THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
(Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2.5-8; John 4:5-42)
According to an ancient hymn, “We all have secret fears to
face; our minds and motives to amend…” However, we don't always want to let go
of our sins. We may view them as unimportant, or perhaps we hide them so other
people don't think ill of us. In the gospel today we find a person carrying a
heavy load of sin. Fortunately, Jesus is there to ease it.
The Samaritan woman doesn't seem stressed when she arrives
at Jacob's well at noon. But one may wonder why she comes alone at the hottest
part of the day. Why doesn't she come with the other women at a more
comfortable hour? Jesus is going to reveal the reason in the conversation that
is about to begin. She has had five husbands and now she lives with a man to
whom she is not married. She is excluded from the company of other women because
of her disordered life. In addition, the hard work of carrying water and her
conscience overburdened with guilt increase the difficulty of her life.
Yet Jesus does not judge her. Rather, he initiates a
conversation with her. They talk about something they have in common, water. He
asks the woman for water from the well. When she responds with surprise, Jesus
offers her "living water." Supposedly "living water" is the
fresh water that flows from a spring. But Jesus has something else in mind.
When saying “living water”, he means the revivifying grace of the Holy Spirit.
It is like a charge to a discharged battery. He affords her the opportunity to move
from her sinful condition to the freedom of a daughter of God.
Jesus extends to all of us the same opportunity. By the
gospel calling us from without and the Holy Spirit moving us from within, Jesus
offers us deliverance from our sins. His words awaken us from complacency. In
the gospel his words remind the Samaritan of the mess in her marriage situation.
In a famous cinema, Jesus' warning that the loss of one's soul is not worth the
whole world shakes the conscience of a betrayer. With equal insistence the
Spirit urges us to go to confession where our sins are removed like darkness
with the first rays of light.
But many times our vices stick to us like bloodsuckers. We
know we should make changes, but something within us resists them. We may tell
ourselves that the merciful God will forgive our sins. Or possibly we are
convinced that our sins are so encrusted that it is not possible to remove
them. In the first reading the Israelites resist putting trust in the Lord.
They say they were doing better in Egypt with plenty of water than wandering
thirsty in the desert. The Samaritan woman tries to change the subject when
Jesus mentions her sordid past. She would rather discuss theological
differences between Jews and Samaritans than examine her life with the best of
counselors.
Jesus does not allow her to avoid the need to repent. He
tells her, "...salvation comes from the Jews." That is, he comes from
the Jews, and both we and she must face the truth of our lives before him. But
he has not come to punish us for our faults. Rather, he has come to save us
from them. He is like a doctor who does not blame his cancer patient for
smoking but does everything possible to cure him.
Wisely the woman submits to the mercy of the Lord. She
leaves her pitcher, the symbol of her sins, behind as she goes to tell others
about him. Let us do the same. After confessing our sins, let us tell others of
the goodness of the Lord. Let us tell others about Jesus.
