Third Sunday of Lent
I need your help. Is there anyone here who has given up something you like for Lent and you are really hurting? And when you crave or desire what you have given up, what do you do? Do you just say, “Let me hang in there for just another three weeks? Or do you try to find a spiritual value to your Lenten practice? Is your Lenten observance making you a better person?
Today’s readings introduce us to the complex nature of desire and their power in our lives. The Israelites in today’s first reading began to grumble against Moses and God because they have no water. They were thirsty for water. Now, if they had any sense, they should have known that the God who worked wonders for them, that the God who set them free, that the God who parted the Red sea could also provide them with water. But they grumbled so bitterly that Moses was scared they would stone him. Don’t blame the people. That is the nature of desires. If we do not deal with them well, they can lead us into disarray.
Desires are God’s gift to us. Desires help us to seek things that are necessary for survival, for progress and security. For example, the desire for intimacy and companionship is necessary for human survival. The desire for security is necessary for human preservation. We desire God because it is necessary for salvation. However, there are desires in us that do not lead us to God and goodness. And sometimes these desire, if not disciplined can be destructive. An alcoholic is a person whose desire is now beyond his or her control. Adultery happens because a person does not discipline their desire for pleasure. Greed comes from one’s desire to possess wealth beyond their need. People steal, lie, become corrupt to fulfil their desires. Some will even kill for what they want. And that is why in the Catholic monastic tradition the monks they spent much time disciplining their bodily desire. They were taught to desire God alone.
The story of the Samaritan woman in today’s gospel reading is the story of human desire gone array but finally being fulfilled in Christ. I am concluding from the detail that scripture gives about her. This woman desired genuine and honest relationships. For some reason it eluded her. Perhaps she was looking for it in the wrong places. The fact seems to be that that “water” that she came to draw at the well was only symbolic of her real desires... her desire for happiness, contentment, peace, love... and her desire for God. The point is that nothing gave her what she really desired. They were finally only fulfilled when she met her Savior.
This Lent I want to suggest three ways to make our desires lead us to the desire of all desires – God.
a) First, our little acts of Lenten penance must lead us a deeper longing for God. I would like you to think of the penance you have willingly accepted for Lent. For example, I have decided to focus on humility this Lent. I am trying to rely less and less on myself and more and more on God. But this is hard, since it is easier to rely on my own abilities and powers. There are times when I would like to go back to my old self. In such moments I think of Jesus in the desert. In such moments I think of the God who desires to reconcile us to himself. I try to link my desire for self-sufficiency with Christ’s desire for me. St. Paul says in today’s second reading, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” If, when we long for things we have given up, we remember the Jesus who gave up his very life in desiring to save us, then we too will end up like the Samaritan woman – our desire will finally lead us to Christ. My suggestion to all of this Lent is to link our desires with that of Christ.
b) As we grow and mature in life one of the realization we come to is that not all our desires are fulfilled. Once again, controlling our desires during Lent should prepare us to deal with our unfulfilled desired. In other words, what we do with our unfulfilled desires may tell a lot about us. Some deal with them positively and some negatively. For example, a person who seeks promotion at work may begin to manipulate the situation. A person desiring a child may adopt another child. A person who is hurt may desire revenge or desire to reconcile. What characterizes a genuine Christian is that they use his or her fulfilled and unfulfilled desires as a means to get closer to God.
c) Today’s readings particularly lead us to reflect on another deeper reality – that God is the highest point of all desires. Our fulfilled and unfulfilled desires remind us of the fleeting nature of all desires. Desires are impermanent. Today we desire a Toyota tomorrow we desire a Lexus. Today we desire this outfit and tomorrow we desire another. In the final analysis, each everyone of our desires will pass away. Only one will remain – our desire for God. As St, Augustine tried wine, women and song to find happiness. At the end of it all he said, “Our hearts are thirsty for you O God, and they will not rest until they rest in thee.” Our desires must remind us of the end of our lives and of the only thing we will have forever – God.
Every Eucharist is a story of a search. Every Eucharist is a story of a thirst. Every Eucharist is a story of God pouring God’s love into our hearts. Here every thirst is quenched; here every search ends. Let us then come thirsty, like the Israelites, like the Samaritan woman and drink from the wells of God’s love. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph