Gospel: The Living Water

The Third Sunday of Lent brings us to the Gospel reading according to St John where Jesus manifests himself to a Samaritan woman in a town of Samaria called Sychar beside the well that Jacob gave to his descendants, and asked her for a drink. The Samaritan woman was surprised that Jesus, a Jew, was asking her a favor, more so she was a woman and a Samaritan. In their conversation, Jesus told her that the time will come that God will no longer be worshipped in the Temple of Jerusalem or on the mountain where the Samaritans worship, but will be worshipped in Spirit and truth. But the central theme of their exchange was about a living water that will come as a gift from God, and all those who will drink from it will never become thirsty again. And then the woman was even more astonished because Jesus knew that she have had five husbands and the one she have now is not. And then she went out to the town bursting with the good news of her encounter with Jesus as the Messiah because He knew her and what she had done.

The conversation Jesus have had with the woman at the well is the longest He have had with anyone. And it talks about a new way of living that Jesus preaches to everybody. Everyday, we are offered this same encounter with Christ in the Holy Eucharist. When our physical bodies are tired, we tend to look for water to drink to quench our thirst. But Jesus tells us about a different thirst, which pertains to spiritual tiredness.

This Lent, the Church welcomes everybody to experience this encounter with Christ. And we do not need to feel ashamed or troubled by our unworthiness, because Jesus knew us by name. Even our very hairs are numbered. God knows us by heart, and it is our turn to know Him more by seeking a spiritual relationship with Him through prayers, which in turn becomes our spiritual nourishment.

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The Gospel reflection is sponsored by Philippine Airlines.