THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

The fountain leaping up

FIRST READING: Exodus 17:3-7
“Is the Lord in our midst or not?”
IT IS EASY for us to criticize the Israelites for their appalling vote of “no confidence” in Moses, not to mention Yahweh. After all, had not the Lord, through Moses, accomplished extraordinary rescues, time and again, for these people? But the fact is, you cannot argue with thirst. Dehydration is a dreadful condition, alarming in its immediacy, and like suffocation, imperils life in a way that doesn't admit much time for debate. The chosen people of God were at risk—didn’t God see or care?

This is a legitimate question, then and now, and no mere theology to anyone who is suffering. It is perhaps the most religious question one can ask. Moses accepts the urgency, and turns it over at once to the Lord. Which is, perhaps, the most religious response to the question of suffering.

SECOND READING: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
The love of God has been poured out through the Spirit
WHO NEEDS SALVATION? Sinners, essentially—the righteous need not apply. It should surprise no one, then, that Christ died for sinners, that the Holy Spirit is poured upon godless hearts like ours. Yet all of this is contrary to the human logic of just deserts. We tend to heap laurels on folks who do not need them, reward the wealthy with more wealth, the honored with more honor. If God were more logical, God would save the good people, and leave the nasty ones to their self-made hell. This is justice, we say.

Thank heaven, God is not as just as we are. God extends grace to us because of who God is, not because of who we are. God gives us what we need because we need it, not because we have earned it. And this is the source of our peace, which the world, in its ruthless version of justice, cannot give.

GOSPEL: John 4:5-42
“Give me this water, sir”
THE STORY of this first apostle to the Gentiles—a generation before Paul—is so rich and full, any brief reflection must be limited to a single image. Let’s focus on the living water: What has living water got that other water does not? A connection to its source, biologists would say. Living water refers to oceans, streams, rivers—water that flows, pours, moves ceaselessly through its courses. Stagnant water, on the other hand, like the water in a cup, just sits there and eventually becomes impure by its lack of a replenishing, renewing source.

The Samaritan woman has one advantage over Jesus: She has access to well water in a dry land. But the water that Jesus has, continually splashing up from the boundless generosity of God, is a far superior offering. Imagine having a fountain of water rising up within you, keeping your spirit ever refreshed and alive. Would you not, like this amazed woman, leave your old water jar behind?

Questions for Reflection
    • How do you involve God when you are in a crisis situation?
    • What does salvation through Jesus Christ offer you personally?
    • In what ways do you settle for the stagnant water of the world? Where in your life is God’s living water flowing?

Action Response
Dorothy Day once said: God does not give us the right to discriminate between the “deserving” and the “undeserving” poor. Since God’s grace comes to us while we are still sinners, do a gracious act for someone “undeserving” this week.


These meditations reprinted with permission from God's Word Is Alive: Reflections on the Lectionary Readings for Sundays and Holydays by Alice Camille, For more information on the book or to order, visit the ACTA Publications website or call 800-397-2282.