Woman at the Well

Jug of water

The Woman at the Well

The woman at the well, an outcast
alone
fetching water in the heat of the day
Jesus at the well, soon to be outcast
alone
asks for water in the heat of the day.

The woman engages Jesus
and this chance encounter
becomes an examination of character
but not a condemnation
or an isolation.
Instead the woman asks for the living water that is offered.

The Eucharisitc prayer speaks of the seeds of faith already planted for the Samaritan woman.
She is at the water and uses it to blossom that faith.

Others are skeptical.
The disciples ask in disdain "why are you speaking to this woman?"
But Jesus has chosen his new disciple well.
She is the least of the Samaritans
yet she is chosen above all
and speaks with such conviction
"that many Samaritans of that town began to belive in him because of the word of the woman who testified"

If the Samaritan woman, with all her failures could be saved because of her faith,
I, with all my failures, can be saved too.
The Samaritan woman had a fire within, that made her stand up to Jesus
and allowed her to converse
to ask her questions
and to come believe.

I pray for the fire within
and the courage of Samaritan women
who speak
of the God who loves us.

Amen