Third Sunday of Lent: Living Water
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Cycle A
First Reading: Ex 17:3-7
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: Rom 5:1-2, 5-8
Gospel: Jn 4:5-42 or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42
Cycle C
First Reading: Ex. 3:1-8a, 13-15
Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11
Second Reading: 1 Cor. 10:1-6, 10-12
Gospel: Lk. 13:1-9
The I AM who is eternally the same was “kind and merciful” (Ps. 103) in delivering the Israelites from the Egyptians and providing water for them from the rock (Ex. 17). The same I AM continues to “secure justice and the rights of all the oppressed” (Ps. 103:6). If we recognize that God alone has the power to save and that he favors the oppressed, on whose side do we stand? Do we condone enslavement in our attitude towards created goods such as water or towards our brothers and sisters oppressed by resource scarcity?
Paul recalls how quickly the liberated Israelites rebelled against God’s provision for them in the desert. He urges us, “whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). It is easy to feel secure in a land of apparent “milk and honey” with unquestioned access to water. Jesus knows all the individual and social ways in which we turn from God to seek security in earthly things. He knows our sense of entitlement and lordship as well as he knew the Samaritan woman’s infidelities. The same Christ who died for us “while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8) continues to offer us repentance and reconciliation.
As the fig tree of Jesus’ parable (Lk. 9:6-9), may we receive God’s gifts of patience and fertility and respond by bearing fruit for eternal life. Let us not “harden our hearts” (Ps. 95:8) when we hear God’s call to care for water and the life it supports; after all, “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5) for the task of transformation. Let us seek security not in property rights but in the “spiritual rock” (1 Cor. 10:4) and the “water welling up to eternal life” (Jn. 4) that is Christ. Founded on this rock and drinking from this well, may we find true prosperity in the “Shalom” of right relationship to one another and creation.
PRAYER
O God,
You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.
Distant peoples stand in awe of your marvels; east and west you make resound with joy.
You visit the earth and water it, make it abundantly fertile.
Your stream is filled with water; with it you supply the world with grain.
Thus do you prepare the earth: you drench plowed furrows, and level their ridges.
With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts.
You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain.
The untilled meadows also drip; the hills are robed with joy.
(Psalm 65:8-13)
(Pause)
Forgive us, we pray, for the times we
have failed to recognize our relationship with Sister Water,
have not used water wisely,
have not called others to awareness,
have thoughtlessly polluted instead of protected our water sources,
have ignored the needs of our brothers and sisters around the world.
(Franciscans International, April 2005)
(Pause)
Refresh us with your grace this season,
that our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving may strengthen us
to live according to your Word.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
FASTING from bottled water
 Bottling water for purchase confuses our relationship with Sister Water, which is a basic human right and not a private commodity. Bottling for profit increases the corporate appeal of owning this finite resource, which threatens the access of local communities and stifles their voice in discussions of water management. Privatization of water thus can undermine the common good. Since bottled water is hundreds to thousands of times more expensive than tap water, its purchase also signifies misuse of our material wealth.
Bottling also compromises the integrity of water, which Francis called “chaste” (also translated as clean, pure, or humble). Francis valued “Sister Water” so highly that he washed his hands where no one would step. He recognized that water serves health and life. By contrast, manufacturing and disposal of the plastic used in bottling releases toxins that pollute water’s purity. Transporting bottles of water for sale consumes fossil fuels and emits carbon dioxide.
As we avoid using bottled water this week, let us examine our relationship to goods created by God and now exploited as consumer products. When we feel thirsty, let us pray, “Jesus, I thirst for you.” May the living water of Christ revive us as we fast. May “the will of the one who sent” him nourish us (Jn. 4:34), that we might “finish his work” of renewing the world.
ALMSGIVING
 The Franciscan Renewal Center, also known as the Casa, in Scottsdale, Arizona offers visitors counseling, support groups, workshops, retreats for spiritual growth and personal development and Franciscan Way programs. An ecology committee at the Casa works with Facilities Manager Randy Nelson to pursue more sustainable use of resources. Over the past 10 years, the Casa has been restoring the property from a resort to natural desert landscape, thereby conserving 90,000 gallons of water a year.
In other conservation efforts, the Casa
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saves 10,000 kilowatt hours and 100,000 liters of water by conserving electricity,
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recycles 20 tons of paper annually, as well as Styrofoam, plastic and aluminum,
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uses 30% Post-Consumer fiber recycled paper for copies, 
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recycles cell phones, batteries, and ink jet and toner cartridges,
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prints catalogs and bulletin on environmentally responsible paper and uses environmentally friendly ink in bulletins and
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composts in its gardens.
To extend their local practice to national policy, Faith in Action Ministry Director Patti Sills-Trausch helped to form an advocacy group at the Casa. In the spring of 2009, they participated in FAN’s “Franciscan Campaign for Climate Change” through webinars and meetings with Representatives. During their annual St. Francis Festival in the fall, hundreds of attendees signed the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. On April 17, 2010, a biologist Friar will lead a half-day program on sustainability at the Casa.
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