March 8, 2026
Third Sunday of Lent
Gospel: Jn 4:5-42
The Spring of Water that Gushes to Eternal Life

We often form fixed patterns of thought according to the common sense accumulated in our lives. Just like that Samaritan woman, when she came from the well her ancestors had left her, drawing the water needed for daily life from the well, she saw Jesus sitting by the well and, having no bucket, doubt arose in her heart (Jn 4:7-12). In her view, only the well called “Jacob’s Well” in earthly life was the sole source for her to live on earth.
Our understanding of the grace God bestows upon us is no different. In our eyes, when we receive Christian Baptism, the holy water poured by the priest on our heads grants us eternal life; the flame taken from the Easter candle illuminates us; the white garment put on us by our godparents obtains forgiveness of sins and gives us new life. Whenever we understand the grace God bestows upon us in such a way, we are no different from that Samaritan woman who conversed with Jesus (Jn 4:13-20), because the Samaritan woman’s knowledge of God was based on human transmission; therefore, when Jesus revealed to her the spring of water that makes one never thirst again, she still adhered to human transmission and continued to worship God on Mount Gerizim known to her ancestors.
As I write this reflection, I often think of a scene I witnessed during a pastoral visit to a parish. It was a parish with an elderly majority, who were extremely devout and attended Mass almost every day. After obtaining permission from the pastor, I had an exchange with them. I asked them: Do you know what the spring of eternal life is? They said: The baptismal font is that spring of eternal life. Then I asked them: Where does the water in this baptismal font come from? They said: Our pastor draws it from the tap. I thought, perhaps this is the Samaritan woman mentioned in the Gospel.
Today, we receive Christ’s Baptism in the baptismal font, and the water used for Baptism originates from the Sacred Side of Jesus Christ. Just as humanity sinned through the rib of the first Adam, so through the rib of the second Adam, we are reconciled with God, and by God’s mercy, all our sins are completely washed away. As I mentioned in my reflection on the Gospel at the Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2023: Each of us receives the same Baptism of Christ as those brothers and sisters who joined the Church by receiving Christ’s Baptism on the evening of Holy Saturday. In the Sacrament of Baptism, the water poured by the priest on our foreheads is the spring flowing from the Sacred Side of Jesus, pierced on the Cross out of love for us. We are thus cleansed of original sin in the fountain of His grace, and through the Baptism received, we are united with His death, die with Him, and are buried with Him, so that we may begin a new life in Him through resurrection similar to His (cf. Rom 6:1-10). Thus, we are reborn in the Sacred Side of Christ. Whenever we join with all brothers and sisters who have received the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation to participate in the Holy Eucharist, celebrated in memory of the Savior’s Passion, Holy Death, and Resurrection, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the merciful Christ continues to reveal to us the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven through His faithful servants. Today, I want to say: The merciful Christ reveals to us that the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven is a Kingdom full of fraternal love, where there are no authorities or rulers anymore, only the loving God and those loved by God. All are cleansed from Jesus Christ—the spring of living water that makes one never thirst again—and together receive the Most Holy Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the bread of angels that makes one never hungry again.

O God, author of every mercy and of all goodness,
who in fasting, prayer and almsgiving
have shown us a remedy for sin,
look graciously on this confession of our lowliness,
that we, who are bowed down by our conscience,
may always be lifted up by your mercy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica