Water is Life! Third Sunday of Lent
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Third Sunday Of Lent – Year A
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: Do I thirst? =Jesus Christ is the Living Water! Water is Life!
Point of Reflection: What do I thirst for most? Where can I find “water” to satisfy that thirst? Am I experiencing emptiness and desolation in my journey of faith? What do I need to satisfy my spiritual thirst? In the face of a challenge, one can choose to give up faith or hold on to faith. I choose to hold on to faith and to renew my commitment to God by spending more time in prayer and meditation on His Word during this Lenten period. The devil is a liar, I have got the living water and is Jesus Christ.
First Reading: Exodus 17:3–7
Psalm: Psalm 95:1–2, 6–9
Second Reading: Romans 5:1–2, 5–8
Gospel: John 4:5–15, 19–26, 39–42
Today’s Liturgy of the Word hints at the thirst for God, and longing for life, that is written in every human heart. The Israelites in the wilderness, felt physical thirst which, unfortunately, led them away from God as they became concerned about preserving their bodily life. Are you thirsty?
We are in the Lenten season and we need to experience change, today the structure of sharing the Word of God is different, we will begin with the Christian Act in the Word then the Sermon-Reflection.
Christian Act in Word of God “Christ is the living water”
When I visited home last time, accidentally I met a friend of mine called Gcina at Shoprite and quickly entered into my car just to greet me, first question was, where is your water here in the car? I asked why water! The answer was simple, ‘water is life and medicinal let me buy it for you as you have a long distance to travel home’. Water is life! But where do we get water? One of the most basic things that people look for when they need to build a house is the availability of water. This is because water is an essential for life that informs the decision of settlers in their choice of a particular locality. Indeed, the search for water is a relentless one. In some parts of the world, particularly in rural areas, people, usually women, have to walk long distances in search of water, and to carry it in pots or buckets on their heads. Indeed, water is life and where there is no water death rules.
Of course, against this backdrop, one can appreciate the cry of the Israelites in the first reading. As slaves in Egypt, they did not lack water. Ironically, after crossing the waters of the Red Sea, they now stood in need of water. They could not wait for water, and cried out to Moses in desperation. Their cry for water in itself was not wrong. After all, who else could they cry out to in their need? However, their expressed inability to have confidence in the Lord in the face of this crises, became the major obstacle in their faith journey. What obstacles do we have in our daily Christian life?
During this Lenten season, let us identify the obstacles which prevent us to receive the living water which is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the true Prophet.
Today sometimes we encounter false prophets, who claim to have solutions to every problem, have capitalised our life, and built what look like churches from the outside, but, in reality, are shrines for milking unsuspecting victims. They are just money seekers some of them. Even in our churches, some groups have emerged which are just seeking their personal benefits. We need to be careful of false groups and false prophets.
In the Gospel story today, Jesus offers himself as the water that can quench that deep thirst in every one of us. The Samaritan woman at the well with her jar, is descriptive of each one of us in diverse ways. She went in search of that which can quench her thirst and she found in Jesus the water that truly satisfies. Are you thirsty? Have you found Jesus Christ the living water.
Beyond the images of physical water and the jar in the encounter between the Samaritan woman and Jesus, is something that happens in any true encounter with the Lord. Paul described this dynamic as God’s love being poured into believers’ hearts by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus, God pours his love into hearts that are thirsty and willing to be refreshed.
Perhaps, at this point in time in your life, you feel very dry inside. Maybe the jar of your heart is even broken and unable to hold any water. Jesus walks to each one of us today and says, “give me water”. He asks this because he thirsts for our faith in him. Faith heals broken hearts and makes water gush out of the Rock to fill, refresh and revive them. During this Lenten period let us quench ourselves with the living water not dead water.
Sermon (Reflection): In the first reading of today, we hear of Israelites in the wilderness in search of water. D the Exodus, Moses and the Israelites, fleeing from Egyptian slavery, experienced an unexpected rescue from the pharaoh’s hand, when Moses, upon God’s command, parted the waters of the Red Sea (cf. Exod 14:13-31) and the people passed through the midst of the sea. Just after experiencing God’s saving power, the Israelites found themselves in the wilderness, facing the challenge of the desert journey. Lack of water put their lives in danger; they felt overwhelming thirst. Are we not lacking something during this Lenten period same as the Israelites?
