The image of mercy flowing like water is present in today’s Gospel (John 4:5-42) where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. From the start, we know that this is no ordinary meeting: It is with a Samaritan with a mixed marital history, spurned by others to such a degree that she must come to the well at the hottest time of the day, when no one else is there. But there is someone there: Jesus! And despite her scandalous personal history and the social norms of the time which would have prohibited a man from speaking to a woman in public who was not his wife, Jesus speaks to her. And what a conversation it is! For in looking at how this woman changes during the course of her conversation with the Lord, she is almost like two different people. This simple encounter with Jesus radically changes her. Into the desert of her sinful existence, Jesus pours the life-giving water of God’s mercy and love. Initially, she so easily misunderstands his words that she cannot let go of her limited understanding of “water.” Her very questions and replies betray this failure to understand what Jesus is trying to tell her at a much deeper level. And yet, Jesus gently affirms and brings to the surface her deepest need – to drink from the waters of salvation – to be healed from her spiritual wounds in her relationship with God and with her community.
She slowly begins to comprehend his message, and moves from being a woman of great suspicion to one who rushes to tell others that she has met the Messiah. Consider how she describes Jesus: first a
Jew, then
Sir, then a
prophet, and finally, the
Christ. Along the way she is transformed from being a sinner and social outcast to becoming an evangelist!
Like the woman at the well, we, too, are seeking the living water of God’s mercy. Lent invites us to be more purposeful in our efforts as it reminds us that God is always seeking us. He is taking the initiative to engage us so that we might experience this flowing water, and so live in ways that are worthy of him. This is our hope and or faith. With God’s help, we pray that God’s flowing water will wash us clean and refresh us in the fullness of his life, today and always.
Like the woman at the well, we, too, are seeking the living water of God’s mercy. Lent invites us to be more purposeful in our efforts as it reminds us that God is always seeking us. He is taking the initiative to engage us so that we might experience this flowing water, and so live in ways that are worthy of him. This is our hope and or faith. With God’s help, we pray that God’s flowing water will wash us clean and refresh us in the fullness of his life, today and always.