In the gospel today Jesus, after a long Journey, likely in the heat of the midday, comes to Jacob's well where he happens to meet a Samaritan woman and asks her to get him a drink from the well. He expresses his thirst, his desire for water. There is an interesting parallel in Jesus' asking for water at the well because at later time, from the cross, Jesus will again ask for water. He will say, "I thirst," but rather than water he will be offered vinegar.
Jesus' thirst, on a symbolic level, reflects God's longing for reconciliation with his people, just as thirst in other places in scripture symbolizes our longing or perhaps our need for God, so Jesus' thirst symbolizes God's longing for us. In Jesus it reflects God's desire that we come to him to be saved from the thirst that is sin separating us from him.
Indeed water, in the readings today, may be taken to stand for the reconciling event of salvation. Water, as a symbol, plays an important role in the story of salvation. From the time of Moses, and even before, God was preparing a means by which humanity might enter into a restored relationship with God and be reconciled.
God desires that we come to him and recognize the thirst that is our separation from him. God longs for all people to turn toward him and have our relationship with him set straight. He longs for us to come and have our spiritual thirst quenched, though all too often we don't recognize the need for the living water in our lives, so the scripture gives us some good reminders today.
Recently I've been involved in interviewing groups of teenagers preparing for Confirmation. In that process I've been asked some very good questions, some tough questions in many cases. Just recently a young lady asked how we can become one with God. Now certainly a question like this can mean a lot of different things, and likewise it can have many deep and multi-layered answers, but what I thought was essentially being asked is how can we experience a relationship with God: how can we come to know and experience God in our lives?
The readings for this weekend came to my mind, but also the words of the psalmist who sings, "As the deer longs for streams of water so my soul longs for you O God." God creates a thirst in us such that it can only be satisfied by that which our hearts were made to hold. God desires a relationship that involves our pouring out ourselves to him just as he pours out himself to us. God longs for reciprocity with humanity. Often we experience the absence of God as emptiness in our lives that we try to fill with everything except what will actually satisfy. We can become like the Samaritan woman with her five husbands.
God created human beings to be in relationship with him. He made the human soul to have the capacity to hold his presence within. Each person is born with an innate desire and longing for God. There is a God-shaped place in the heart of every human being. It is only sin that clouds this desire and separates us from God to the point that we are blind to our need, our longing, and our thirst for communion with God.
In the first reading from Exodus today we heard that in their thirst the people grumbled. On a simple level we have a story of a people wandering in the desert and having their physical need for water miraculously met. On a much deeper level we have a story of a people in need of reconciliation. It is a story of a people lost in their sins, lost in their separation from God, blind to their need, and yet still in their sin, in their separation and hardness of heart, God instructs Moses to strike the rock with a staff so that water might flow from it. Again there is a parallel because at a later time the rock of our salvation, Jesus, will be stuck on the Cross with a staff and water and blood will flow from his side as a sign of the definitive reconciliation between God and humanity.
The story of the woman at the well presents an informative scenario for us to consider at Lent. All of the right symbols are present to allow it to tell us about our need and about how we might come to be reconciled. Jesus asks the woman for water but tells her that if she knew who he was she would ask him for water and he would give her the living water of eternal life.
The Samaritan woman goes on to confess to Jesus. She doesn't hide her sin, nor does she shy away from her separation that comes from merely being a Samaritan. Rather she presents herself authentically to Jesus—she doesn't hide that she is a sinner. She pours out her soul to him not holding back anything. In her meeting with Jesus she experiences true reciprocity. There is an exchange between Jesus and her and she receives a spiritual good in it. She receives the gracious gift of being reconciled with God.
Unlike the self-righteous Pharisees in Jerusalem the Samaritan woman recognizes her spiritual thirst. Also unlike in his dealings with the people of Jerusalem, Jesus doesn't hide his identify from the Samaritan woman. He tells her outright who he is and he offers her the living water, which she doesn't immediately grasp the meaning of fully. To woman at the well Jesus becomes a sign and an offering of reconciliation. God chooses to reveal the Christ to a woman of Samaria who is living in sin. Yet she recognizes her separation and confesses her need.
Fortunately we have ample opportunities here in our parish to take advantage of the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. We have the opportunity to step into the shoes of the woman at the well and open our hearts to God leaving nothing hidden. This coming Wednesday morning, March 10th we will have priests available for confession from 9 AM until noon. It's a great Lenten opportunity pause along the way and drink water from the Rock.
Being one with God, having a restored relationship with our creator involves recognizing our need and letting God know it. He wants us to say "I thirst." When we come to terms with what separates us from God, when we recognize our need, and when we present ourselves authentically for reconciliation, we may then rest assured in blessed hope that God will pour out the quenching water of life filling our souls to overflowing.
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