Reflection From

Fr. John

Meditation from Father John

March 8, 2026

Jesus responds to the Samaritan woman in this week's Gospel, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink, 'you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)

If you have ever traveled out West or to a very dry desert region, you realize the importance of water and what happens when it is scarce. In both the First Reading and the Gospel, both Moses and Jesus are in search of water.

In the First Reading, Moses and the Israelites, after being freed from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt, are traveling through the Wilderness of Sin, located in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. They are out of water and begin to grumble against God. Moses in response calls out to God who tells him to strike a rock so that water will flow from it. This may have been Moses‟ greatest miracle. St. Paul mentions in the First Letter to the Corinthians, “...and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” (1 Cor 10:2-4) The water flowing from the rock at Meribah symbolized Christ and the gift of Salvation that He would give to His followers.

In the Gospel this week, Jesus speaks not only of physical water, but of that living water that He will give to all who ask Him. In the Gospel passage for this Sunday, we see the analogy between water, which is the source of life on earth, and the true living water of Salvation and forgiveness that Jesus desires to give to those who seek Him. In the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, Christ gradually draws the woman from thinking in physical terms to a deeper spiritual understanding and belief in Him. He gradually draws her to conversion and love of Him.

This is seen most clearly when studying the underlying Gospel text. We see how in the ancient Greek, the word for well or cistern changes as the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman progresses. At the start of His conversation with the woman, Jesus and the woman both used the Greek word pēgē, meaning flowing water or fountain when referring to Jacob's well. However, as the conversation between Christ and the Samaritan woman developed, Christ and the woman both used the Greek word phrear in relation to Jacob‟s well. Phrear is the Greek word for cistern or standing/still water. While this may not seem like a very significant detail, it points to a change in thinking and a deepening conversion within the heart of the Samaritan woman. As the Gospel was originally written in Greek, it was very likely that the author used this change in wordage in the text to signify the change occurring within the heart of the woman. While she may have originally depended upon and thought that it was Jacob‟s well that provided her with “real” water, she gradually began to realize that it is Jesus Himself who is the source of living water. Another important aspect in the conversation between Jesus and the woman is that after speaking with Jesus, the woman referred to Him as Kyrie, meaning Lord. This heightened sign of respect showed her deepened understanding and conversion of heart that Jesus is the Messiah.

As we reflect on this Third Sunday of Lent, it is not only the Samaritan woman who was in need of conversion, but each one of our hearts is in need as well. May we not squander this opportunity, but through prayer and visiting the Sacrament of Reconciliation, may we receive the grace of that living water, the grace of a renewed spiritual life and a renewed commitment to the life of grace that Jesus offers to each of us.

Father John

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