Since life cannot continue without water and they saw no immediate remedy for their thirst, they began to “grumble against Moses” whom they accused of leading them into a trap, and inevitable death. Thirst and fear robbed them of confidence and trust in the saving presence of the Lord, despite the fact that they had just seen that saving power leading them through dangerous waters. The Israelites lacked not only water but, above all, lacked faith in God who accompanied them. The biblical author concluded by naming the place where all this happened: Massah, which in Hebrew means “to test”, and Meribah which means “to quarrel.” The Israelites, driven by physical thirst, “quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” as Christians, have we tested the water of Life? The key to the test of the living water is righteousness-to live a righteous life.
Today in the second reading, we encounter one of the key themes in Paul’s letter to the Romans, thus, “justification”, which is better understood if it is translated as “righteousness”. It is a complex concept that describes the relationship and interaction between the human being and God. In the opening verses of today’s New Testament reading Paul refers to righteousness as simply having “peace with God”. This state of peace and grace was lost by the first man, Adam. After him, all of humanity became “unrighteous”, without grace and immortality. But in Christ, the new Adam, “we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand”. Paul stresses the gratuity of this gift of grace. Without any merit on the part of human beings, grace and righteousness came through Christ’s death. Christ died “while we were still sinners”.
Paul emphasises that “rarely will anyone die for a righteous person.” Christ, by dying for sinners showed that God’s grace is not achieved through the pursuit of perfection, but is a gift. The only response necessary to receive it, is faith in Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel of today, there is a famous encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman which took place near the town Sychar located in the region of Samaria. Despite many differences, the Samaritans had much in common with the Jews. They also believed in one God, and waited for the Messiah. Yet, in the course of their long and complex history, these two peoples had become sworn enemies, to the point of avoiding any contact with one another. Remarkably, Jesus approached a Samaritan woman with a request for a drink. In doing this he crossed and violated many boundaries: the barrier of religious separation, which was strictly observed, and the gender divide which forbade men to associate with women in public. He crossed those barriers and divisions, with a simple petition, “Give me a drink”.
The story shows that Jesus’ thirst was not physical. On the cross he cried “I thirst” but his real thirst was to fulfil the Scripture by his death (cf. John 19:28). Also, his thirst in today’s story was not for water but for the woman’s faith. The dialogue between the two took place on two levels. Jesus, who initially asked for water, became the one to offer water. Water, the main subject of the conversation, initially meant natural water, a liquid, which, drawn from the well or a spring was called the “living water”.
However, water quickly came to have spiritual meaning as Jesus spoke of the water that satisfies thirst forever, and is the source of eternal life. This water is the right relationship to God expressed through worship in “spirit and truth” as taught by Jesus the Messiah.
The Samaritan woman recognised that and, in her petition “Sir, give me this water”, led Jesus to offer her himself as the one who can quench the human thirst for God permanently. The woman also correctly identified Jesus as “the Messiah” who would “tell us everything”. These words mean that she came to believe in Jesus as God’s true representative who would satisfy the human thirst for knowing and approaching God. Moreover, her testimony to her fellow Samaritans led them to have their own thirst satisfied because they came to believe in Jesus.
The Samaritans’ thirst for God was satisfied through accepting Jesus as the one who is the Messiah and “truly the Savior of the world”.
Action: I will identify one spiritual practice that can help me satisfy my own spiritual thirst for God and practice it faithfully throughout this Lenten period mainly by fasting and helping the needy.
Prayer: O Lord Jesus! You are the giver of living water, help us during this Lenten period to thirst ourselves with your Word and Love. You alone can satisfy our deepest needs. We turn to you this day and humbly ask you to fill our hearts with heavenly love to live well with our families and friends, Amen.
- Listen to the Will of God: 2nd Sunday of Lent - February 27, 2026
- Life-Giving Obedience: First Sunday Of Lent - February 20, 2026
- Christ-Shaped Hearts: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 13, 2026
