Jesus reveals himself to the Samaritan woman at the well - Gospel Reading John 4:5-42

Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again; but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again; the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside them, welling up to eternal life. John 4:13-14

Water is life, and without it, we perish! All living things rely on this most precious gift and in the desert climate of Israel, water is an especially valuable resource.

In today’s Gospel, the dialogue between Jesus and a woman from Samaria is among the most lengthy and most theological found in Scripture. The most startling aspect of the conversation is that it happens at all. Jesus, an observant Jew of that time, was expected to avoid conversation with women in public and Jews did not mix with Samaritans. The woman was also known to be an outcast within her community, travelling to the well at the hottest time of the day, by herself, after the rest of her community. We learn in her conversation with Jesus that she is an outcast because of her “many husbands.”

At first, the woman understands Jesus’ promise of ‘living water’ in a literal sense, then Jesus begins a conversation with her that radically changes her life. He speaks to her heart, opening her to new and more profound possibilities as she finally accepts that Jesus himself is the wellspring of eternal life.

This week, as people around the world begin their final preparations for Baptism at Easter, we take time to reflect on our Baptism and the new life we receive from our loving God.

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

Pope John XXIII