Living Water

Third Sunday in Lent Scrutiny (Year A) - The Woman at the Well
1. If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:10). It would seem that going to the well to draw water for the day was an activity that would be best done in the cool of the morning. Such an activity would also have been a chance for social interaction with the other women of the village. So why did the woman come at noontime? Maybe there was an emergency in the house and she was delayed. Most likely she deliberately came to the well when she thought no one else would be there. Her multiple marriages and living with a man without being married to him would have met with disapproval in the community. To permit a man to treat her in such a way endangered all the women in the town, as well as the rest of society. So the woman came to draw her water in the heat of the day.
2. Little did she know that Jesus would be waiting for her. I do not think it was accidental that Jesus was waiting for her. If Jesus had gone into the town with the others, he would have missed her. Even if she had stayed in town, she would have never heard Him speak. But our Lord wanted to have an encounter with her, so that she could be healed. He did not approve of her sins, that was clear from His many teachings on the permanence of marriage and the evil of divorce. But Jesus did love her, as He loves all sinners. So in spite of the cultural custom of men not talking to women who were not their relatives and of Jews and Samaritans ignoring each other in most circumstances, Jesus asked her for a drink of water.
3. Really His plan all along was to give her the Living Water which He spoke of- the Water which would be a fountain within her always springing up to refresh her from inside. Such a fountain would have sounded very good to someone who lived in a time and place in which no one had running water. But we know that Jesus is not talking about regular water. And soon the woman would realize that also.
4. The Water which Jesus speaks of is the gift of the Holy Spirit which we receive in Holy Baptism. To receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit refreshes the individual so gifted because it is the Spirit of God who created us out of love and who has saved us from our sins. God alone can fulfill the deepest longings of the human heart. Other things, whether they are food or drink or clothes or sex or money or power or human comforts or even scientific knowledge and understanding, will not be able to fill our desires because we have been made for eternity with God. The woman at the well herself stated that they were looking forward to the Messiah who would guide them in the ways of God.
5. When the Samaritan woman expressed the desire to receive the living water, Jesus asked her to bring her husband. Jesus already knew that the woman was in an adulterous relationship, He knew everything about her. And yet He offered the gift of the Living Water. Of course, a gift is only ours to the extent that we are open to receiving it. The Holy Spirit is not going to dwell somewhere unwelcoming. Sin is incompatible with the presence of God. As Jesus has said you cannot serve two masters. You will end up hating one and loving the other. God will always love us, but He will not stay where He is not wanted. So although Jesus did not condemn her, His bringing up the problem with her life was a way of letting her know that it was time to change.
6. She brought up the differences between Jews and Samaritans- which among other things were the modes of worship. The Samaritans accepted the first five books of the Bible and they too were awaiting the Messiah. And Jesus told her that He is the one. He used the phrase I am he... That is, Jesus used the Divine Name to identify Himself as not only the Messiah, but God Himself.
7. Because of her encounter with Jesus, the woman’s heart was changed. She lost her fear of the other townspeople, proclaimed what He did for her, and invited them to meet Jesus aslo. They would have never listened if she had not changed her life. But they could see that she had been transformed and left sin behind.
8. This event in Jesus’ life is meant to instruct us in the reality of Baptism. In the living waters, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit which is God Himself. The Spirit will transform us. It will destroy sin and enable us to live in accord with the will of God, if our hearts are committed to the Lord.
9. Someone who really encounters Jesus in this personal way in which He gives His Spirit as a gift will not be able to keep it to themselves. If God shows such love and mercy to you, you just have to tell others about it. But to bring them to the Lord also requires a radical change of heart away from sin and toward Jesus as Lord. Otherwise it will simply not convince. Of course, what really convinces is not our words, or even our actions, as holy as they may be. The convincing power is the Lord Himself. To know God, to Love God, to receive God’s Spirit within us is the way to fulfillment. And it comes from Jesus. If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:10).

