Word from the Pastor

Third Sunday of Lent

We are invited to bring our thirst to God
Exodus 17:3-7, Romans 5:1-2, 5-8, John 4:5-42

Dear parish family,
Is the Lord in our midst or not? ​

As much as we may be tempted to look back on the Israelites and wonder at their doubt in our first reading, if any of us have ever been truly thirsty, we will be moved to greater empathy for their plight. There are few things more troubling than not having enough water. We can go some amount of time without food, but water is a very urgent human need. And so, confronted with the horrific reality of being in a desert with no water, wondering if God has abandoned them no longer feels so surprising. ​

Our readings today invite us to grapple with moments we feel spiritually dry and begin to question God’s providence. Especially in our modern context, we, too, are in a desert not a physical but a spiritual one. We live in a world where sources connecting us to that deeper, richer inner life can feel hard to notice, hard to get to, hard to find. Sometimes it can seem as though the number of people in our midst who are plagued by spiritual thirst is very high. And in these moments of suffering and longing and need, we may find ourselves asking the same question as the Israelites in our first reading: Is the Lord in our midst or not? ​

In this season of Lent, we are invited to bring our spiritual thirst to the Lord. We see in the Gospel that Jesus himself is the source of the living water that satisfies the spiritual thirsts in our lives. Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst, Jesus says. Just as God provided for the Israelites in the desert, so, too, he provides for us through his Son, Jesus, from whom blood and water poured as a fountain of grace. Here in this Mass, Jesus’ self-offering on the cross becomes real and present to us. In the Eucharist, he continues to pour out his abundant life to refresh our souls. ​

But Jesus doesn’t only give us himself. He also gives us the gift of his Spirit. Saint Paul reminds us that we will find our peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the love of God [that] has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. When we receive the love of God through the Spirit, we are, to borrow a phrase from Pope Francis, “set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness” (Evangelii Gaudium, 1). Through the gift of the Spirit, we receive life-giving water in abundance. ​

Here in this sacred place, in this sacred time, let us acknowledge our thirst and our need for God. Let us not mask it or hide it with distractions or goods which cannot ultimately satisfy. We are invited today to bring our thirst to God and, like the Samaritan woman, simply ask: Lord, give me this water. ​

Just as the Lord was waiting for the woman at the well, Jesus will meet us here in our need and provide life-giving water for all our spiritual thirsts. ​

faithcatholicsubscriptions.com/downloads ​

Fr. Jean Jadotte
Pastor