Homily: 3rd Sunday of Lent: "Let anyone who is thirsty, come to me..."

As we venture deeper into the desert of Lent this weekend, we hear in our scripture readings a lot about water and thirst: the thirst of the Israelites in the desert—how they called out to God in their thirst.  Jesus himself asks a Samaritan woman for a drink of water, and then they begin to talk about her thirst for something deeper.

We all experience different types of thirsts.

Daily our bodies thirst.  We of course desire actual water to quench parched lips and dry throats.  Our bodies need water; it’s part of our nature.  Without water, our bodies die.

One summer I visited the African Country of Madagascar with Catholic Relief Services.  I remember visiting villages where regular access to clean drinking water could be a real problem, let alone the sort of plumbing we take for granted.

Sometimes we are thirsty for other very good things of the earth: a thirst for companionship, a thirst to do something fun and exciting, a thirst for the security of having a stable job, a sturdy roof over one’s head, a thirst for knowledge.  It’s part of our nature to desire these things as well.  They are very good.

Yet, we also have another kind of thirst—a thirst that goes deeper, a thirst that nothing, no earthly relationship or earthly pursuit can quench.  This thirst, this desire is also built into our nature.
Of course I’m talking about the thirst that only God himself can satisfy.  Our deepest thirst is not for some THING, but for some ONE.  God.  God IS the living water, of whom St. Augustine said, “my heart is restless until it rests in you, my God.”

Remember that beautiful Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water”  And Psalm 42, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God.”

Our thirst for God is not the same desire as the selfish child who wants every toy in the toy store.
The selfish child wants a toy, and he’s not going to share it.  The selfish desire of the child whining for a toy is kind of a sad thing to behold, isn’t it?  When we see it, there is a part of us that knows that humans aren’t supposed to act that way.

Our bodies need H2O and food, our minds need companionship and knowledge, and our souls need God—our souls need intimate, personal contact with Him.

As the Catechism puts it: "Man is made to live in communion with God, in whom he finds happiness" (#45).  God has created the human person to be in Communion with Himself.  We will never find true joy outside of His will.

That’s not to say that we don’t try…

How often have I tried to quench that deep thirst with things that cannot quench.  Is not every sinner who turns to sin for happiness not searching in some way for God?

Some people are even dying of this thirst because they fail to quench it at the source.  They do not pray, they do not come to Mass, they fill their lives with sports and toys and busyness all the while thirsting most desperately for a real drink of living water.

In my seminary formation, I had the blessing of visiting the order of religious sisters founded by Mother Theresa, the Missionary Sisters of Charity.  Here are women who thirst deeply to serve God.  And they do so by going out into the gutter, into the poorest sections, and bringing food and drink and medicine to those who others simply ignore.

In every chapel of the Missionary Sisters of Charity is a crucifix under which is written the words, “I thirst”.  The words spoken by Christ as he hung upon the cross: “I thirst”. The saints thirst to do the will of God because Christ thirsted to do the will of the Father even unto death.  The saints willingly undergo physical thirst and detachment from earthly things to unite themselves to Christ who really thirsted.

Christ took upon himself the greatest of thirsts in order to satisfy our deepest thirst, to live in communion once again with God.

Jesus says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.” Jesus wants to give us this living water of His very Life with us, but he will not force us to drink.  And he does come to us in his very flesh and blood in the Eucharist today.  Will you allow him to increase your desire for Him today?

Will you let him free you from all those things that keep you from drinking fully of his life giving waters and pouring yourself in Christian service for others?

Our wonderful Lenten practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving deepen our thirst for God.  Fasting helps to purify our desires.  We give up the television, video games, chocolate and dessert in order to be reminded that deepest joy is not found in those things, but in God.  Journeying closer to Holy Week we do well to deepen our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving instead of relaxing them, for they offer us opportunities to drink of living water.

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.