Third Sunday of Lent
Jn 4:5-42
March 12, 2023
I did a double take when I first noticed the car in front of me had a license plate with a dark blue background and bright yellow numbers. When I saw the motto: WATER WINTER WONDERLAND across the bottom, I realized that there has been a REVIVAL of the plate that every Michigan vehicle sported back in the 1950’s. This triggered a childhood memory for me.
I was taken back to the day, many years ago, as I stood watching my grandfather put a new license plate of that very design on the rear bumper of his brand new “Ford Crown Victoria.” It had a white roof, a black body, and lots and lots of shiny chrome. I recall asking him what
That is a realization…how precious water truly is…that is easy to lose sight of. It seems that when something is plentiful, we tend to forget its value. We take it for granted. Hopefully, the REVIVAL of a vintage license plate will somehow remind us of how blessed we are, although, these days, we have a lot more than a license plate to remind us of the value of water.
Water is very prominent in the news these days. Some parts of the world are dealing with massive flooding, even as others are suffering from devastating drought. Water also takes center stage in our Readings on this Third Sunday of Lent.
My reflection on what a precious, abundant, and powerful “spiritual resource” water is triggered another memory…not from childhood, but rather from the Easter Vigil liturgy. The Blessing over the fresh water flowing through the Baptismal font is a powerful reminder of how the Creator doubly blesses us with the gift of water. It is a natural resource which is essential to life in this world. At the same time, it is a spiritual resource which enables us to hope for eternal life in the Kingdom.
The Blessing begins:
Oh, God, who by invisible power
accomplishes a wondrous effect
through sacramental signs,
and who, in many ways, have prepared water,
your creation, to show forth the grace of Baptism…
The Blessing goes on, reminding us that the Holy Spirit hovered over water in the first moments of creation, giving water the power to sanctify.
Next is a reference to the deluge, where water became an instrument of regeneration.
In the Blessing, we recall how the waters of the Red Sea parted so that the people could pass from slavery into freedom in the Promised Land. The sea closed and it was water that shielded the people from Pharaoh’s army which was in hot pursuit.
Moving into the New Testament, we recall how Jesus was Baptized in the waters of the Jordan. That extraordinary event in salvation history reminds us that God’s life-giving presence is as available to us as water. We are literally surrounded by it. A significant detail of the Paschal mystery is the fact that water poured from Jesus’s side as He died on the Cross.
The Blessing concludes:
May the power of the Holy Spirit,
O Lord, we pray,
come down through your Son
into the fullness of this font,
so that all who have been buried with Christ
by Baptism into death
may rise again to life with Him.
Today’s Gospel is as deep as the well where Jesus encountered the woman with a very colorful background. There are many levels of meaning to be drawn from this passage, which, for centuries, has been used to catechize those preparing for the Easter Sacraments.
But it also carries a critical message to those who might have lost sight of how precious water is…not just to quench our thirst or cleanse our bodies or wash our clothes. At the very dawn of creation, the Holy Spirit used water as the medium to sanctify our world and make it holy.
It is that same Spirit Who regenerates us when we are deluged by doubts, fears, worries…even sin. It is The Holy Spirit Who parts the waters, enabling us to escape those things that enslave us, making us less than what God created us to be. And once we have passed over into our personal Promised Land, it is the Holy Spirit Who protects us from those things that continue to pursue and threaten our freedom. It is the Holy Spirit Who dwells within our Baptismal waters…making The Living Water a source of healing and spiritual REVIVAL.
It is the Holy Spirit…Who dwells within each and every one of us, leaving us precious in the eyes of God…Who never takes any of us for granted, no matter how “colorful” our lives might be or how our “village” regards us. It is the Holy Spirit…Who makes all of creation a “WONDERLAND” for those wise enough to draw the Spirit up from the depth of their being and into their daily lives.
It is this same Spirit Who will awaken us to Eternal life in Christ.