The readings assigned to this day come down from the Church's early history when this period before Easter was almost entirely focused on the catechumens' preparation for baptism. In today’s Gospel, Jesus poses a significant question, “Do you want to be well?” While directed particularly to the catechumen, this question is also significant for all who seek to renew their baptismal grace at Easter. Jesus asks each of us, “Do you want to be well?” The question is a challenge to the already baptized who have lost hope in the possibility of change. Such hopelessness may be caused by years of being trapped in habits that have robbed so many of the freedom to do good. Jesus’ question is a challenge for us who have become complacent with our addictions and failure to love.
In the season of Lent, Jesus invites us to see the water flowing from “the right side of the temple,” and to observe that, “Where ever the river flows every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live” [Ez 47:9]. To the catechumens and to all of us trapped in our sins, the Church, during the season of Lent, encourages us with the truth expressed in the antiphon from the Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling of Water during the Easter Season: “From your side, O Christ, bursts forth a spring of water, by which the squalor of the world is washed away and life is made new again.”