WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.319 The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John. May God, 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:06.519 through his prayers and holy, glorious, honorable 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:11.199 Apostle and Evangelist John, may we each proclaim 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:15.519 the glad tidings with great power to the fulfillment 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:19.359 of the gospel of his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:24.239 Christ. Wisdom, stand aright. Let us hear the 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:35.450 Holy Gospel. A reading from the Holy Gospel according 00:00:35.450 --> 00:01:04.420 to John. Jesus cometh to a city of Samaria, which 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:07.420 is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:11.680 that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.819 well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:18.280 with his journey, sat thus on the well. And it 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:21.840 was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.859 of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, 00:01:24.980 --> 00:01:28.659 Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone 00:01:28.659 --> 00:01:32.290 away into the city to buy food. Then saith the 00:01:32.290 --> 00:01:35.069 woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, 00:01:35.209 --> 00:01:38.829 being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman 00:01:38.829 --> 00:01:42.030 of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with 00:01:42.030 --> 00:01:45.930 the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:49.370 her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who 00:01:49.370 --> 00:01:51.549 it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, 00:01:51.769 --> 00:01:55.010 thou wouldst have asked him, and he would have 00:01:55.010 --> 00:01:59.370 given thee living water. The woman saith unto 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:02.180 him, Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw water with, 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:05.200 and the well is deep. From whence hast thou the 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.959 living water? Art thou greater than our father 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:10.300 Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof 00:02:10.300 --> 00:02:14.180 himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:17.180 answered unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:21.099 water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh 00:02:21.099 --> 00:02:23.259 of the water that I shall give him shall never 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:26.360 thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:30.180 be in him a well of water springing up. unto 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:34.219 everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.199 give me this water, that I thirst not, neither 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:40.659 come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:43.979 call thy husband, and come hither. The woman 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:47.120 answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus saith 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:49.319 unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband, 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.000 for thou hast had five husbands, and him whom 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:56.740 thou hast now is not thy husband. And that saith 00:02:56.740 --> 00:03:00.580 thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:03.219 perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers 00:03:03.219 --> 00:03:05.960 worshipped in this mountain. Ye say that Jerusalem 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:09.240 is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:12.219 saith unto her woman, Believe me, the hour cometh 00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:15.419 when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet 00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:18.900 at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye 00:03:18.900 --> 00:03:22.379 know not what. We know what we worship, for salvation 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:26.180 is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now 00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:29.500 is. when the true worshippers shall worship the 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:33.199 Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:36.639 seeketh such to worship him. God is the Spirit, 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:39.300 and they that worship him must worship him in 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:43.039 spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.199 I know that the Messiah hath come, which is called 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:48.580 Christ. When he is come, he will tell us all 00:03:48.580 --> 00:03:52.919 these things. Jesus saith unto her, I am he that 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:56.460 speak unto thee. And upon this his disciples 00:03:56.460 --> 00:03:59.300 marveled when he talked with the woman. Yet no 00:03:59.300 --> 00:04:01.960 man said, Why seekest thou, or why talkest thou 00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:05.000 with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.979 went away into the city, and saith to the men, 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.439 Come, see a man which told me all things that 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:15.219 I ever did. Is not this the Christ? Then they 00:04:15.219 --> 00:04:18.980 went out of the city, and came unto him. In the 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:21.160 meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:24.790 eat. But he said to them, I have no food. I have 00:04:24.790 --> 00:04:28.850 food that ye eat that ye know not of. Therefore 00:04:28.850 --> 00:04:31.689 his disciples, one to another, hath any men brought 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:35.430 him ought to eat. Jesus saith unto him, My food 00:04:35.430 --> 00:04:38.629 is to do the will of him that sent me, and to 00:04:38.629 --> 00:04:41.930 finish his work. Do ye not say, There are yet 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:44.790 four months, and then cometh the harvest, behold? 00:04:45.269 --> 00:04:48.189 I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:51.709 the fields, for they are white already with harvest. 00:04:52.939 --> 00:04:55.899 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth 00:04:55.899 --> 00:04:59.680 fruit into life eternal, that both he that soweth 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:03.060 and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:06.199 herein is the saying true, one soweth and another 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:09.860 reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereupon you 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:12.420 bestowed no labor, other men labored, and ye 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:15.699 are entered into their labors. And many of the 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:18.019 Samaritans of that city believed on him for the 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:21.699 saying of the woman which testified. He told 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:25.639 me all that I ever did. When the Samaritans were 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:28.560 come unto him, they besought him that he would 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.379 tarry with them, and he abode there two days. 