Homily for the week of April 3, 2011

Third Sunday of Lent, March 27, 2011

It is said that the next major wars will be fought over water, not oil. There are growing concerns over the increasing demand for fresh, clean water as the supply is decreasing. Today’s challenges about ensuring access to safe water for every human being is one entry point to reflection on today’s Gospel can be compared to Jesus' invitation to all persons to thirst for living water that is eternally replenished. And Jesus describes himself as this living water.

Dying of thirst is a terrible thought. To die of thirst is excruciatingly painful. Just mere dehydration can cause horrible headaches, dizziness, delirium, and can lead to problems such as kidney stones and even kidney failure. God’s people certainly would have gotten into a panic, especially if livestock and people were dying. Today’s Gospel points out that other types of thirst can cause damage as well, most especially spiritual thirst.

The Gospel opens with a tired and thirsty Jesus asking a woman of Samaria for a drink of water at Jacob's well. This surprised the woman for several reasons. In the first place, it was unlikely that a man would ask a woman for anything and even more unbelievable that Jesus, a Jew, would ask something of a Samaritan, a great enemy of the Jewish people. The Samaritan woman came to the well, perhaps for a second time that day, to draw water. Most women would come to the well early in the morning, not at the hottest part of the day. The timing of her visit is a clear sign that she is an outcast within the Samaritan community. We learn in her conversation with Jesus that she is an outcast because of her “many husbands."

She and Jesus got into a conversation. This conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is among the most lengthy and most theological found in all the Bible. The most startling aspect of the conversation is that it happens at all. Jesus, an observant Jew of that time, was expected to avoid conversation with women in public. The woman herself alludes to this fact: “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”

Yet Jesus not only converses with the woman, he also asks to share her drinking vessel, an action that makes him unclean according to Jewish law. Jesus explained to her that her thirst would return if she drank water from the well; but if she drank the water Jesus offered her, she would never thirst again. At first she longed for the convenience of not having to draw water from the well every day. She soon understood that Jesus was offering something to quell the thirst. After Jesus told her many things about herself, she came to believe that he was the Son of God and called others to him.

Step by step Jesus and the woman reveal themselves more deeply to each other. They speak of some of their deepest thirsts: for worship, salvation and the search for truth. They listen intently and allow their perceptions of the other to shift. The focus of the dialogue is not on her marital history, nor is she said to be a sinner. Jesus does not tell her to go and sin no more.

The woman’s understanding of Jesus progresses from the simple observation that he is a Jew to pondering whether he is greater than Jacob. Finally, she arrives at the conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah, which she shares with her townspeople in question form, so that they too can enter into the process of discovery that will culminate in faith.

This encounter illustrates a process by which two persons who are very different can be transformed into friendship. They had to let go of their ingrained stereotypes of the other, and they had to stop avoiding each other. They had to be willing to stay in the conversation for a good deal of time and not give up when they stumbled over their differences. They had to be willing to take time with each other.

The high point of the conversation is when Jesus reveals himself to her as the Messiah. After the conversation, the Samaritan woman becomes a disciple. Even though she is an outcast and not a Jew, she returns to her town to lead others to Jesus and to wonder whether she has found the Messiah. The Samaritan townspeople return with her to meet Jesus for themselves, and many are said to come to believe in him.

The significance of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman has many levels. The first is personal: The woman is herself converted to believe and accept Jesus as Messiah because he speaks with her even though he knows her to be a sinner. The second is social: Having come to know Jesus as the Messiah, the Samaritan woman becomes his teacher to her own people.

Jesus offers us living water just as he did the woman at the well. It is the water of salvation so when we stumble, we know that Jesus refreshes us with forgiveness. This is helpful to remember on days when we are disappointed by our anger, impatience, and discouragement. Take this opportunity to reflect upon the importance of Baptism with your family. If you have photos or other mementos of your family's Baptisms, bring them out and take some time to recall the day of Baptism and its importance to you and your family. Jesus' meeting with the woman at the well is like Baptism. Jesus knows the woman's sin and forgives her. The woman comes to know Jesus as the Messiah. The woman invites others to meet Jesus. Pray a prayer of blessing for each member of the family that God will help each one live the promises of his or her Baptism.