Welcome Fr. John Mossi, SJ, as he shares his homily, Living Water, for the third Sunday of Lent. Fr. Mossi is the Director of Benefactor Relations for the Jesuits West Province, a dear friend of Ignatians West, and a past Madonna Della Strada honoree.

Living Water

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

Russell Crowe starred in the 2014 film entitled The Water Diviner. The film is set on a ranch in Australia. Crowe, desperately in need of water, turned to the art of “water divining,” using a forked willow branch to detect water on his arid property.

While the art of “water witching or dowsing” is unscientific, its practitioners swear by it. There is a wisdom saying: Not only the thirsty seek water, water seeks the thirsty.

As a Lenten people thirsting for God, a non-Jew, a person of a different religion and suspect reputation, known as the Samaritan Woman brings us to the well—a place of water, a place to quench our spiritual thirsts. Jesus as living water seeks out the thirsty. He did that for her and he does that for us. If we don’t drink sufficient water, we can physically die of thirst. If we don’t find those symbolic wells in our spiritual lives, we can also die of spiritual thirst.

This gospel is transformative because it breaks cultural, religious and gender taboos. In the midday heat, Jesus should not be at the well of Jacob. Nor should the Samaritan woman be at the well since women as washers and waters carriers gather in the morning and evening. More so, they should not be talking to one another. Jesus breaks generations of animosity and strict codes are broken. Jesus takes us to the fringe, to territories, behaviors, attitudes, and relationships that we are not to step into.  

Most Jews would have avoided Samaria by taking the longer route along the Jordan River. Jesus embraces the forbidden and transforms it. Jesus even accepts the invitation to stay in Samaria for another two days. One message is that Jesus shirts prejudices rather than shirting outcasts, the 2^nd class, and rejected. By doing so, his actions overturn long-held mistrust. His message is revolutionary. Jesus is leveling the playing field, breaking prejudices, and elevating the status and dignity of women. He also must illumine his clueless disciples.

       Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” What matters to the disciples is not that this woman is Samaritan, but her gender. Jesus demonstrates that women have a lot to say, need to be listened to, and their leadership gifts recognized.

How can we as Catholics in our Church, culture and society better align ourselves in solidarity with women? We can start with the explicit teaching of the essential equality of women and men, especially in schools, offices, universities and ministries. We can support movements that oppose the exploitation of women and encourage their entry into political and social life. We can bring attention to the phenomenon of violence against women. As educators we can advance the education of women and the elimination of all forms of discrimination in the educational process.  Happily, many of these are already being practiced with more universal implementation on the way.

As Catholics, we are indebted to Jesus and this anonymous woman for such a respectful, illuminating and transformative dialogue. They both model how to engage in difficult conversation showing us the higher road to God, how to be Church and lift up the dignity of women and men as Imago Dei, the likeness of God. 

This Lent, we pray for the grace to be water diviners, to find the living water of Jesus to replenish the aquafers of our arid culture, institutions, and land. Living Water Jesus, quench our thirst with your living transformative water, your far-outreaching hands, and gifts of the Holy Spirit.