[LA EN] On this day, the Church does not celebrate a specific saint, but proceeds with profound reverence in the penitential itinerary of Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent. Historically, Lenten Saturdays were days of rigorous vigil and prolonged fasting, serving as moments of scrutiny for the catechumens who were preparing to receive baptism at the Paschal Vigil. Therefore, today's liturgy is intensely permeated by baptismal symbols, such as the water that quenches spiritual thirst and the light that dispels the darkness of sin. The ancient Roman tradition designates for this liturgy the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in the Prison, a church built over ruins of ancient pagan temples in the Forum Holitorium, symbolizing the triumph of true faith over the idolatries of the world. It is in this environment of profound conversion that we are called to purify our intentions, letting ourselves be illuminated by Christ and quenched by the sources of salvation promised since the ancient covenant.
🎵 Introito (Is 55, 1; Sl 77, 1)
Sitiéntes, veníte ad aquas, dicit Dóminus: et qui non habétis prétium, veníte et bíbite cum lætítia. Atténdite, pópule meus, legem meam: inclináte aurem vestram in verba oris mei. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.
All you who are thirsty, come to the waters, says the Lord; and you who have no money, come and drink with joy. Listen, my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
📖 Reading (Is 49, 8-15)
Reading from the Prophet Isaiah. Behold what the Lord says: In a favorable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I am your aid. I have kept you and established you as a covenant of the people, to restore the lands and to possess abundant inheritances. To say to the prisoners: Come out. And to those who groan in the darkness: Come to the light. By the side of the paths they will graze, and in all the plains, for them there will be pastures. They will no longer have hunger nor thirst, nor will they be vexed by the heat of the sun: for He who has pity on them will guide them, and to the fountains of the waters He will lead them. And I will change all my mountains into paths and my elevated ways will be. See these who come from afar and those from the north and from the west and the others from the southern lands. Praise, O heavens; exult, O earth; burst forth, O mountains, in praises; because God has comforted his people and will have compassion on his poor. And Zion said: The Lord has abandoned me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Could a woman forget her infant and not have compassion for the son of her womb? And even if she forgot, I would not forget you, says the Lord Almighty.
📖 Gospel (Jo 8, 12-20)
At that time, Jesus spoke to the multitudes of the Jews, saying: I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me does not walk in darkness and will have the light of life. The Pharisees said to him: You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true. Jesus answered them and said: Even though I testify about myself, my testimony is true. Because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh and I judge no one. If I judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone, and with me is the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two persons is true. I am the one who testifies about myself; and he who sent me, that is, the Father, also gives testimony about me. They said to him, therefore: Where is your Father? Jesus answered: You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father. Jesus said these words in the treasury while teaching in the temple; and no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come.
🕊️ The light of the world and the source of living waters
The light proclaimed in the temple is the true divinity that illuminates hearts and dispels the darkness of sin, not being merely a sensible reflection, but the eternal essence that guides humanity to salvation. This light, which breaks the darkness of the corrupted world, manifests the excellence of the divine nature of Christ, who possesses in himself the fullness of grace and wisdom. Those who, like the Pharisees, are bound to material judgments and the appearance of the flesh, reject this splendor because they ignore its heavenly origin and seek only external signs. The testimony of the Son is unshakable because it proceeds from his hypostatic union with the Father; He is the eternal Word who does not need human witnesses, for his very works manifest the incarnate divinity. To follow this light is to abandon pride, being elevated above earthly passions to participate in the divine life itself, for the grace that emanates from it sanctifies and perfects human nature, guiding it to beatitude (Saint Augustine, Sermon 34; Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Pars III, q. 7, a. 9; Saint Ambrose).
This divine illumination is the fulfillment of the prophetic promise of restoration, the favorable time in which the Lord hears and helps his people. The voice of God cries out to the prisoners to come out and to those who lie in darkness to come to the light, leading them with maternal piety to the sources of living waters. The guarantee of this salvation is the unconditional and indissoluble love of the Creator, which surpasses even the deepest human maternal instinct. He who frees from hunger, thirst, and oppressive heat is the same who transforms obstacles—the mountains and paths—into flat roads for the return of the exiles, gathering the ends of the earth into one flock comforted by the mercy of the Almighty.
In this way, the water that quenches the thirsty at the entrance of the liturgy finds its full meaning in the Light that shines in the temple. The liberation of the captives announced by Isaiah is realized in Christ, who snatches us from voluntary blindness and judgments according to the flesh. To approach the waters without price is to accept the unmerited gift of grace, allowing the true testimony of the Father and the Son to transform us interiorly. In this profound communion, the Christian no longer walks in the shadows of ignorance or abandonment, but is supported by the fidelity of a God who never forgets his own, illuminating each step toward the eternal inheritance.