Reflection/Homily:
Third (3rd) Sunday of Lent Year A (23 March 2014)
Theme: Christ
is The Source of Living Water
The first
reading (Exodus 17:3-7) narrates to us the story of how thirsty the Israelites were
in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. Despite their lack of trust in
God, God intervened in their situation by asking Moses to strike the rock with
his rod and out of this rock came fresh water for the Israelites to drink.
Perhaps we may have experienced similar forms of divine interventions in our
lives especially at our moments of despair. The reading assures us that though
God may seem not to be interested in our predicaments, He is always there to
rescue us and that is why we should continue to trust in Him who can never
disappoint us. All we need to do is to obey His commands just as Moses did.
Today, in our journey to the new Promised Land (heaven), like the Israelites,
we also experience thirst in various forms. We may be thirsty of healing,
salvation, employment, financial breakthrough, etc and these problems may have
led us to murmur against God. In the midst of these difficulties, we can always
approach Christ represented by the ministers of the Gospel who are also representatives
of Moses. Through the exercise of their ministry, God comes to our aid. Christ
is that rock from which the blessings of God flow like water. He is the source
of the living water which quenches our spiritual and physical thirst.
