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fifth sunday of Lent

fourth sunday of lent

third sunday of lent

Good News Reflection for

Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 22, 2026

Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalm 130:1-8
Romans 8:8-11
John 11:1-45

The happy truth about the Lenten journey

Lent is not about suffering and sacrifice. It’s a corridor to new life. Good Friday is not about evil and pain and death. It’s the door that Jesus opens to invite us into that new life.

Yes, suffering is part of the Lenten journey (which can be experienced at any time of the year). Yes, Lent includes the sacrifices of fasting and abstinence, almsgiving and extra time in church. But these are just vehicles for the trip.

God uses our sufferings (if we let him) to help us grow in compassion, persistence, and ministry. Our sacrifices help us learn discipline (which is discipleship) so that we can purify our will and grow stronger in holiness. But the trip is not the destination.

Lent is all about reaching the resurrection: renewing our faith, entering a new life free of old sins, reconciling damaged relationships, and living in the Spirit of God more than we ever did before.

Which day is more important to your faith: Good Friday or Easter Sunday? That horrid day on Calvary was absolutely necessary for Easter, but we are living in the resurrection! Catholics are an Easter people. This means that nothing bad can ever happen to us that will not be transformed into blessings if Jesus is the Lord of our lives.

He proved himself to be the Resurrection and the Life by displaying his power over life and death. Now he wants to prove it again — to you and to all those who are watching.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
What needs to be resurrected in your life? What will you do this week to accept the death of what has ended so that you can prepare for the new life that Jesus is preparing for you?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
1. We can personalize the first reading by understanding that God will open our graves (whatever is dead inside of us) and will place his Spirit of Life within us. How does the Holy Spirit help us discover healing and hope amidst our daily sufferings and dyings?

2. In the scripture from Romans, we are reminded again of the Holy Spirit within us. Since the Spirit is alive in you, what affect does this have on your Lenten journey? What is being purified, strengthened, and renewed?

3. In the Gospel, Jesus proves his power over death just before he enters Jerusalem and heads toward Calvary. How does this prove to you that your own sufferings and sacrifices will not lead to permanent disaster?

Good News Reflection for

Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 15, 2026

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Psalm 23:1-6
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

How conversion happens

Conversion to Christ is a process. The blind man in the Gospel reading exemplifies this journey into faith. Notice that at first he did not go to Jesus. Jesus came to him. The man responded by waiting to see what would happen and then by obeying Jesus.

Conversion begins when Jesus seeks us out and we make ourselves available to his touch. He then opens our eyes to the truth, but we don’t immediately understand.

When the man’s neighbors asked about his cure, he did not yet understand who Jesus was; he thought of him as just a man.

Then, the pressure of listening to the Pharisees argue about who Jesus was caused him to give it more thought. He concluded that Jesus must be a prophet, which for the Jews was a highly esteemed, holy vocation.

Next, as the Pharisees treated him more roughly and raised the possibility of expelling him from the synagogue if he claimed that Jesus was the Christ, he began to wonder whether it might be true. Their reasons for hating Jesus became the eye-openers that cured his spiritual blindness.

Finally, Jesus sought him out again, this time to minister to him in response to the mistreatment he had suffered from the Pharisees. In this act of caring, the man could see who Jesus really was.

Conversion — the purification of our spiritual vision — takes place in the fire of our sufferings as we recognize the love and concern that God has for us.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
Name the areas of your life where there is confusion from a lack of understanding. Perhaps you’re having a hard time seeing the good in someone. Maybe you’re worried about the future. What will you do this week that will help you see it from God’s perspective?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
1. In the first reading, God makes it clear that he sees what we cannot see when we’re focused on external evidence. Think of a time when you looked deeper or beyond the obvious. How did that change you?

2. In Ephesians 5, we read that we have become light in the Lord. Name some of the good fruits that come from the ability to see what Jesus is doing in your life.

3. The Gospel reading illustrates that those who think they can see the truth are very often blind, and those who acknowledge their blindness become able to see clearly. Why does this happen? How has it happened to you?

Good News Reflection for

Third Sunday of Lent
March 8, 2026

Exodus 17:3-7
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9
Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
John 4:5-42

What’s your spiritual thirst?

What are you thirsty for? Thirst is what happens when we lack something vital. Water is essential for our physical survival, and our bodies signal us when it’s time to drink fluids to stay healthy.

Likewise, water is necessary for our spiritual survival, albeit a different sort of water — the living water, which we first received from the baptismal water that purifies us for eternal life. This living water is a holy water that enables us to have abundant life in Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the Giver of Life. One of the biblical symbols that represents the presence of God’s Spirit is life-giving water. Therefore, we can surmise that Jesus wanted to give the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Samaritan woman. Why? It would still be a while before the Holy Spirit descended upon everyone at Pentecost.

She needed the truth; the Holy Spirit is Truth, and Jesus wanted to give her whatever she needed to repent and receive salvation and then share this new life with the people around her.

We only get thirsty when we haven’t had enough to drink. Spiritual thirst shows itself in many forms: addictions, loneliness, despair, frustration, self-indulgence, or any other feeling or behavior that’s triggered when we lack something that we need or want.

And why would we lack anything spiritually? Because, like the woman at the well, we sometimes fail to realize that Christ is with us. We need to receive a spiritual healing.

How does God give us this healing? He pours his love into us with all sufficiency, but to drink of it, we have to listen openly, like that woman, ready to be changed by the truth.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
What sin or unhealthy habit do you need to overcome so that Jesus is free to quench your thirsts? What will you do this week to hand it over to Christ?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
1. In the first reading, why did a physical thirst turn into a sin? How does this still happen today?

2. In Romans 5, grace and hope are mentioned as gifts we receive when we have been “justified by faith” (i.e., when we’ve repented of our sins and sought forgiveness through Jesus). How do grace and hope quench our thirsts? How do they help us resist sin?

3. The woman at the well eagerly received what Jesus said. Even though he confronted her about her sins, she drank it all in and then, without shame, excitedly told others about her encounter with the Messiah. What need was filled by the truth? What does this teach about how we can help others hear the truth?

Used by permission.

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