Reflection: 3rd Week of Lent
by Br. Leo, O.S.B.

“Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give
him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Jn. 4:13-14

Why do we eat and drink? Our first response might be, “because food and water keep us alive;
without them, we would die.” But does an infant child cry out for his mother’s milk because he knows
why he needs it? No, that knowledge comes much later. Rather, the child cries for milk, and man is
compelled to seek out food and water, for the same fundamental reason: because we hunger and we
thirst. The sacrifices of Lent present an opportunity to become better attuned to what our hearts are
thirsting for, and how we are seeking to satisfy that thirst. In particular, Lent challenges us to be more
attentive to our thirst for Christ, and at the same time, his thirst for our souls.
Jesus greets the Samaritan woman at the well by asking her, “Give me a drink.” This greeting
is not just about physical thirst, nor is Jesus simply trying to get the woman’s attention. Jesus thirsts
for her faith, her belief, her love and obedience. He goes on to tell her that, if she drinks the water he
gives, she will never thirst again, while drinking from the well water will always leave her thirsty again
(Jn 4:13-14).

In a sense, Jesus’ thirst is to satisfy our thirst for him. The pleasures we take for granted in
daily life, such as a full stomach, digital entertainment, a warm shower, etc., while usually not bad in themselves, can dull our sense of that spiritual thirst for Christ without us realizing it. The more we are drinking from the living water of Jesus Christ, in his Word, the sacraments, prayer, and community,
the more our Lenten sacrifices will be marked by a sense of fullness of heart, rather than simply
deprivation of the senses.

This Lent, let us pray for the spiritual sensitivity to recognize our thirst for Christ, and let us ask for the grace to always seek to satisfy that thirst by drinking from the endlessly satisfying cup of Christ’s love, rather than drinking from the shallow cup of passing pleasures.