Homily Lent 3A: Five healings from an encounter with Jesus

Homily for 3rd Sunday of Lent Year A 2020 

 Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2,5-8 · John 4:5-42

Introduction 

What a long gospel we have just heard!  And to think that it all began with Jesus making a simple request for a drink of water. 

But this is something we also do all the time.  When for example, a friend or business contact invites you for a drink or a cup of coffee, it is rarely just about the beverage.  The drink is simply the setting for building friendship, sometimes for making up for a mistake, or even closing a business deal or pursuing a romantic interest.

Scripture and Tradition 

That's what Jesus is doing when he says to the Samaritan woman: "Give me a drink."  Of course she takes him literally, thinking that all he wants is to quench his thirst, since it was hot and he was probably thirsty.  But Jesus is inviting her to an encounter with him, that will heals five wounds that she has. 

The first wound is that of ethnic or cultural prejudice.  You see, Samaritans and Jews did not like each other, much like many ethnic and cultural prejudices today.  The Jews considered the Samaritans impure, since they were the descendants of the intermarriage between the ten northern tribes of Israel and the Assyrians who had conquered them.  Worse still the Samaritans had set up their own religion and place of worship to rival the temple in Jerusalem.  That is why the woman, filled with prejudice asks Jesus: "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" 

But Jesus offers her the hand of friendship, offering to give her living water, that quenches thirst forever.  Still thinking in literal terms about actual water so she asks “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”  Notice the change?  She, who a few moments earlier, had insisted that Jews and Samaritans could not share a cup of water, wants Jesus to solve her water problem once and for all.  Is it perhaps because that now she sees beyond his Jewishness and sees him as a human being?  Jesus has healed her wound of ethnic bigotry and prejudice. 

But this is just the beginning.  Jesus also heals her wound of marital infidelity.  Her personal life, was in a mess.  Jesus leads her to confess that she does not have a husband, for she has had five husbands, and the one she has now is not her husband.  Salvation is not just about being good to other people; it must start with good order in our own personal lives, in our family life.  And thankfully as their conversation progresses, Jesus helps her to reflect on the commitment or lack thereof in her marriage. 

A third wound that needs healing is that of unworthy worship.  Both the Jewish and Samaritan religion at the time were in a mess as Jesus shows throughout the gospels.  For this woman in particular, she asks Jesus whether the true place of worship is in Samaria or Jerusalem. 

Jesus explains to her that the little squabbles between Jews and Samaritans about how to worship God, will no longer matter.  He says: ". . . the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth. .  ."  We know that Jesus was referring to Christian worship, which is not tied to Jerusalem or Samaria, or this shrine or that shrine, but is the Eucharist and the sacraments, in which throughout the world all Christians offer the worthy sacrifice of Christ himself, as we are doing now. 

This discussion allows the woman to realize that she has met the Messiah himself, “the one called the Christ; [who] when he comes, he will tell us everything.” In fact, when she goes back to her to the town she tells the people: “He told me everything I have done.” 

That healing of her spiritual life in turn leads to a fourth healing from the wound of ostracization by her neighbours. Did you notice that she came to the well alone and at noon?  I can tell you from my experience in Uganda that women usually do not go to the well when it is really hot, but rather than in the morning or evening when it is cooler.  Also, they usually go in groups, sometimes for safety, but often to have some feminine and may be to gripe about their husbands. Her behaviour suggests that perhaps because of her marriage situation, this woman was ostracized from the community.  But now, after meeting Jesus, she runs back to the city, to share her new found living water with her neighbours who welcome her back. 

The final wound Jesus heals is not hers, but that of the community, which like her is now cured of the wound of unbelief.  We heard how on hearing from the woman, they came to hear Jesus himself speak and in gratitude to her they say: “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”  The outcast has not only become a disciple but also an apostle; her days of being an outcast are gone, and their days of ostracising her are gone, thanks to Jesus. 

And so, what began as a simple request for a drink of water on the part of Jesus and later on the woman’s part, has not only reconciled Jews and Samaritans, but more importantly has reconciled this woman, in her personal life, in her relationship with God and in her relationship with her neighbours. 

Christian Application 

Today Jesus still comes to us and with his encounter, especially through his Word and Sacrament, wants to heal those same five wounds in us. 

He comes to us in our neighbour who asks for a drink of water. I would hope that we don’t respond like the Samaritan woman first did, saying, "How can you, a Jew, Muslim, or Protestant, immigrant, homeless man or refugee, Black man, White woman or Chinese man, ask me, a Christian for a drink?"  This is the reception some of our Asian brethren are receiving at this time of the corona virus.  I would hope that we would instead respond like the other Samaritan, the Good Samaritan, through whom Jesus teaches Christians to see beyond divisions of religion, race, nationality, ethnicity, and others.   

Secondly, Jesus teaches us in his Word about commitment.  He teaches that we are to live ordered lives, seeing our bodies as temples of the Lord, being committed to each other in marriage.  He offers us the sacraments, especially those of Matrimony which establishes a lasting bond of love, and penance which repairs any breach in our relationships.  We must let him also heal any wounds that threaten the health of our families. 

Thirdly, the Lord has brought us a new form of worship, in Spirit and Truth.  That is why we come together every Sunday at the Eucharist which he left us. We offer no goat or sheep, nor cow or ox, but the same sacrifice he offered on the Cross.  We come to proclaim your death O Lord and profess your resurrection, until you come again.  It is because our worship is not limited to Samaria or Jerusalem, that even at this time of crisis, when some people cannot come to Mass, we still worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. 

Fourthly perhaps our sins have also led us to be cast aside by our neighbors and friends.  Jesus heals that wound, especially in the sacrament of Penance, which not only forgives us our sins, but also sets us back on the path of healing and wholeness.  For the Lord has also asked that after we go to confession, like the woman, we return to those we have hurt, both individuals and communities, and we seek to mend fences. 

Finally, Jesus heals others through us, by using us to bring the gospel to them.  Now they too come to believe in him, not just because of what we told them, but because they too encounter him in the Word and the Sacraments.  Will you let Jesus use you to heal others, to heal the townspeople? 

Conclusion 

And so, although we must never eavesdrop on the confession of another person, Jesus has allowed us in this gospel, to eavesdrop on his encounter with the Samaritan woman.  Particularly as we continue our Lenten journey, and as we live this moment of fear and a health crisis, we can like follow her example of being open to conversion and healing.  This is the time to reveal our wounds to Jesus, especially those fives wounds he healed in her, and ask him to give us living water like he gave her, to heal us, like he healed her.