‘gift’ that Jesus came to bring from God the Father. Whoever is reborn of water and the Holy Spirit—that is, in Baptism—enters into a real relationship with God, a filial relationship, and can worship Him ‘in spirit and truth’. Thanks to the encounter with Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, human faith reaches its fulfilment, as a response to the fullness of God’s revelation.
Each one of us can identify with the Samaritan woman: Jesus waits for us, especially in this season of Lent, to speak to our hearts saying: ‘If you knew the gift of God…’. (Benedict XVI, Angelus, 27th March 2011).