WATER WATER EVERYWHERE - 3RD SUNDAY OF LENT (3/12/2023)

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
March 12, 2023

Exodus 17:3-7
Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
John 4:5-42 


WATER WATER EVERYWHERE

In high school - a very long time ago - we studied a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge called "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," with these lines: "Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink." I was reminded of that by today's readings which speak a great deal about water.  We thirst for natural water but even more so for the water of eternal life that Jesus alone can give us.

EXODUS

Our first reading describes the situation when the Israelites lacked water in the desert. The people were grumbling against Moses for leading them out of slavery in Egypt into the desert!

The people complained to Moses, and Moses in turn complained to the Lord: "What shall I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me."

The Lord commanded Moses: "Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink." (Actually, this version from Exodus paints Moses as more obedient than the account in Numbers 20, when Moses strikes the rock twice and was punished by the Lord for an apparent lack of faith.)

The Responsorial, Psalm 95, alludes to this incident in the desert: "Where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works."

GOSPEL

Our gospel is a long one from John 4, about Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. It is difficult to hear today's gospel account without thinking of the traditional spiritual, "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well," with its refrain, "He told me everything I've ever done!"

Jesus promises to give this woman water that shall become a spring of water welling up to eternal life. There is a similar promise in John 7:37 when Jesus proclaims, "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'"

The Scripture makes it clear that the living water Jesus promises is the Holy Spirit, poured out through the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

ROMANS

Our second reading is a beautiful selection from Romans 5 about peace with God through faith in Jesus.

St. Paul tells us that "the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." The Holy Spirit is now poured out precisely because "while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

LORD, GIVE ME THIS WATER

There is a gospel song that seems to capture the message of today's readings about the living water. This is the chorus:

There is a river that flows from deep within; there is a fountain that frees the soul from sin.

Come to this water, there is a vast supply. There is a river that never shall run dry.

The Lenten Season leads up to the baptism of new catechumens at Easter. The liturgy today is a catechesis in being joined to Christ and receiving his living water, the Holy Spirit. The gospel shows us that the Lord is not blind to our sins: "He told me everything I've ever done." But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, so that if we repent and believe, God will pour out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

As we say in the Verse before the Gospel: "Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world; give me living water, that I may never thirst again."