Reflect
In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. It is a beautiful and telling exchange, where Jesus refers to what he calls the “living water,” which if drunk will lead to eternal life. The living water that is our faith is free and available for all, and Jesus reaching out to a Samaritan woman—someone many Jews at the time would have shunned—is a testament to that.
Pray
God,
I thirst for a deeper,
truer faith in you.
It is a thirst that I feel
in my bones
and in my soul.
Help me to share the good news
of the living water
as your Son did,
even with those who I don’t think will respond
the way I want them to.
May I find the courage
to encounter and speak with
the Samaritan woman at the well
in my life:
that person I am supposed
to keep my distance from,
that person who might have been
invisible to me before,
an enemy,
a stranger.
Amen.
Act
Sharing the living water might start with sharing actual sustenance. Lent is a great time to volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry. Part of repentance can involve giving back.
