March 8, 2026 - Third Sunday of Lent

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The readings for the Third Sunday of Lent, Year A, draw us into the powerful biblical image of thirst—physical thirst, spiritual thirst, and the deep human longing for God. In the first reading from the book Exodus 17:3–7), the Israelites grumble in the desert. Having been freed from slavery, they now fear death by thirst. “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?” they cry. Their thirst becomes accusation. Their hardship becomes doubt. They question not only Moses—but God Himself.

How familiar this sounds. When life feels dry—when prayers seem unanswered, when burdens increase, when faith does not bring immediate comfort—we too may ask: “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” Yet God responds not with anger but with abundance. Water flows from the rock. Grace flows where complaint had reigned.

The Gospel from John (4:5–42) brings us to another scene of thirst—this time at Jacob’s well. There, Jesus Christ encounters a Samaritan woman. It is noon, the hottest part of the day. She comes alone—perhaps isolated, perhaps ashamed. She comes for ordinary water. She leaves transformed. “Give me a drink,” Jesus says. In this simple request, He overturns barriers: Jew and Samaritan, man and woman, righteous teacher and morally complicated sinner. He begins with physical thirst but moves quickly to something deeper: “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.”

The woman misunderstands at first—like Nicodemus before her. But slowly, through honest conversation, her heart opens. Jesus reveals her truth—not to condemn her, but to free her. The One who knows her completely does not reject her. Instead, He offers “living water.” This living water is the life of the Spirit. It is grace that wells up from within. It is relationship, not ritual alone. Worship “in Spirit and truth.” And here is the miracle: the woman who came alone leaves as a missionary. She runs back to the town she once avoided and proclaims, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done.” Her shame becomes testimony. Her thirst becomes mission.

The second reading from Romans (5:1–2, 5–8) reminds us that “the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Notice the language—poured. Not sprinkled. Not rationed. Poured.

Lent confronts us with our thirst. We thirst for meaning, for love, for forgiveness, for hope. We attempt to satisfy that thirst in many wells: success, comfort, distraction, control. Yet again and again we return empty. The Samaritan woman had drawn water from Jacob’s well her entire life. It sustained her body, but not her soul. We, too, can draw daily from wells that never truly satisfy. Christ does not shame us for our thirst. He meets us there. The Israelites struck the rock and water flowed. The Samaritan woman encountered Christ and faith flowed. Paul tells us that through suffering, hope flows. The desert and the well teach the same lesson: God is not absent in our thirst. Often, thirst is the very place of encounter.

This Third Sunday of Lent invites us to ask: Where am I spiritually thirsty? Where have I been grumbling instead of trusting? What wells am I drawing from that cannot satisfy? Am I willing to let Christ reveal my truth so He can heal it? Lent is not about proving our strength to God. It is about discovering our need for Him. At every Mass, we come again to the well. We hear His Word. We receive living water. And like the Samaritan woman, we are sent back into our towns—our families, workplaces, and communities—to say: “Come and see.” May this Sunday move us from complaint to trust, from isolation to witness, from thirst to living water.

God bless everyone always!!!

Fr. Stan