As we continue our Lenten journey on this third Sunday of Lent, it would be helpful for us to recap how we have journeyed so far. In the First Sunday of Lent, we entered with Jesus into the wilderness and the desert and, as he battled with the different temptations in the Gospel that Sunday, we were also invited to look within us for those things that we wrestle with, those temptations that lure us to
another direction other than the road to the Kingdom of God. In the Second Sunday of Lent, in the story of the Transfiguration last weekend, we were promised that if we indeed are able to overcome those temptations that were presented to us in the First Sunday of Lent, we will all be transformed just like Jesus was transfigured at Mt. Tabor. The Transfiguration is a prefiguration of the Resurrection, which is also promised to us if we embrace goodness and turn against evil. This Sunday, the Third Sunday of Lent, we are given the story of the Samaritan woman at the well where Jesus presents himself as the living water that ultimately quenches our human thirst. It is very interesting that as we find ourselves in the middle of Lent, we hear this story of the Samaritan at the well. As we enter into the third week of our Lenten journey, we might already be looking for an oasis, a well where we can find a little relief from the scorching heat of the desert sun or to find a short refuge from the dust of the desert. As we feel the thirst for a specific human longing, Jesus tells us that he is the living water.
The story of the Samaritan woman in the gospel today is quite powerful if we understand her background. Samaritans were looked down by the Jews because they were a product of intermarriages between Jews and other people from pagan backgrounds. Thereby, Samaritans were rendered “impure” in the Jewish culture of Jesus. Because of this, the Jews did not want to have anything to do with them; they were seen as corrupt when it comes to values and morality. But the Samaritan that we have in the story today was looked down not just because she was a Samaritan, but because she was also a woman (a second class citizen even among the Samaritans), and if that wasn’t already a huge disadvantage, wait till we were told that she did not have a very good moral reputation among her people because she had multiple partners, and the one that she was living with at that time was not married to her. What the
evangelist wants to convey to us is that one can never get lower in the eyes of the Jewish society of Jesus’ time than this woman. But Jesus clearly saw her differently, way different from the cultural standards of his time and even from the standards of her culture. He saw in her potential, a person who was deeply in search for meaning, thirsting for something that would fill her life. And without much fanfare, Jesus says to her (using my own words): “Hey woman, I know that you thirst for
something.. something meaningful.. something deep.. that’s why you even had many partners because you were looking and looking for that thing that will ultimately make you happy, but I know deep within your heart that you are still empty.” Jesus tells her: I AM THE LIVING WATER, THAT HAPPINESS, THAT JOY..THAT MEANING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR…I CAN SEE THAT THIRST IN YOUR EYES..DRINK FROM ME..AND ALL YOUR THIRST WILL BE QUENCHED. I can only imagine how the woman reacted to Jesus. She must have been overwhelmed and probably asked herself : WHO IS THIS PERSON IN FRONT OF ME?
Like the Samaritan woman, Jesus wants us to encounter him in those wells where we think we can be fully satisfied, but still end up thirsty again and again. What are those things that we are thirsting for right now in our lives—are we thirsty: for love? for encouragement?, for respect?, for forgiveness?, for acceptance?, for joy? for a happy marriage?, for fulfilling work? Where do we drink in order to be quenched or satisfied from those thirsts? Jesus tells us today, just like he assured the Samaritan woman with these powerful words, “whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” After we have encountered Jesus in the wells of our lives, may we have the courage to tell Jesus in the exact words of the Samaritan woman, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
My friends, the effect of a genuine encounter with Christ is conversion, which is after we have been assured that Jesus is only that well that will give us an endless supply of living water. We need to also turn our backs from those things that we think can make us happy but in the end destroy us,
compromise our relationships, and risk losing those important persons and relationships that we have in our lives. It is truly amazing that after that lowly Samaritan woman encountered Jesus and experienced conversion at the well, she became an agent of transformation for other people. She could not
contain the real joy and happiness that she experienced in meeting Christ. It was the first time in her life to be genuinely happy, and she just had to share it with others. Conversion and joy in embracing God are contagious because there is always that fire within that makes us passionate to the point that we just have to share it so that others too will experience that liberating love of God. But real conversion only takes place when we have the humility to be honest with Jesus with our own weaknesses just like the Samaritan woman did. God never forces himself to us.. he is there all the time waiting for us to drink from him. But God respects our own freedom; he waits for us patiently to turn to him and say “Lord, I have looked and tried many, many things/wells thinking that there is a better alternative than you, but I did not find that joy, that happiness.” Without condemnation, he welcomes us back and gives us himself totally. Unless we have the determination to confront and take responsibility of our own sins and
weaknesses, charting a new forward is just impossible. May we be able to say with a firm conviction the same words that the other Samaritans told the woman at the well, “we no longer believe just because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this truly is the savior of the world.” – Fr. Cary