Homily, 2nd Sunday of Lent, Leaving behind our water jar & Living Water

The Samaritan woman encounters Jesus at the well as she seeks to satisfy her thirst.  Jesus is there waiting for her.  She comes to draw water to help satisfy her daily needs, but she discovers the person who satisfies her needs for eternity. 

Jesus breaks down the cultural barriers of the time in being there for the woman. First of all, Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans. They were considered an impure race made up of Jews who intermarried with pagan foreign invaders. They adopted many of the pagan practices of worship which the Jews despised.  Secondly a man would never speak with an unaccompanied woman at the time.   It was also very unusual for a woman to be alone. The Samaritan woman must have been an outcast, since she had to come alone at noon, the hottest time of the day. Women typically joined together to gather water in the morning or evening, at a much cooler time.  Since the Samaritan woman lived in a scandalous relationship she wasn’t welcome to join them.

Jesus doesn’t let her moral situation become a barrier to encounter him.   He knows

she came for water, but she’s thirsting for much more.  She’s thirsting for the satisfaction of true love. Her many husbands only provided temporary love.  Jesus reveals her past and current situation, and she believes him to be a prophet.   The seed of faith planted in her prompts questions to Jesus about the difference in Jewish and Samaritan worship.  Jesus tells her that true worship will be of the Father in Spirit and truth, speaking of himself and the Church, and finally reveals to her that he is the Messiah. 

The woman then goes to the town to tell everyone of this exciting news and leaves something behind: her water jar. I think leaving the water jar is significant. It is a symbol of leaving her past behind.  Her new found faith in the living water of eternal life promised by Jesus was now much more important.  The needs and desires of water and earthly love were secondary to her relationship with Jesus.  They only provided temporary satisfaction.  Everlasting satisfaction came from the spring of water welling up to eternal life that only Jesus could give.  She had found the truth of life through the grace of Jesus being there.  Jesus was there offering this gift freely to her. Her new found gift of eternal life in Christ had transformed her to share the good news with others and leave behind her past behind.

We all have needs and desires that we’re thirsting for and many of us have baggage from the past.   The Samaritan woman thirsted for love trying to satisfy it through her multiple husbands.  The Jews had been freed from slavery in Egypt, but feared death from thirst in the desert. Today we have millions of Middle Eastern refugees thirsting for permanent homes free from persecution.  In our own country thousands of undocumented immigrants thirst to keep their families together.  We may thirst to be healed of illnesses, have relationship restored, or to get a better job to support our family.  We may be thirsting for power, money, or prestige to satisfy our own egos.

Jesus is there to help us discern our deepest desires, some being valid and some not so much.   When our needs are satisfied do they bring about a lasting peace and comfort, or do they leave us thirsting for something else?  What happens when they’re not met?  Sometimes there are no ready answers to difficult situations and it can leave us feeling hopeless.  In baptism we’ve been cleansed with living water to raise to a new life in Christ. This gives us a light in the darkness to assist us with the challenges of this world. When we turn to Jesus our relationship with him helps to reveal what’s most important.   Sometimes the only answer Jesus can give us is in difficult situations is hope for eternal life.  We can go to Jesus in prayer, in the Sacraments, and through members of the Body of Christ to help us.

This Sunday the members of the Right of Christian Initiation of Adults will be going through the first of three Scrutiny’s.  The Scrutiny’s are the rites that these members go through as they prepare to enter the Church. They’ll be receiving Baptism where they will be admitted to the Sacraments of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil.  They’re on a faith journey developing a relationship with Christ, and leaving behind their own water jars, so they can receive living water for eternal life. 

We’re on a similar journey as we as we go through Lent.  Our discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving helps us to leave behind the water jar holding everything that keeps us from having faith in Jesus as our Messiah.  As we shed those sinful ways we have the sacrament of reconciliation that will help us restore our relationship with God.  Jesus is waiting for us ready to help without any barriers or concerns about our life’s situation just as he was for the Samaritan woman.