Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 15, 2020 - 3rd Sunday of Lent - A
[Exod 17:3-7; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42]"If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." [John]
One of the traits I most love about the Gospel According to John is the vividness of the characters in the encounters with Jesus. These encounters are like "mini-dramas" that can be played out in the imagination. The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well is a wonderful example. It begins with a tired traveler and a woman engaged in a household chore at an unusual hour. Scripture scholars suggest that her marital status may have exposed her to ridicule and shunning from the other women who would ordinarily come earlier in the day. This scene is set at midday.
The very fact that Jesus, a Jew, would even speak to the lady who is a Samaritan makes this encounter all the more unexpected. The antipathy between Jews and Samaritans was ancient. Nevertheless, the woman is intrigued and enters into the dialogue. Now we have two people talking at different levels. The woman speaks on the literal "nitty-gritty" level and Jesus speaks on a spiritual/theological level with water being the common subject, at least at first. However, it is Jesus' statement, "If you knew the gift of God...." that really sums up the whole scene. Eventually the woman does "get it" and realizes who Jesus might really be!! This step by step process appears in other encounters in the Gospel According to John, especially in the story of the Man Born Blind (Ch.9). But the process is not simply a story in the gospel, but is played out every year in the RCIA programs across the country. The individual stories of these persons coming to faith often begin with an encounter with a faithful Catholic and come to know the "gift of God" which brings them to the living water of baptismal faith!
What is truly important is to realize that any of us who strive to live that faith could be "the gift of God!" We can transcend ancient barriers and offer the gift we have received. The Samaritan Woman converts an entire village after Jesus challenges her in her own situation. We can do the same. AMEN