“Give me a drink.” These words of Jesus describe not only his physical thirst on a hot day, but his deeper supernatural thirst for souls. We know this because he follows up his request with, “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.” Ah...now we're at the heart of the issue. Jesus thirsts to give you and me his living water, water that will become in one "a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” That's his thirst then--that his grace and blessing well up from within us.
Practically, what does that mean for us this Lent? It means you and I need to tap into our places of emptiness, our places of neediness or sadness or aloneness, etc., and invite Jesus in there. That will facilitate encounter! And with that intimate encounter, we will carry the suffering quite differently. With Jesus. We won't be the same any longer. With the Samaritan woman, with Mary Magdalen, and with all the saints, we will exclaim, "I once was one way; I'm now completely different; and the difference was Him!"
In other words, dear brothers and sisters, Lent is less about giving up things and more about creating a space to receive things, especially divine encounters with God.
-Fr. Anthony Wieck, SJ
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