Sharing the living water 

In this Sunday’s readings, God shows his love for the Israelites by issuing water from the rock at Horeb, Saint Paul tells us how the living water of God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus reveals Himself to the Samaritan woman at the well as the source of living water. These readings help us to meditate on the unlimited spiritual significance of God’s love, but also on the importance of water in a physical sense. 

In ancient Israel, the women’s daily trip to the well was of the utmost importance to the community. In the Gospel reading, the other women would have gone to the well in the morning, but one was there at noon, the hottest time of the day, a sign that she was an outcast. The hot sun would have made her daily toil harder. 

In our modern world, we often take for granted our effortless access to clean drinking water, a luxury that many poor people and victims of war must do without. We also tend to accept the commodification of water as a product for sale, rather than seeing it as a basic human right, a right-to-life issue. 

Jesus’s very carnal cry for water from the Cross—“I’m thirsty”—is echoed today in the lives of those hanging on the crosses of poverty and oppression. Some live in distant lands, others in our own communities. 

The classic Lenten practices are sacrifice, almsgiving and prayer. Let’s see them, not as things to do, but as beautiful aids in living this season fully. 

This week, perhaps we may want to say a prayer for those who don’t have easy access to clean drinking water, while paying attention with gratitude to all the times we use water throughout the day. Perhaps we may want to fast for a day in solidarity with all the starving people in the world. Or perhaps we may want to seek an encounter with our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Why not ask your parish priest about charitable work? Do you know any sick or homebound people who would welcome a visit? Have you ever tried talking to a panhandler? Do you have things you don’t want that they might need? You could start a conversation by offering to come back with those things, or by offering to help in some other way. 

All these practices give spiritual refreshment. They are also opportunities for us to share the living water poured into our hearts. Just as Jesus gave living water to the Samaritan woman, an outcast, we are called to serve our less fortunate brothers and sisters with compassion and love. 

a faithful Catholic from the Diocese of Montreal