Gospel according to Saint John 4:5-42
Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— 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.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;* and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.”

At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” They went out of the town and came to him.

Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

A drop of water engenders a sun (J. M. Hinojosa)

Luis CASASUS President of the Idente Missionaries

Rome, March 08, 2026 | Third Sunday of Lent

Ex 17: 3-7; Rom 5: 1-2.5-8; Jn 4: 5-42

The Spanish writer and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936), who suffered great upheavals in his faith and showed firm opposition to the dogmatism and opportunistic attitude of the Church of his time, received a letter from a friend reproaching him for his search for eternity, calling it proud and presumptuous. Unamuno’s response was:

I see no pride, neither healthy nor unhealthy. I am not saying that we deserve an afterlife or that logic shows us that we do; I am saying that I need it, whether I deserve it or not. And nothing more. I am saying that what is happening to me does not satisfy me, that I thirst for eternity, and that without it, everything is the same to me. I need that, I need it! And without it, there is no joy in living, nor does the joy of living mean anything.

It’s very easy to say, “You have to live!” “You have to be content with life!” But what about those of us who are not content with it?

Nowadays, simply mentioning the word “eternity” is taboo, it is countercultural and arouses suspicion or even rejection. But many sensitive and intelligent people recognize how keeping eternity in mind, far from being an escape from what our life in the world demands of us, can lead us to endure the suffering and sacrifices required by the obligations and plans we continually make.

As St. Paul says to the Corinthians: Our present sufferings, which are light and temporary, will produce for us an immense and incalculable wealth of glory forever. For our goal is not the things we now see, but those we do not yet see. What we now see is passing away; what is not yet seen remains forever (2 Cor 4:17-18).

And, in reality, when it is not a formal conversation or one subject to “political correctness,” we all talk about eternal love or loving each other forever, including composers who do not exactly write sacred music. This is the case of Colombian singer Yeimy Montoya:

It is my destiny to love you forever

And for you to always be present

It is my destiny for your kisses

Always live in my body

Without that presence of eternity, sooner or later every sacrifice seems disproportionate. Let us remember the rich young man who, in addition to having many possessions, seemed to have a balanced and blameless moral life (Lk 18), but had a longing for which he knew Jesus had the answer:What must I do to inherit eternal life? In reality, that question reveals not only a belief in eternal life, but also the experience that there are barriers, obstacles that can prevent us from enjoying it, from savoring it at this very moment.

None of us are free from these obstacles, which are not only vices or temptations, but also fatigue or disappointment, which push us to return to what we had abandoned, consecrating ourselves to fulfilling the divine will. That is how we are; we are not free from foolishness, despite our experience, our goodness, and our knowledge: Just as a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly (Prov 26:11).

For many people who devote themselves to religious life, there comes a time when they feel disappointed in the community, allowing themselves to be carried away by that feeling, which they contemplate with a magnifying glass and use as justification for abandoning or living in a state of authentic anesthesia to the suffering of their brothers and sisters.

Many intelligent people, sensitive and cultured men and women, the so-called righteous and those considered sinners, tend to remain in the belief that it is enough to respect commandments and moral norms to attain eternal life. Some go a step further and begin to do good works, which is undoubtedly an essential condition for participating in the Kingdom, as the Master teaches unequivocally in the Parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46). But few of us are willing to respond to Christ as the Samaritan woman did: she not only gave him the water he asked for, but immediately left her water jar and shared what she had just experienced.

During Lent, we are invited to imitate this woman, who understood and accepted that it is a matter of abandoning attitudes, thoughts, activities, habits… an innocent pitcher… so many things (good, bad, or neutral) that prevent me from seeing the presence of Christ at our side, in a person whom we immediately label as charming, superficial, or malicious. That is the true taste of eternity, which is achieved by fasting from everything we recognize as useless, distant, disconnected from God’s will.

In this way, the Samaritan woman, who apparently had no credibility with anyone, simply conveyed to everyone, with joy, confidence, and conviction, what Jesus had done for her. Then she invited everyone to come and experience it for themselves.

