Gospel of John 4:14

An ancient well lies at the center of a small village, called Shechem in the region of Samaria. The people who lived in this area were known as Samaritans, a break-away group who had given up the practice of the true faith a long time ago. Thus, Jews and the Samaritans didn’t get along. Jesus was passing through this region and, coming upon the well, he sat down for he was tired from his journey. A Samaritan woman came along, balancing an empty water jug on her head under the hot desert sun. She spotted Jesus, a Jewish stranger to these parts. Sitting at the well where woman usually gathered, he asked her for the favor of a drink and received a rebuff. Only the infinite patience of Jesus helped this woman to recognize God’s gift, that precious gift of living water that quenched the spiritual thirst for the source of life.

Upon learning that she had found the source of spiritual life (living water), the woman ran off to her friends to tell them the good news. What water was to the thirsting body, this gift of God was to her spirit. She left the water jug there at the well, and she also left her former life. She did not feel isolated any more. Her bitter indifference was turned into joy and openness for Jesus had satisfied her thirst for the source of life.

This Lent, as we look toward renewal of our baptism we are called to set aside whatever deflects us from the source of life. We are called to join with the Samaritan woman in accepting Christ, the living water. We are called to change our lives by turning away from sin in order to be faithful to the gospel.

Fr. Hugh Duffy