Jesus speaks with us and tells us everything. He fills those who, hungry and thirsty for a full life, heed everything that he tells them.

The Samaritan woman does not expect Jesus to ask her for a drink or heed her words. But Jesus does both. For he does not look down on women or avoid Samaritans, even though Jews brand them as half-pagans. Rather, he bridges the gap between men and women. Moreover, he tears down walls of hatred; he is peace (Eph 2, 14-16).

And Jesus starts out from what he and the Samaritan woman have in common, namely, the need for water. Never mind, then, that Jews and Samaritans do not share utensils. What matters is that they both get thirsty. And such thirst, he suggests, points to a longing that not even several husbands can fill. Jesus alone gives the water that ends all thirst: “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.”

Another thing that Jesus and the Samaritan woman have in common is their worship. They differ, surely, in the way that they worship and understand what they worship. But Jesus, quick to address and heed her concern, says that difference in worship is no longer an issue. For he brings in a new worship, the worship of the Father in Spirit and truth. We do not have to go to either Jerusalem or Gerizim to worship. We can worship anywhere.

How to worship the Father and heed his words matters.

Worshiping in Spirit and truth means, first of all, acknowledging that we worship and pray to our Father in heaven. We worship and call on Someone who is close to us and cares for us. And what he has in mind is but the best for us. He is also kind, merciful and forgiving, slow to anger and not always rebuking (Ps 103).

Needless to say, he is Father, too, to all human beings. So, he also wishes all our brothers and sisters the best. That is why he seeks justice for the oppressed—the poor, the widows, orphans and strangers. To heed him, then, is to seek his kingdom and his righteousness. And this means making the world better for everyone. In this kind of world, the hungry and thirsty for justice, love and peace for all, get their fill.

And it also means to heed Paul. Heeding Jesus, Paul comes to understand that there is neither Jew or Greek, nor male and female (Gal 3, 28). In a way, too, they heed the saying that we should help the poor spiritually, materially and in every way (SV.EN XII:77).

Lord Jesus Christ, proof of the Father’s love, your food is to do his will. Make us heed your words and do everything you tell us. In that way, we will be in communion with you, do the Father’s will, and so have our fill.

15 March 2020
Third Sunday of Lent (A)
Ex 17, 3-7; Rom 5, 1-2. 5-8; Jn 4, 5-42