This Sunday, Fr. Alan is preaching on the Cycle A Lectionary readings, as these readings are paired with the First Scrutiny for the Elect in OCIA. You can read a homily on the Cycle C readings from a previous year by clicking here.

When Europeans began exploring North America in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Florida was a favorite destination because of its abundance of offshore freshwater springs.  Those freshwater springs were easy to identify from the deck of a sailing ship because both the surface of water at the spring and the smell of the water was different to the surrounding salt water.  

The many offshore freshwater springs allowed those early explorers to refill their water supplies without going ashore.  They had only to lower a bucket into the freshwater outflow instead of carrying barrels and buckets ashore and searching for a source of freshwater.  The woman in today’s Gospel reading was referring to the relative ease of filling a bucket from a spring when she asked Jesus, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket, and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water?” (Jn 4:11) 

Jacob’s well near Shechem, the site of the story in today’s Gospel, was about one hundred feet deep and covered with a large stone to prevent people and animals from falling in.  In order to get water from the well, one had to move aside the cover stone, lower a bucket into the water, and then hoist the full bucket up from the one-hundred-foot depth.  The utility bills we pay today for municipal water are a great convenience by comparison. 

Jesus’ statement to the woman, “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” is a typical example of the misunderstanding and double meaning that the author John’s Gospel was so fond of using for his theological purposes. (Jn 4:10)  In Aramaic, the phrase “living water” meant “running water” of the sort one finds in a river, stream, spring, or artesian well.  Naturally, the woman thought Jesus was offering her a source of easily accessible running water instead of the well water that required such great labor to retrieve.   

When Jesus used the term “living water,” however, he was not referring to running water; he was referring to “the water of life,” a metaphor for his teachings and the Spirit he confers.  The Gospel author intended this confusion of physical water from a well with the renewed life of faith made possible by Jesus’ teaching.  In this instance, the confusion and misunderstanding serve to illustrate the perceptible progress that results from repentance and conversion. 

The woman’s initial concern was about the physical necessity of drawing water from the well for her daily routines of cooking and cleaning.  Jesus’ apparent offer to simplify her daily chores attracted her attention.  Very quickly, however, Jesus made it clear that he was not concerned with mundane matters.  The woman’s remark, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet” indicates that she had begun the conversion process but was far from bringing it to fruition. (Jn 4:19) 

As the conversation between Jesus and the woman progressed, so did her ability to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.  Eventually, she began to grasp Jesus’ teaching, and she mentioned the Samaritan beliefs about the Anointed of God.  Jesus responded, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.” (Jn 4:26)  This marked the woman’s substantive progress toward worshiping God “in Spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:23)   

The process of the woman’s conversion wasn’t complete yet, but she had made substantial progress toward the understanding of spiritual truth that Jesus offered her.  The evidence of her growth in faith is seen in her witness to the townsfolk of Shechem. (Jn 4:28-30) 

At this Liturgy, we will assess the progress of growth in faith of our Elect who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil.  We, the community of All Saints, expect our Elect to demonstrate perceptible progress toward understanding Jesus’ teaching and believing in Jesus as Savior.  In a few moments, we will celebrate the first rite of Scrutiny for the Elect. 

This is an occasion for the baptized to reflect on their own faith, as well.  The story of the woman at the well provides instruction about the steps in the process of turning toward God.  Conversion to real faith in the real God requires that one abandon relying on created things and instead, rely on God alone.  The woman at the well moved slowly but steadily toward grasping this truth. 

The Gospel story invites us to ask ourselves about the progress we have made in abandoning trust in our personal efforts and personal possessions in favor of trusting in God as sole source of hope and salvation. 

The process of conversion also requires that one not gauge one’s progress in faith in terms of created things; a carefree life is not an indication or a requisite for redemption or faithful worship.  The Samaritan woman “left her water jar and went into the town,” because she was now seeking the “living water” that only Jesus could provide; her water jar was useless for receiving this “water of life.” (Jn 4:28) 

The Samaritan woman was no longer concerned with the water the well could provide; she had begun to pursue “Spirit and truth.”  Our Elect intend to make progress today toward worshiping God in Spirit and in truth, but that pursuit is never complete.  Like the Elect, those of us who practice the Faith are obliged to continue our pursuit of Spirit and truth by growing in our understanding of Jesus’ teaching and our commitment to live according to his teachings daily. 

At the conclusion of this story, the Samaritan woman’s conversion process hadn’t concluded because it is God’s desire that we should continue to thirst for Spirit and truth and continue to find the water of life in Jesus’ teaching.  This is what Jesus meant when he said that his teaching is like “spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (Jn 4:14)