Homilies3rd SUNDAY OF LENT: THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELLJn 4:5-42
"MAN IS, by nature, thirsty or hungry”, says one Jesuit philosopher. But in his thirst or hunger, man turns to material things in order to quench his thirst or satisfy his hunger. Sadly, there will never be quenching or satisfaction because it would simply turn into a vicious circle. This will only end until one finds God who can ultimately quench our thirst.
The theme of the readings today is thirst, and the quenching of thirst by drinking water. The First Reading recalls that moment in which the Israelites were crying out for water while they were leaving Egypt. They complained to Moses as if he was going to kill them, their children and their livestock. Moses was in dilemma, but Yahweh instructed him to strike the rock in Horeb with his staff, and the water would flow. And it did.
In the gospel, we heard of the encounter of Jesus with a woman from Samaria at the well. Jesus was exhausted due to a long walk under the sun’s heat, and he asked for water from a woman whom she should not talk because she was a Samaritan. During the conversation, we find that the woman and Jesus were not on the same plane. While the woman thought of water at the well (physical), Jesus talked about living water, so, he was on a spiritual plane. But then things had become clearer as the conversation went on. In fact, the woman rightly surmised that Jesus is the Christ that the Samaritans also expected. Let us take some of the points of their discussions and let us reflect on them.
Firstly, Jesus says to the woman, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.” Yes, most of us think that material things would quench our thirst, but it does not. The quenching is simply temporary, and after a while, we will be thirsty again. In affluent countries, we would notice that people are fond of buying things even if they do not need them. As a result, their houses become disordered, and become a wide garbage. The Jesuit philosopher I mentioned above was right. If we only turn to material things, we will never be quenched from our thirst.
Secondly, Jesus continues to say, “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.” So, the water that Jesus gives is the saving love of God poured into our hearts, which gives us life and peace. Jesus gives us the living water of salvation. This ultimately quenches our thirst. The living water of salvation is no less than Christ. This can be illustrated by the famous words of St Augustine who said, “My heart, O God, is restless until it rests unto Thee.” Before his conversion, Augustine was known to be a sinful person, a person full of vices. These may have quenched his thirst for things, but he felt it was simply temporary. Thus, his heart became restless. But the restlessness disappeared when he found God in his life.
Thirdly, related to the feeling of thirst is hunger. The disciples of Jesus were looking for food. And when they came back, they offered food to the hungry Jesus. The response of Jesus was, “I have food to eat which you do not know” which led to a confusion among his disciples. He further said, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.” Food, like water, is a basic need. We cannot live without it. When Jesus said that his food is to do the will of God, he suggests that he cannot live without obedience to the will of the Father. This is also something which we should reflect. Obedience or following God and his laws should also be our food that enriches us.
Lastly, when the woman proclaimed the good news and her encounter with Jesus, the Samaritans also came to meet him. Afterward, they told the Samaritan woman, “We no longer believed because of your word, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.” In our journey of faith, we tend to rely on the testimonies of others, which may be valid. But it is also expected that we ourselves should have our own or personal encounter with Christ. Two words are used here: hear and know. It is good that we have also heard for ourselves the God whom we believe, through reading the Bible, and we have known our God thought constant prayer and reflections. While we grow older, we must also grow in our knowledge of Christ.
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