Third Sunday of Lent (March 18-19, 2017)

The intriguing account of the Samaritan’s woman encounter with the Lord is a most beautiful story of an outcast, an outsider, a Samaritan woman, someone who has endured the school of hard knocks, one who is even cynical and sarcastic and suspicious even when someone is trying to be kind to her.  And yet, through her encounter with Jesus at this well in Samaria, she is transformed from being an outsider to becoming an enthusiastic evangelizer inviting other people in town to come to know Jesus.

Jesus,  the Son of God, the Savior of the world, wasn’t too busy to listen patiently and dialogue with and affirm with considerable love this outcast of society.  If we are to follow the way of Jesus in our ministry, may we take the time to listen and to affirm the beauty of people in their time of need.

This is a most dramatic conversion story.

As we pray over this Gospel, may we find our story in the story of the Samaritan woman.  Imagine a situation in your life in which you felt like an outsider, an outcast – maybe you did get not the promotion you were hoping for, maybe you had to deal with the after effects of a relationship that has gone wrong in your life, maybe you are being misunderstood by someone you love, maybe the Church you love is making you feel like an outsider, maybe the nation you are so proud of is turning upside down --  whatever it is.  My hunch is that all of us at one time or another or maybe several times,  have felt like the outsider.

May we observe closely the dialogue of Jesus with the Samaritan in three stages:
1.In the first stage, the Samaritan woman displays her mistrust, her sarcasm, and the hurt she has felt over a long period.  She says:  “What you a Jew asking me, a Samaritan, for a drink.”  Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans; men don’t talk to strange women.  Are you trying to make a fool of me?

But in this encounter, Jesus was breaking previously drawn lines in the sand and listened to her anger and hurt with great hope in the dialogue.  Jesus saw much more beauty in the Samaritan woman than she saw in herself.  He listened to her with kindness and believing in her dignity.

The beginning of the conversion story for the Samaritan woman was that she was listened with much compassion and understanding and affirmation of her inner dignity.
I have counted a great blessing to my life when I am listened to and filled with hope when I wasn’t able to see a way forward.  The way forward was revealed through the listening heart of another.

May we know that the dialogue Jesus has with the Samaritan woman is the dialogue the Lord wishes to have with each one of us,  especially when we are feeling fragile or vulnerable.  This is the real message of the Gospel.

Because she felt affirmed in her dialogue with Jesus, when she then was confronted by Jesus in saying that indeed the person you are living with is not your husband -- Indeed you have had five previous husbands – she did not become defensive as many times I have become defensive when confronted or criticized.  Why was she able to listen with openness to Jesus?  The answer is simple in some ways.  Jesus had first listened to her and affirmed her as a person of worth and dignity.  Even when confronted, she was confronted with great love in the heart of Jesus.

When we know that we are loved and affirmed, an inner lock is released within us and we are able to listen to critique that invites our growth.  Is it not true we can listen better to others when we know that we are understood and loved.   In the spiritual life, it is a conversion in our lives when we know how much we are loved and affirmed by Jesus.

Finally, Jesus reveals to the woman at the well that he is the living water, the anointed one, the Savior.  Jesus was calling her to a life that she cannot imagine for herself.  Please note that Jesus did not send her away, admonishing her to avoid further sin.  Instead Christ makes her an evangelist, sending her out to call others to him.The woman at the well has a complicated and tragic past but becomes a wellspring of hope for her village.

How is her story our story?   It is not God’s plan for us to be trapped in the darkness of sin.  It is not God’s plan for us to be the outsider.  Rather the Lord wished to affirm us that we are loved and forgiven and we too are called to be a wellspring of hope for others.  In God’s plan, the greatest sinners are often enough those whom the Lord calls to lead others to him.

The church provides us this Gospel during the Lenten Gospel because it is only in opening ourselves to God’s plan for our lives, by our openness to embracing even the crosses of life, by opening ourselves to dialogue and pray with Jesus that we genuinely encounter the Lord in a way that transforms our lives.  Indeed this beautiful Gospel prepares us to share in the mystery of the dying and rising of Jesus, prepares us to share in the joy of the Risen Lord.

Have a blessed day.