10

3^rd Sunday in Lenten Season – Year A

甲年，四旬期第三主日

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

甘天霖神父

Gospel: John 4:5-42 (若4：5-42)

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. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) 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." (The woman) said to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you." At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking with her?" The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?" They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Could someone have brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'In four months the harvest will be here'? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work." Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I have done." When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, "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."

Homily: There’s a Priceless Water 

John has made the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman a theological text to teach the process of conversion of those who accept the gospel of the Lord.  

It is noon when the woman comes to draw water, and Jesus asks her for a drink. The way in which the evangelist presents her clearly reveals his intention to transform her into a symbol. Let us try to identify her: she has no name, nothing is said where she comes from. The only element that defines her is that she is a “Samaritan,” which is equivalent to a heretic, unfaithful to God. Who can she be? 

The evangelist cunningly sends the disciples away from the scene to buy bread to keep the “lovers” alone! Whom do the two “lovers” at the well represent? The woman represents the unfaithful Israel (keep in mind that Israel in Hebrew is feminine). So the lovers are Yahweh and Israel. This marriage did not have a happy outcome. The falling in love started in the desert where God and Israel had lived unforgettable experiences. At these moments, the Lord looked back nostalgically: “I remember your kindness as a youth, the love of your bridal days when you followed me in the wilderness” (Jer 2:2). Then the infidelities of the bride began: her betrayals, her infatuation with lovers, the regret for the gods of Egypt, the worship of Baal of the Canaanites, and many others.  

At this point, the identification of the Samaritan woman is taken for granted; it is the bride Israel, backed by her whole story of love and adulteries. She had many “husbands,” and what she has now is not her husband. At the well, Jesus meets her and wants to bring her back to the one true love, the Lord. 

The thirst of the Samaritan woman is the symbol of the most intimate needs that torment the heart of the bride-Israel: the need for peace, love, serenity, hope, happiness, sincerity, consistency, and for God. These are the needs that every person experiences. 

The water of the well indicates the attempts and tricks that humans put in place to quench this thirst that no material “thing” can satisfy.   The living water that Jesus promises is the spirit of God. It is that love that fills the hearts. Those who let themselves be guided by this spirit get peace and do not need anything else.   The Samaritan woman at the beginning of the dialogue thought of material water. But gradually she began to perceive and accept the proposal of Jesus. Her progressive discovery is carefully underlined by the evangelist. At first, for her Jesus is a simple wandering Jew (v. 9), then he becomes a master (v. 11), then a prophet (v. 19), and afterward the Messiah (vv. 25-26), and finally, with all the people, she proclaims him the Savior of the world (v. 42).  

The last part of the gospel (vv. 28-41) presents the conclusion of the spiritual journey of the Samaritan woman and every disciple. What does this woman do after meeting Christ? She leaves the pitcher (she has no more use of it because now she found another water) and runs to announce her discovery and happiness to others.   It is the call to become missionaries, apostles, catechists to tell everyone the joy and peace experienced by one who meets the Lord and drinks his water. 

证道：与主相遇喜乐平安，畅饮永生泉水不再渴！

若望圣史记载了耶稣与撒玛黎雅妇人相遇的神学性经文，教导那些接受上主福音者皈依的过程。

正午时，撒玛黎雅妇人来取水，耶稣向她要水喝。福音圣史清晰呈现撒玛黎雅妇人的方式，启示了祂将撒玛黎雅妇人转变成一个象征的意图。让我们试着认识她：她没有名字，也没有地方说明她来自哪里。唯一能定义她的要素是：她是“撒玛黎雅人”，这为以色列人来说，等于说她是个异教徒，对天主不忠。她会是谁呢？

圣史巧妙地从水井那里把门徒们派去买饼，来保持“恋人”独处！那么，井边的两个“恋人”代表谁呢？这妇人代表不忠的以色列（记住，以色列在希伯来语中是阴性词）。因此，这对恋人就是雅威和以色列。这婚姻没有一个幸福的结果。天主和以色列是在旷野中坠入爱河的，他们度过了一段难忘的经历。在这段时刻，上主怀恋过往说：“我忆起你年轻时的热情，你订婚时的恋爱；那时你在旷野里，在未耕种的地上追随了我”（耶2：2）。然后，新娘的不忠就开始了：她背叛新郎、她迷恋情人、她惋惜埃及的众神、她朝拜客纳罕人的邪神巴耳，以及其它不忠。

此时此刻，撒玛黎雅妇人的身份被理所当然视为新娘以色列，是基于她爱和通奸的整个故事。她有很多“丈夫”，并且她现在拥有的也不是她的丈夫。在井边，耶稣遇到了她，想要把她带回唯一的真爱——上主的身边。

撒玛黎雅妇人的饥渴象征着折磨新娘以色列内心最亲密的需要：对平安、爱、宁静、希望、幸福、真诚、稳定和天主的需要。这些是每个人经验到的需求。

井里的水表示人解渴的各种尝试和诀窍，而这种口渴没有任何世上的“事物”能够满足。

耶稣许给的永生之水就是天主的圣神（spirit）。它是那充满我们内心的爱。那些让他们自己被这圣神引领的人，会获得平安，不再需要任何其它了。

 撒玛黎雅妇人在对话之初想的是物质的水。不过，渐渐地她开始觉察和接纳耶稣的提议了。圣史小心翼翼地强调撒玛黎雅妇人进一步的发现。首先，为撒玛利亚妇人来说，耶稣单纯是一个游荡的犹太人（9节）；然后，耶稣成了先生（11节）；第三，耶稣是先知（19节）；第四，耶稣是默西亚（25-26节）；最后，为所有人来说，撒玛黎雅妇人宣告耶稣是世界的救主（42节）。

 今日弥撒福音的最后一部分（28-41节）表明撒玛黎雅妇人和每位门徒灵修旅程的结论。这位妇人在遇到耶稣之后做了什么呢？她撇下了自己的水罐（她不再需要这水罐了，因为现在她找到了另外的水。），奔跑着向其他人宣告她的发现和幸福。

这是成为福传者、门徒、教理老师的召叫，去告诉每个人：一个人遇见上主并畅饮祂永生泉水所经历的喜乐与平安。