The gift of living water

When catechumens are preparing to be baptised at Easter,  three great Gospel stories from John’s Gospel are offered for their meditation and self examination. Through these  “scrutinies” the catechumens are encouraged to search their hearts, to purify their motivation and pray for enlightenment. 

The first is the story of the transformative encounter of the Samaritan Woman with Jesus at Jacob's Well.    Reading this story in Lent invites us to remember the wonderful gift of our own Baptism,  the fount of Living water we carry in earthen vessels and to prepare to renew our own baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil.   

Our General Chapter in Rome 2025 explored the ways in which we carry both our own thirst and the Gift of Living Water within us.    Like the Samaritan Woman we are sent into a wider community to share our thirst and the gift of Life we have already been given. 

How  have I  experienced my own thirst this Lent? How have I been able to share the  Gift of Living Water with others? Have I found that Creation is also a well - a source of life, encounter and listening?  (Chapter Acts ’25)

Directors must give from their abundance.  They must be full to the brim so that 

they can pour from their fulness:  Learn and teach, live and be life for others.  'Be a wellspring, not just a cistern'. ( Nicolas Barre : MD 9)