If we are still not convinced of how we should leave some jars behind, we can do a “Lenten reading” of the episode of the rich young man (Mk 10:17-30). What Christ asks of the young man is:

* Fasting: Sell everything you have.

* Almsgiving: Give it to the poor.

Then you will be able to walk alongside the Master and enjoy a treasure “in heaven,” which is not a place, but a state of true shared eternal life.

Of course, that virtuous young man would have had good reasons not to follow Jesus’ advice. “He was very rich,” the Gospel tells us; perhaps he was not greedy, but he could have come up with an excellent excuse like this: If I leave all my businesses, which I know how to run productively, how will my employees live? So, passions, temptations, and even the satisfaction we derive from our greatest abilities can be obstacles to tasting the only water that gives eternal life.

—ooOoo—

The First Reading clearly tells us about the obstacles we encounter in drinking the water that gives eternal life right now. Ultimately, they are all based on more than just doubt, on a fog of mistrust that prevents us from understanding or enduring difficulties, and—with or without words—we ask ourselves: Is the Lord among us or not? Like the Israelites, we say to ourselves: What if it were all just an illusion?

This affects people of good will, who ask themselves: Can we believe in a God who allows the most terrible hunger or devastating earthquakes? Can we believe in a God who allows accidents and distressing illnesses? Can we believe in a God who allows a divided, backward, and sinful Church? Can we believe in a God who does not let me see the fruits of my efforts, after serving him for so many years?

In a way, we begin to demand that God give us proof of his presence. That is what the word Masah (= temptation) means; we tempt God. But He gives the signs He considers appropriate.

As the Book of Numbers 20 recounts, after 40 years in the desert, the people complained about the lack of water. Unlike what the Book of Exodus recounts today, God then commanded Moses to speak only to the rock, but Moses, angry with the people, said, “Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” and struck the rock twice. Yahweh considered this act a lack of trust and disobedience, for Moses did not sanctify God’s name before the people. By using the word “we,” he gave the impression that the power came from him and Aaron, rather than recognizing that the miracle was God’s work alone. Because of this, he was told that he would not lead the people into the Promised Land.

In this First Reading, He asked Moses to strike the rock with his staff, so that the people would see that water is not the fruit of their efforts, but a gift from heaven. He could have done it differently, for example by leading everyone to an oasis or giving them the intuition necessary to know where to dig a well. But in this way, Yahweh wanted to show that He was indeed among them.

Christ would say it even more clearly on the Temple Mount: Whoever is thirsty, let him come to me and drink (Jn 7:38). He is the source of pure water that quenches all thirst.

This is the same message conveyed to us in the Second Reading, inviting us not to idolize our efforts: Since we have been justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” As the apostle assures us, “our hope does not disappoint us,” not because we are good, but because He is good.

The term “Meribah” means quarrel, altercation, or dispute, and this name was given to two specific places in the desert to remember the attitude of the Israelites, who argued or “quarreled” with Moses (and by extension with God) because of the lack of water.

In the Bible, this name remained as a permanent symbol of the hardening of the heart and lack of gratitude of Israel and of all of us, as Psalm 95 warns: Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah.

The Church Fathers saw in this episode not only a historical event, but also a spiritual symbol of the relationship between God and his people. For example, St. Gregory of Nyssa (4th century) sees in the thirst of the people an image of the deep desire of the soul. Murmuring is the disorder of that desire, which turns against God. But the water that flows shows that even in rebellion, God responds with mercy.

The Samaritan woman, that woman with no known name, did not harden her heart to Jesus’ gesture and, despite her lack of authority among her own people, she knew how to share the forgiveness she had received, the same forgiveness that you and I receive and which is the most evident sign of God the Father’s trust, Christ’s call, and the discreet but clear companionship of the Holy Spirit.

Those who experience this leave behind the jar that was the center of their lives and go to share what they are feeling, because they know that in every person’s life there has been a moment when they have had a certain intuition of eternity, even if it was vague. The material and emotional aspects of life are important, even essential, realities, but they are not enough for anyone.

_______________________________

In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Luis CASASUS

President