The story of the Samaritan woman, whom Jesus encountered at the well, is one of the most moving and powerful stories of conversion in the Gospel. Let us establish some key concepts that will help us dig deeper into the meaning of this story.
“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” These were the exact words of the Samaritan to Jesus. Why this statement? Who were the Samaritans? Samaritans were half Jews – the product of intermarriages between Jews and people of pagan backgrounds. And, because they were perceived as “impure” because of intermarriages with those from pagan backgrounds, the Jews of Jesus’ time did not want to have anything to do with them in all levels of social, cultural and religious life. So, looking at the Samaritan woman in the gospel today, she was considered as a “nobody” by the Jews and, since she was also a woman, there was another layer of discrimination since women at that time were considered second class citizens. But, there was a third layer of discrimination, a discrimination that came from her fellow Samaritans that stemmed from the fact that she did not lead a moral life, having had quite a number of affairs with different men. A very telling detail on this rejection and exclusion from her fellow Samaritans is the fact that she was drawing water at noon. During that time, no one would really go to the well at noon because it was scorching hot and humid, a time when the sun is at its peak, you could die of heat stroke, but there she was at noon drawing water to avoid people, to avoid the judging eyes and hurting comments of others who would see her. As she was avoiding the judging and prying eyes of her neighbors, Jesus meets and encounters her at the well. When no one was around, when everyone had turned their backs to her, Jesus was right there — “woman, if you knew who was asking you for water to drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but 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.” And the woman said, “Sir, give me this water so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” And Jesus said, “go and call your husband and come back”; she responded, “I do not have a husband”; and Jesus said, “you are right in saying that you do not have a husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you are living with now is not your husband.” Jesus is practically saying, “woman, you have been looking everywhere for happiness, for that joy and contentment, thinking that you would find them in your five previous relationships; you have invested much, you even sacrificed your integrity and how your neighbors look at you, but still you have not encountered true joy and happiness. Drink from me, for your ultimate thirst will be quenched.” The woman in the Gospel stands for each and every one of us, who look and draw water from various wells that we thought could quench what we ultimately thirst for; most of these wells are easily accessible, most of these wells promise contentment but, in the end, leave us more thirsty than before because what they offer are short lived. Where do you draw water to quench your heart’s desire? Some of these temporary wells we frequent more than the others but, after awhile, we are left dry and destroyed in spirit. Jesus is that well, where the living water is found; he is the real oasis in the middle of the desert and wasteland where we sometimes find ourselves. And, just like the woman in the gospel, when we are so embarrassed to present ourselves in the community or in our family because of our choices, “those noon time moments, when we don’t want to be seen and be judged”, Jesus comes to us and personally offers himself as the well where we can draw that living water. I attended a conference for the clergy, and the cardinal who was speaking on this same gospel asked us: “Do you know what kind of wells your people or your parishioners draw water from so that you can truly guide them? Do you know where your loved ones draw water from? What are the wells that they frequent?” Or as a couple, “what wells do you enjoy drawing water from? Are they life giving? Or do they can potentially damage relationships and our very own selves?” The great thing about the woman in the gospel was that she never denied her situation; she was so honest about it. And I think she was honest because she was sincerely looking for that well that would complete her and give her true joy and happiness. So whenever Jesus comes to us to offer that living water, he does so not because he is judging us but because he loves us, and he only wants the best for us. He does not need justifications and explanations; what he desires is our openness to be transformed and our openness to try the living water that he offers. A sentence in our preface for today’s Mass captures this so beautifully: “so ardently did he thirst for her faith, that he kindled in her the fire of divine love.” God, who is wholly complete in himself, the source of living water, thirsts for the faith of this woman too.
When the woman allowed herself to be quenched by the living water offered by Christ, she could not contain her happiness, as if she had won the lottery – she went to the town, announcing what Jesus did to her. The same woman, who was avoiding people, who was embarrassed to be seen so she draws water at noon, is now shouting and screaming in a positive way what God has done in her life — powerful transformation! Hopefully, we all experience drinking from Jesus’ well so that we don’t just behold and listen to the woman but, just like those who heard her, we will also be able to say: “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.” May we all find each other drawing water from the well of Jesus. See you there. – Fr. Cary