“Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)

The major theme for this 3^rd Sunday of Lent focuses on God’s invitation for our continuing and ever deepening conversion during this Lenten season, to repent our sins, to embrace God’s holy life that only He can provide us the “living water” and truly quench our thirst and fulfill our deepest longing.

Today’s readings center on the importance of “water” as it symbolizes our relationship with God. Water represents God’s blessing and Spirit that come to us in the sacrament of baptism. Therefore, water is the external sign of an internal reality, the coming of God to us as a penetrating force that enters every aspect of our life.

God’s blessing and Spirit quench our inmost thirst. Just as water is the life-giving source for the wondering Israelites in the desert, it symbolizes the true, loving, and caring relationship that Jesus Christ has with us.

In fact, one of the reasons that we come every Sunday to Church to celebrate Mass is to receive and share this divine water of God’s blessing with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Only God can give us this living water. He desires to give it to us and share it with us. We need to thank God and appreciate (1) “the Holy Spirit,” (2) “the Word” and (3) “the Sacraments.” These are our primary sources of blessings of the “living water” of divine grace that nourishes, energizes, and liberates us from the darkness of sin, suffering and death, helping us to achieve our eternal salvation.     
 
God does not want us holding a relationship of Transaction but Transformation. Therefore, Dynamic Christian disciples are those who (1) BELIEVE, (2) GROW, (3) SERVE, (4) LOVE and (5) LEAD others to Jesus. Today’s topic invites us to work with the Holy Spirit to imitate and follow our savior Jesus Christ in this Lenten season, who alone can provide us the “living water” to satisfy all our thirst and give us “eternal life,” to repent our sins, to exercise our Christian stewardship, to use our time, treasure, and talents to love God above all and to love our neighbors as ourselves, participating in the works of mercy, to accomplish God’s will in our lives to glorify God. 

How can we be transformed by God’s “living water”?                 

Wishing you a very happy and blessed week in the Lord.