3rd Sunday in Lent, Year A
Both of our readings focus on water as a sign of salvation.
In our reading, the Israelites were being taken out of Egypt and were in the desert for a long time. They were thirsty and they started complaining to Moses. Moses asked God for help. God told Moses that he would be at the rock of Horeb and he will provide water for the people. This restores their faith in God.
In the gospel, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well and asks her for water. Jews and Samaritans did not speak to each other at that time but Jesus did anyways. He offered her "living water" and revealed to her that he is the Messiah.
Special Saint: St. Toribio de Mogrovejo - March 23rd
Toribio was born in Spain in 1538. He was a university professor and then became a famous judge. He was a Christian with a reputation for being honest and wise.
Even though he was not a priest, Toribio was asked to become the archbishop of Lima, Peru. Many people in the Church knew he had qualities for such a position. Toribio was ordained a priest and left for Peru in 1581.
As archbishop, he travelled all over the country, built churches and hospitals. He started the first seminary in the Americas so young men of Peru could become priests, too. Archbishop Toribio learned the different native languages. He wanted the people to be able to listen to homilies at Mass and go to confession in their own language.
Toribio loved the people of Peru. He spent the rest of his life as a priest and bishop for them. He died on March 23, 1606 at 68 years old.
We don't want to be fooled into judging the importance of people by the amount of money they have or the expensive things they own. Each one is important because God is the Father of us all. We can ask St. Toribio to help us treat every person with respect and kindness as he did.