Chapter 1 Living Water

Chapter 1

Living Water

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. ”

—John 4:10

It ’ s eerie to see St. Patrick’ s Cathedral empty. We ’ re used to seeing it jam-packed for Sunday Mass. Coming together in fellowship is an essential part of our Catholic life. Not being together is difficult. Yet, even more important than the place where we worship is that we worship “in Spirit and in truth.” As Our Lord says, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth” (John 4:23).

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This, of course, is supreme at every Sunday Mass. And as much as we might miss Sunday Mass, we can still worship God in spirit and in truth. We miss you. I hope you miss us. But one person who is never missing is God. And the Lord is particularly present with us at this tough time. There ’ s a touching sense of unity, solidarity, and connectedness as we all feel particularly vulnerable and look to God our Father to take care of us. We trust that He does. Our prayers during this time are particularly vigorous for those who are suffering, for those who have died, and for their families; for the physicians, nurses, emergency workers, and nursing home attendants, who work selflessly and sacrificially for our people who are homebound and apprehensive and fearful. It is important to remember that regardless of what is happening in our lives, we always have the consoling words of Jesus to help and guide us. In particular there is much to learn, especially on how to pray, in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. And I think you ’d agree with me that we are always looking for a way to improve our prayers, especially during this tough time of COVID-19.

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What this particular Scripture shows us is that there is an encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. This, by its very nature, is what prayer is: a conversation with the Lord, a meeting and encounter with Jesus. So, what other lessons might Jesus be teaching us? I have seven.

1. “So, he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’ s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon ” (John 4:5–6). As this story opens, we see that Jesus makes the first move. He ’ s there in the hot noon sun when this Samaritan woman comes to the well. She doesn’ t address Him; in fact, she ignores Him. But He ’ s the one who initiates the conversation. This is an important lesson. More often than not, we think that we ’ re doing God a big favor by praying to Him. But remember, it’ s always God’ s spark that initiates the conversation. It ’ s always the Lord’ s prerogative. Yes, we do have a responsibility to pray, but we couldn’ t fulfill that if it wasn ’ t for His grace and invitation. So even our ability to pray is a gift from

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Him. He ’ s the one who starts it as He did with the woman at the well.

2. “Give me a drink” (John 4:7). Jesus asks the woman for something. This is strange, because most of the time we approach prayer as us asking

God for something. But here we have Jesus beginning the conversation by asking the woman for something. We know that this has always been interpreted as Him asking for the woman ’ s faith.

He ’ s almost saying, “I thirst” as He will from the cross. It ’ s as if He ’ s saying, “I’m thirsting for your faith.” I don’ t know if you ’ ve ever been to one of the convents of the Missionaries of Charity,

Mother Teresa ’ s sisters, but in every one of them, on the chapel wall below the cross, are these words: “I Thirst.” Mother Teresa is saying that

Jesus thirsts for our faith and our trust as He did with the woman in the gospel. 3. “[W]hoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst” (John 4:14). In this conversation, Jesus reveals Himself to the woman as the living water.

Usually, in prayer, God reveals something to us.

He tells us about Himself and reminds us of His grace, love, mercy, and promises for us. When we priests pray our Divine Office, always on Sunday

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morning, the psalm is “like the deer runs for living water, so my soul thirsts for you. ” Jesus came to quench that thirst. He is the living water that can quench the thirst of every human heart. 4. “Sir, please give me this water ” (John 4:15). Notice that this is the start of the woman ’ s conversion.

She is admitting that she needs something she can ’ t provide herself, that only Jesus can give. She is being humble. If we don’ t have humility in our prayer, we don’ t have much. In prayer, we can say,

“I need something I can ’ t give myself. I have a thirst that I cannot quench.” That’ s humility. 5. The woman exhibits repentance. She knows in the face of her Savior that she’ s a sinner and needs the

Lord’ s mercy. 6. “I’m the Messiah” (John 4:26). Jesus tells the woman who he is. This doesn’ t happen very often in the Gospels. We know by faith that He is the

Messiah, but rarely does he speak so bluntly. But

He does to this humble, repentant

Samaritan woman.

7. “I have found the Messiah” (John 4:29). The Samaritan woman goes back to her village to tell the good news. She becomes a missionary, an

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evangelist. The result of our conversation in prayer is missional, apostolic, and evangelical. We ’ re so grateful for the gift of our faith, the living water that Jesus gives us. We want to leave our prayer and go tell others about it. We hope those others eventually come to believe, and, as the Gospel concludes, they ask, “Will you stay with us?” (John 4:40). And He says He will, and they’ll have a conversation the next time they pray.

We pray more during this lockdown. This Gospel helps us do so!

Sunday Mass, March 15, 2020

READINGS FOR REFLECTION: Exodus 17:3–7; Psalm 95:1–2, 6–7, 8–9; Romans 5:1–2, 5–8; John 4:5–42

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