From Shame to Freedom

“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 Christ?”

John 4:28-29

Depending on which Mass you are celebrating on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent, you may hear different readings. Typically at the masses where the “scrutinies” are being celebrated, you will hear the “Year A” readings, where each of the three Sundays describe an encounter between Jesus and an individual. These “character Gospels” are meant to help us see the power of the encounter with Christ and the liberating and saving effects of it. On the Third Sunday of Lent (Year A), we hear of the powerful encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well — an encounter that raises a woman weighed down by sin and shame and moves her to freedom and life.

While Jesus was resting at the well, a Samaritan woman comes to draw water. It was noon. No one in their right mind goes to draw water at noon when the sun is beating down at them. Usually, the women would draw water early in the morning, but this woman goes at noon. Why? Perhaps she did not want to see them because of what they might say or do in her presence. The Samaritan woman was an adulterer, and the man she is with now is not her husband. The town knows it. So in her shame and to avoid others, she goes to draw water at noon. She expected no one, but little did she know, her life was about to be changed forever.

Jesus starts the conversation by asking for a cup of water, but the woman was confused seeing that He was Jewish and she was a Samaritan. But, Jesus was saying much more than simply asking for a drink. He was thirsting for her salvation, he was thirsting to restore her to new life. “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.” This living water is the water of baptism, the water that would quench the shame and guilt that held her down and kept her from living the life for which she has been created. She was lost in sin and attached to the world, and the Lord was offering her a remedy. After that encounter, the Samaritan woman “left her water jar” at the well and went into town sharing with everyone she met the encounter she had with Jesus, prompting others to go and encounter Jesus themselves.

That’s the power of encounter, brothers and sisters. When one comes to encounter Jesus and truly allow themselves that experience that encounter, life will never be the same. The only response will be that of the Samaritan woman’s — going into town and telling everyone about the Lord and what He has done in your life and inviting others to encounter Him. The Lord comes to seek us even when we are drowning in sin so that He might pull us out of it and give to us the living water that refreshes, cleanses, and saves. He comes to you today, will you welcome this encounter?

Watch this week’s reflection below.