Sunday Reflections

Recently, in the newspaper. there have been articles about the impending water shortage in Waterloo Region.  I suspect that, most of the time, water is something we take for granted.  We turn the faucet on and trust that what proceeds is an abundance of clean drinking water.  We have little experience with those who lived in the dry, parched land of Palestine.  One of the predominant themes of the gospel for this Sunday is the theme of water. Jesus asks the Samaritan for water to drink, and what proceeds from this encounter is a misunderstanding of what Jesus offers her in return. She offers him water from the well, and he offers her the water of everlasting life. Eventually, she understands what he is saying and it changes her life so much so that she enthusiastically brings that message to her village.

For us, as Christians, the water of everlasting life comes to us in baptism, the spiritual doorway into a rich, fulfilling life with God. We celebrate the day of our birth every year; how many of us celebrate the date of our baptism?  Like water, we can come to take our baptism and life with God for granted.  Over time, we can lapse into a kind of spiritual malaise. We get lazy and find our faith uninspiring and boring.  It becomes a burden. We go through the rituals without them actually moving our souls or leading us closer to God.  The Covid pandemic we experienced seemed to have broken the spiritual journey of many Christians. When it was over, many did not return to church, and the practice of prayer took a deep blow.  Like water, we need to reexamine our relationship with God and pray that we do not take it for granted.  Today’s psalm response sums it up well: “O that today you would listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts!”

As we mark the halfway point of the season of Lent, may our journeys through this spiritual desert bring us closer to God and renew us in spirit. May we rediscover the enthusiasm of our first love with God. May we come to the water of life and drink deeply.  This water will quench the deepest thirsts of our souls and lead us to know that love of God that has loved us and forgiven us even while we were still sinners. Let us listen to the voice of the Lord.