Lenten Journey Middle Point Check-Up on Cycle A

40 years of wondering in wilderness between the land of bitter suffering in Egypt and the promised  land in Canaan characterize Exodus.  This long challenging journey was, in a way, a spiritual refinement, as it was to show the survival of only the spiritually fittest.  Those who were not had perished. 

As Lent  is a spiritual journey from a sinful life to turn to the providence of God, just as a wondering lost sheep is returning to his or her original herd, from which he or she went astray, by a sinful temptation.  We spend 40 days and 6 Sundays, including Palm Sunday, to return to God, for our Lenten journey. 

40 days of Lent and 40 years of Exodus – they certainly make a meaningful juxtaposition for our Lenten journey to be more meaningful.  Perhaps, reflecting the First Reading of the 3^rd Sunday of Lent on Cycle A (Exodus 17:3-7) upon the Gospel Reading of the Sunday (John 4:5-42) helps us to connect Exodus with our Lenten journey.  Through this parallel reflection, we can draw thirst as a common theme that is drawn from Exodus experience and our Lenten experience.  Then, we can see the Israelites, who grumbled and complained to Moses about thirst on Exodus 17 in the First Reading and the Samaritan woman, who came to the Jacob’s Well to draw water around the noon time in John 4 represent us as sinners, who needs to hear God’s voice and return to God by way of His immeasurable mercy. 

The thirst that the Israelites grumbled and complained from an early phase of Exodus, shortly after successfully crossing the Red Sea and saved from the danger of the Pharaoh’s army, is associated with their lack of appreciation for God’s providence.  The Israelites must have taken God’s care for granted, though Moses and Miriam praised God’s marvelous saving work for the Israelites, upon crossing the Red Sea.  This is a lesson we can reflect upon ourselves, as we tend to take things for granted and complain for a lack of things. Our lack of gratitude not only results in complaining of our thirst but makes us more vulnerable to sinful temptations, which often lead us into a vicious cycle of addiction.

The thirst of the Samaritan woman, on the other hand, as not just for the water drawn from the Jacob’s Well but much deeper spiritual thirst – thirst for true love.  She had been so thirsty for true love.  That is why she kept chasing men after men but never able to have a lasting committed relationship, called matrimony.  She had been, indeed, in a vicious cycle of bad relationships. As a result of this, she had been also living in shame and guilt, as she avoided to come to the Well, early in the morning, when people usually come to draw and socialize.  The fact that she came to the well around the noon time, when she knew nobody would be around, shows that she had been suffering from loneliness, which St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) sees as the most terrible poverty and spiritual suffering.  As St. Teresa of Calcutta has said, the only way to be healed from this is love, in fact, the love that Christ teaches and embodies.  In John 4, this love is the Living Water that Jesus offered to the Samaritan Woman. 

If we are like the Israelites in Exodus 17: 3-7, we may seek something like alcohol to quench our thirst, only to be thirsty again to a greater extent, to drink more. This way, we can let our life sink into a vicious cycle of addiction.  On the other hand, if we are like the Samaritan Woman in John 4: 5-42, we recognize our spiritual thirst for Christ’s love, which is the Living Water, so that we can be truly quenched and live a Holy-Spirit-filled joyful life. 

The 3^rd Sunday of Lent is the middle point on our Lenten journey – on our Lenten “Exodus”.  It is a good time to check our journey has been.  Have we been like the grumbling Israelites in Exodus 17 or been like the Samaritan Woman in John 4, receiving the Loving Water to be quenched spiritually – being healed from loneliness by Christ’s love? 

We shall become more grateful of Christ’s love – God’s mercy, not grumbling, as we further advance on our Lenten journey.  We we move on this journey, we grow in faith to willingly cite "suscipe" prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.

All we need on our journey is grace of God, as its best form is His love. It is wise to travel light to be drawn more closer to God during Lent. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are to aid us to say that God's grace is enough.