Please read the passage before reading the commentary.
Is the Lord in our midst or not? It was the question the Israelites addressed to Moses. It was the question the woman at the well asked. It is the question in the back of our minds often, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”
The Israelites in the desert ran out of water and complained to Moses. “Strike the rock and you will find out,” was the answer. Moses struck the rock and water gushed out. The Lord was there in their midst.
The woman at the well asked Jesús for water and Jesús showed slaked her thirst and revealed himself as the Messiah. The Lord was there in front of her. Those chosen for Baptism at the Easter Vigil are waiting to the have Jesús quench their thirst at the waters of Baptism at the Easter Vigil.
We have already met Jesús in those saving waters of baptism. Do we still experience Jesús in the waters of our lives; in the living of our Baptism, in the other encounters of Jesús in the sacraments, in the happenings of everyday living? Do we long for a special revelation of the Lord Jesús for us at the Easter festivities?
Now is the time to renew our relationship with the Lord. He is sitting at the well or he is waiting for us to strike the rock so that he can gush out to satisfy our thirst and hunger for him.
Remember that Lent exists primarily to prepare people for baptism, either to receive it for the first time or to bring us back to our first encounter with the risen Lord at our baptism.
For what water are we thirsty? Some people have no good drinking water. For some the water needed is a better relationship with others at home. For others it may be a better relationship with oneself. Jesús sits by the well of our lives and bids us strike the rock with our staff. The Lord is in our midst; I hope we all find him waiting for us.
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