3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A – Homily (2026)
3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A
Exodus 17:3-7
Psalm 85:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (8)
Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
John 4:5-42
March 8, 2026
A “woman of Samaria” went to the well to draw water. She finds Jesus there. He asks her, “Give me a drink.” She is surprised at his request because she recognizes Him as a Jew and she knows that “Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.”
Jesus responded, “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.”
She does not know who Jesus is. She recognizes him as a Jew but nothing more.
Do you know Jesus or do you just know about Jesus?
The Samaritan woman takes what Jesus says literally. He is offering her water but He doesn’t have any means to draw water.
Jesus tells her that those who will drink the water from the well, “will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.”
She continues to take Jesus literally yet she asks for the water He describes so she doesn’t have to keep coming to the well. There must be some faith within her or she would have thought it foolish to say they would never thirst again.
Do you know what the living water is?
Jesus speaks to her of her husband. She says she has no husband. He speaks to her of the five husbands she has had and how the one she is presently with is not husband.
Jesus knows much about her. He understands her marital situation and the significance of marriage as something meant to be holy.
Do we recognize marriage as something holy, thus making it a matter for the church to be involved in? Or do you tell the Church to stay out of your marriage?
Hearing what Jesus knows about her, the Samaritan woman takes a step to grow in her faith. She sees that He is a prophet.
As He continues to teach, she speaks of the coming Messiah. Jesus responds, “I am He.” She has taken another step, growing in her personal relationship with Jesus.
Their conversation is interrupted by the return of Jesus’ disciples. Like the Samaritan woman His disciples also do not yet know who He really is. They encourage him to eat. He responds, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Just like the Samaritan did at first, they take him literally and wonder where He got food from.
We look for physical food. Jesus says his food is “to do the will of the one” who sent him.
What food do you come here looking for today?
The Samaritan woman was on a journey of faith towards Jesus that would lead her to “worship in Spirit and truth.”
This year we have been blessed to have seven people take the step last summer to begin the process to become Catholic. They each come with a different background in faith. Some grew up in other denominations. Some did not have much exposure to Jesus growing up.
They have all been on their own unique journeys but with the same destination, eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
During Lent, they receive rites as steps in their journey of faith. These rites include prayers for them to share the faith they have been learning and growing in with others. The Samaritan woman sets the example here when she goes off to tell the townspeople about Jesus. From what she said, they come to know Jesus for themselves.
Where are you at in your journey of faith?
Lent has its origins in people in what we know today as OCIA making their final preparation for their Sacraments of Initiation.
Lent has become a time of renewal for all of us. Have we become stuck in our faith? Have we hardened our hearts in ways that keep us from growing in our personal relationship with Jesus?
Think of the Israelites in the desert. They thirsted for water, a real and legitimate need. They brought their need forward but not in full faith. They lacked hope.
Instead of simply asking for water with faith, they grumbled.
To strengthen their faith and their hope, God did something impossible for them to do themselves. He had Moses “strike the rock” and water flowed from it, clearly an act of God’s grace, showing that He was in their midst.
When you ask God for help, do you ask with faith and hope? Or do you grumble, putting God to the test and quarreling with him to get your way? Why do you want to get your way when you say in the Lord’s Prayer, “thy will be done?”
God drew water from the rock for the Israelites. For our hope, “at the appointed time,” God sent his Son Jesus to die for us. We find hope in our Father’s love in sending his Son. We find hope in Jesus’ love shown for us on the Cross while we were still sinners.
What step in your faith is our Lord calling you to? Are you willing to take a step to grow in your personal relationship with Jesus?