"Donne-moi a boire" dit Jesus.
In Sunday's gospel, the story was told of Jesus at the well of Jacob with the Samaritan woman. He comes to her, a Jew, asking for a drink of water while trucking through the desert at high noon. Stunned and confused, she guards herself as back in the day Jews and Samaritans did not speak to one another. As the story continues, Jesus knows of the woman's faults pointing out that she has been married 5 times and resides with a man now who is not her husband.
Our first reaction is to condemn or judge the woman. 5 marriages can only mean that she is not too good at marriage right? However, we do not know the circumstances. Her husbands could have all passed on leaving her a widow times five. These details are not explored nor are they relevant.
We may not have all been married 5 times, but we have faltered several times at one or more things. As Father Etienne Siffert reminded us in his homily, some of us have had 5 careers, 5 relapses, 5 churches, 5 collegiate majors, etc. We are not to judge the woman because we too have faltered in our own ways. Jesus knows our mistakes, our weaknesses long before we admit to them. Yet He does not abandon us. Instead He offers us une eau merveilleuse qui etancherait sa son spirituelle, a marvelous water that will satisfy our spiritual thirst.
As we go forth in this Lenten season, I pray to have the strength to fill my spirit with the Lord's quenching water.
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