Preach Repentance in His Name

1. If we looked at the content of the Gospels we would notice that they contain much of Jesus’ teaching, and many of His miracles. But their focus is on His Passion, Death and Resurrection. When we read about the preaching of the early Church, we also observe that the primary content of the Good News is that Jesus the Crucified One has Risen from the dead. The proclamation of the Resurrection of Jesus the Lord was not merely the idea of those who had been His followers and had been witnesses of the new kind of life which Jesus possesses. Rather, this truth is announced as the of His command to tell everyone in the whole world.
2. Some people in the days of Jesus have proposed that the disciples made the resurrection up. For example, the Chief Priests and elders bribed the soldiers guarding the tomb of Jesus to say that the disciples stole the body while they were asleep (Matthew 28:11-15). Even today there are those that say the disciples invented the resurrection to explain their “experiences.” The documents of faith, that is the Scriptures, however, indicate that nothing of the sort happen. In the ancient world, people who wanted to learn would go in search of a teacher whom they liked. But the disciples were chosen by Jesus, they did not choose Him (see John 15:16). When Jesus was preaching, they were not quick to understand what He was teaching. They held the common opinion that the Messiah would be a great king leading Israel to political greatness. In spite of what Jesus told them, they persisted in this error right up until the time He was arrested. When He spoke to them about His resurrection, they would not even ask Him what He meant (Mark 9:32). When Jesus was arrested, they ran away. When He was crucified, they hid. And even when He rose again in glory, at first they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost (Luke 24:37). Jesus had to eat a piece of fish to convince them that He was indeed alive. (Luke 24:42-43). The disciples did not have the wherewithal to invent the resurrection. Nor does it make sense that they would persist in proclaiming a fiction that cost them their lives. Jesus resurrection is real, though we have to believe on the basis of others’ testimony.
3. Practically every year, I hear someone say that all religions are basically the same. Sometimes it is said by a parent trying to be okay with the fact that their children have left the Catholic faith. Others who hardly know God will say such a thing either out of ignorance or out of wishful thinking. In those cases, it is uttered by someone who rejects religion as stifling or restrictive. Its much easier to dismiss religion if you can lump them all together. In any case, it is simply untrue. (A quick study of religions will reveal marked differences). No other religious founder was crucified or rose from the dead. No other religious founder claimed to be God. Jesus is unique among all people who have ever existed. His resurrection is the single greatest moment in human history.
4. The Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord is the central teaching of our Christian faith. It is the heart and soul of our belief. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are participating in this same Mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And this celebration constitutes us as Catholics. Saint Paul will tell the Corinthians that without the resurrection of Jesus, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). But Jesus is Risen. He sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us.
5. When the disciples began to proclaim the good news of Jesus, we should note they did not simply announce the truth of the resurrection. Saint Peter did not say “You know that fellow Jesus whom you crucified about six weeks ago? Well, he’s okay now. He is alive.” And those who heard Saint Peter did not say “well that’s good, crucifixion is terrible, we are glad that everything worked out for him.” No, the people said what are we to do? (Acts 2:37). To which Saint Peter replied Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Jesus’ resurrection carries with it power and to believe has consequences. Knowledge of the truth obligates a person to conform themselves to the truth. Belief in the Risen Lord demands repentance and change. (That is why those who give themselves over to sin eventually lose their faith.)
6. And so the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection leads us to a crossroads- a place in which we must make decisions. Either we will believe and follow Jesus with our whole hearts, or we will part company with Him and go our own way. We may desire to put off conversion for awhile. That is a bad idea, since we do not know how much time we have. Or we may try to satisfy ourselves with being lukewarm in our Christianity. For example thinking that if we go to Mass, Jesus might not pay very close attention to how we actually live. That is foolish also. God is always present at every moment. If we really want to know the Risen Lord, then we must repent and seek out His mercy and forgiveness. And when we begin to know Him as He really is, a merciful and loving God, we will be eager to share our faith with others.