This Sunday we begin with the first of the three Scrutinies. From a catechetical perspective, the dialogue provides an insight into what the period of Lent is in the context of the Easter Sacraments, specifically the Sacrament of Baptism. While the topic of the conversation centred on the basic and human need for water, this necessity is connected to baptism and it is coupled with Christ’s challenge to conversion. Early on in the conversation, she understood that the providence of “living water” was just that. For many of us who turn on the tap without thinking twice, it is understandable that she considered the offer of Jesus literally. Making daily trips to the well in the hot sun is a tiresome chore. More so, she doing it alone suggests that she was an outcast in the community for having one husband too many.
At the end of the dialogue, she was led from acknowledgement of her marital irregularities to a wholesome embrace of her apostolic mission to the people of her village. This prolonged exchange between Jesus and her resulted in her conversion and the freedom to announce that Jesus was the one whom she had been searching for her entire life.
From an existential angle, bodily thirst is symbolic of our human search for the ultimate. In a sense, conversion is a journey that mirrors life’s search for fulfilment. We are not creatures that merely live to eat. We are not mindless munchers even though our current eating habits seem to imply that we are more indiscriminate gourmands than we are discerning gourmets. But if we accept that man eats in order to live, then it makes sense that we must search for proper food to consume. This means life has a purpose than just merely existing to devour.
Many, if not all of us, are symbolised by the Samaritan woman in our yearning for perfect happiness, the elusive living water, that will never leave us thirsty again. We are constantly on the hunt for things in life to gratify us. In many of our misguided and misdirected longings, we settle for things that fulfil us momentarily but in our sane moments, instinctively we recognise that nothing in the world can truly slake the existential thirst in us—not physical pleasure, not possession and not even money itself.
Whether we know it or not, whether we accept it or not, every man, woman and child is looking for the Saviour. We are created with a hunger for the divine. The water at the well was only the beginning of the Samaritan’s search for the ultimate in life. This yearning for the infinite is not a random void or emptiness as if we were just gaping holes waiting to be filled with whatever. In fact, the 2nd Reading reminds us that the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And more so, “While we were still helpless, at the appointed time Christ died for sinful men. It is not easy to die even for a good man and what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we are still sinners”.
At the well, the Samaritan Woman was not the only one searching for God. He was looking for her even as He is seeking us out now. As Jesus hung on the Cross, He cried out “I thirst”. We have a God who thirsts for humanity’s response. The Man who was thirsty at the well was actually the only one who could slake the thirst of the Samaritan woman. As a Church Father said, “He who needed our help is the Helper Himself”.
The breakthrough came when the Samaritan Woman recognised the Prophet in Jesus. It was as if her eyes were opened to own not only her past but also to imagine a future. From then on, she became a missionary to her own people. In the matter of evangelisation, the converted are often the best missionaries to convince others because of their own experience of God.
As this is the 1st of the Scrutinies, we might mistakenly think that it is an invitation to the catechumens to be encountered by Christ. But Lent is a pilgrimage for all sinners, not just those preparing for baptism. We come to the spring of eternal life to encounter the Christ who thirsts for us. The sad dilemma is that the Church is rather anaemic. Perhaps our enervated missionary spirit, unlike the converted heart of the Samaritan Woman, is simply indicating that we have not been convicted by our experience of Him.
The Woman at the Well is a call to a deep encounter with Christ. How do we meet Him? We are thus directed to one of the central Lenten practices which is prayer. Prayer is crucial not because we can ask from God things we need. Rather, prayer is the well where our thirsty souls can meet Christ the Living Water. Also, we meet Him no less in the Sacraments, notably, Confession and the Eucharist. In every encounter, opening up to Him bears the possibilities of conversion. The well is a call to turn from the distractions of life to the one Person who matters most, the Man who is vital to our longing and the God who is central to our fulfilment and our salvation: Jesus Christ.
