Jesus makes known what it means to hunger and thirst for justice. He does not fail to satisfy those who are hungry and thirsty like him. 

Tired from his journey, Jesus sits down at Jacob’s well in a town of Samaria named Sychar. It is about noon. And a Samaritan woman comes to draw water and Jesus says to her, “Give me a drink.” But as he seeks to satisfy his thirst, he seeks at the same time to satisfy her thirst.

There are, of course, in this interaction lessons the Samaritan gives us. But we cannot lose sight of Jesus’ initiative and what his thirst means.

He thirsts, yes, but it is a thirst not so much for water as for justice. And he wants her and the others to have such thirst. They will thus have their fill.

And so that what he wants for her may come true, the Jew breaks the established norm. For he speaks with the Samaritan woman. Besides, he asks her for a drink. So, he is before her as one with a need that she can satisfy.

So then, he does not look down on her, as her neighbors do. Maybe it is because of this that she goes to the well at noon, so she does not meet them. For they are there when it is not so hot.

No, not like them, Jesus does not scold, judge or condemn her. He tells her all that she has done. But he does not use what he knows to put her down but to lift her up.

And it is due to this that she feels at home with Jesus. He, in turn, nudges her to know her inner thirst. She has tried to satisfy it through fleeting love affairs. In the end, she gets to grasp that he alone can satisfy her thirst. Rightly, then, does she leave her water jar.

Lord Jesus, grant that we yearn for you, as the deer yearns for running streams, until you fully satisfy us in heaven. Also, make us worship the Father in Spirit and truth through you, with you and in you. And may this go hand in hand with love for our neighbor. Give us also your thirst to the end, so that we may be willing to give up our bodies and shed our blood. Yes, we admit we are sinners. Yet we know also that the throne of God’s mercy is the greatness of the faults he forgives (SV.EN XI:130).

March 8, 2026
3rd Sunday of Lent (A)
Ex 17, 3-7; Rom 5, 1-2. 5-8; Jn 4, 5-42