The Hebrews, afflicted by thirst, complain in the wilderness: "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Ex 17: 7) We see in the Gospel the Samaritan woman, marginalized from her community after a number of failed marriages, saying to Jesus: "I know that the Messiah is coming... When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." (Jn 4: 26) In both cases God is shown to be with his people. In the former the water is brought forth from the rock and in the latter Jesus quenches her thirst for salvation. It is apt to remember here that the throne name given to Jesus is Emmanuel - God is with us. (Mtt 1: 23) At times we can feel that we are in the wilderness when hardships, tragedy or loneliness haunt us. The experience of the cross can lead us to cry out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15: 34) One of the worst possible feelings in life is that of being abandoned by God which leaves us in a dark, cold and meaningless Universe faced with the absurdity of our own suffering and death. The readings given us today show us that even in such moments God is with us and his grace is there to help us. The proof of God's love is given by the cross itself. St Paul states this precisely when he teaches: "But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Rm 5: 8)
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