Like the woman at the well, we need to admit our sinfulness and be washed in the mercy and love of God
In the Third Week of Lent, the Scripture readings gather around water. Water is an essential part of our lives, and lack of water can lead to worry, sickness or death. Many communities still deal with a lack of safe water to drink. But what role does water play as we enter this third week of Lent?
The Israelites were brought out of Egypt, freed from slavery and given the promise of a land where they could reside. They had to make a long journey to get there and along the way experienced great hardship and suffering. In the reading this weekend, they are experiencing a lack of water in the middle of the desert. They start to doubt God’s connection to them and His promise. It is almost as if they are taunting God in the midst of their suffering. The lack of water hardens their heart toward God.
The Gospel is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Most of us are familiar with many of the details. We know that she was of a tribe different than the tribe of Jesus. There was an antagonism and a hatred between these two groups of people, and they were taught that the other was unclean and should not be conversed with at all. We also remember that the woman comes to the well in the middle of the day in the desert. We can assume that she thought the well would be less crowded, as most people would’ve come earlier in the day when the sun was not so hot. She comes to the well with a hardened heart against people like Jesus. He comes from the wrong tribe, the tribe she was taught to hate and distrust.
Although water is the central theme gathering the readings together this weekend, during this Lenten season, we might want to look at where our hearts have been hardened against another or God and see if there is some way for us to be healed. We have to know we need the healing before it can actually happen. Can we think of any past hurts or injuries we have held in our hearts and refused to forgive? Is there any generational hatred harbored in our hearts? If Jesus came to us with the face of a person who we hate the most, would we be able to sit down and have a conversation about the most important aspects of our lives and trust Jesus to love us and heal us? Or would we be too stubborn to open ourselves to that opportunity because of the hardness of our hearts?
I’ve heard many people talk about the need for fasting during Lent, but I wonder if any of us are thinking about fasting from hatred, resentment, revenge or prejudice. I wonder if any of us are fasting from divisive and destructive criticism or comments that make fun of or belittle others. Are we humble enough to know that we need healing, or do we think that it’s always the other person who has to change first and prove they’re trustworthy to us?
Our self-examination and prayer may lead us to seek reconciliation with those we have not been open to in the past. Our Lenten reflections may lead us to the sacrament of reconciliation, a place to admit our sinfulness and be washed in the mercy and love of God. Looking into our own minds and hearts might lead us to listen more and talk less, be compassionate more and judge less. We may even find our thirst for justice and peace to be quenched by our choice to forgive and to love.