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:35.259 And many more believed because of his own word, 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:39.019 and said unto the woman, Now we believe not because 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:42.379 of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.879 and know that this is indeed the Christ, the 00:05:46.879 --> 00:06:47.750 Saviour. Today's gospel is to me one of the most 00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:51.610 beautiful and for me personally one of the most 00:06:51.610 --> 00:06:57.209 charming events that's related about stories 00:06:57.209 --> 00:07:02.829 in our Lord's life. the Jesus meeting the Samaritan 00:07:02.829 --> 00:07:07.910 woman at Jacob's well. Again, it's one of those 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:11.470 stories and events which is found only in St. 00:07:11.490 --> 00:07:15.949 John's Gospel. St. John's the last of the Gospels 00:07:15.949 --> 00:07:20.069 to be written, and if you use the line of thought 00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:25.050 that several of these prominent individuals that 00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:29.949 are only related in John's Gospel, Lazarus, And 00:07:29.949 --> 00:07:33.569 then this Samaritan woman, whom Christian tradition 00:07:33.569 --> 00:07:38.709 has given the name Fotini, that these are not 00:07:38.709 --> 00:07:41.850 mentioned in earlier Gospels in this line of 00:07:41.850 --> 00:07:44.629 thought because they were still living. And John 00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:49.430 wrote his Gospel probably in the 90s of the first 00:07:49.430 --> 00:07:52.290 century, the last and latest of the Gospels, 00:07:52.290 --> 00:07:58.629 when he was in exile at Patmos. But here we have... 00:07:58.750 --> 00:08:03.509 The living water that Jesus gives offers first 00:08:03.509 --> 00:08:08.050 to the Samaritan woman and by extension offers 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:13.490 to all of us. What is this living water? Of course, 00:08:13.490 --> 00:08:18.230 it's a symbol. What does it stand for? The most 00:08:18.230 --> 00:08:21.829 immediate thing that comes to mind is the water 00:08:21.829 --> 00:08:27.569 of baptism. This water which begins our entrance. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:32.779 into the Christian life. But it is not only the 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:38.220 water of baptism, it is deeper than that. This 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:42.220 living water is something that once we taste 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:45.700 it, as our Lord says, we will never thirst again. 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:51.419 And this living water is living in communion 00:08:51.419 --> 00:08:55.840 with God. This thought occurs throughout the 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:00.309 Old Testament. people that are looking for God 00:09:00.309 --> 00:09:03.789 or thirsting for God. Just to mention the first 00:09:03.789 --> 00:09:09.529 quotation that comes immediately to my mind is 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:15.029 Psalm 42. As the deer longs for flowing water, 00:09:15.309 --> 00:09:21.889 so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts 00:09:21.889 --> 00:09:27.399 for God, for the living God. A true believer 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:31.019 is someone who thirsts for communion with God. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:37.519 And one of the ironies is, once we taste this, 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:40.919 which our Lord gives to us by being in communion 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:46.139 with him, we're still thirsty. What are we thirsty 00:09:46.139 --> 00:09:49.580 for? Not communion with God, but for more and 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:53.620 a deeper communion with God. Here in this world, 00:09:53.980 --> 00:09:56.740 which finds its ultimate fulfillment in the kingdom 00:09:56.740 --> 00:10:01.759 of heaven. But today's gospel takes place at 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:07.639 noontime at Jacob's well. Jesus is tired from 00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:12.440 the journey. He sits down to rest. And a Samaritan 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:17.600 woman comes with a water jar to pick up some 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:21.320 of this water. And Jesus starts the conversation. 00:10:22.299 --> 00:10:27.620 and asks for a drink. Now, this was very unconventional 00:10:27.620 --> 00:10:34.139 because a rabbi did never, never address a woman 00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:39.100 alone that he didn't know. So Jesus breaks a 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:45.820 convention there. And the dialogue continues, 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:50.700 and Jesus tells this woman, the water that you 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:54.029 would give me, whoever drinks of this will thirst 00:10:54.029 --> 00:10:58.289 again. But I have water, which once you have 00:10:58.289 --> 00:11:02.590 drunk of this, you will never thirst again. And 00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:05.529 then the woman may be sort of teasing and ironically 00:11:05.529 --> 00:11:09.029 says, well, you don't have anything to draw, 00:11:09.169 --> 00:11:11.850 the well is deep, you have nothing to draw this. 00:11:12.830 --> 00:11:16.830 And Jesus tells her that he is the living water. 00:11:18.929 --> 00:11:22.350 Whoever Give me a drink, you would have asked 00:11:22.350 --> 00:11:25.169 me, and he would have given you living water. 00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:30.090 The woman then says, Are you greater than our 00:11:30.090 --> 00:11:36.490 father Abraham? And here's the irony. We, who 00:11:36.490 --> 00:11:41.529 hear this gospel, know indeed that Jesus is greater 00:11:41.529 --> 00:11:47.899 than father Jacob, who gave them this well. Whoever 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:51.919 drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:55.340 drinks of the water that I will give him will 00:11:55.340 --> 00:11:59.159 never thirst. The water that I shall give will 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:03.860 become in him a fountain of life, springing up 00:12:03.860 --> 00:12:11.779 to everlasting life. Then Jesus tells her, well, 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:15.080 go and get your husband. And, of course, Jesus 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:18.360 knows what the answer to that is. And she says, 00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:20.620 well, I have no husband. He says, ah, yeah, I 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:26.620 know. You've had five husbands. And the woman 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:29.840 says, I perceive that you are a prophet. What 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:34.679 an understatement that is. So that this woman, 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:36.879 like so many people, when they're cornered in 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.639 a conversation, what do you do? Change the topic. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:50.539 which is exactly what happens. Our fathers worshipped 00:12:50.539 --> 00:12:55.460 here, and Jesus says, Woman, believe me, the 00:12:55.460 --> 00:12:58.379 hour is coming when you will neither worship 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:02.340 on this mountain, but we worship what we know, 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:06.639 for salvation is from the Jews. And remember, 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:10.120 the Samaritans and the Jews, there was antipathy 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:13.710 between them. because Samaritans were Jews who 00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:18.289 intermarried with the non -Jewish residents and 00:13:18.289 --> 00:13:20.929 adopted some of their religious and cultural 00:13:20.929 --> 00:13:25.909 practices as well. Notice, interestingly enough, 00:13:25.990 --> 00:13:31.210 in the Gospels, the Samaritans, who the Jews 00:13:31.210 --> 00:13:37.250 despise, they are invariably the good guys in 00:13:37.250 --> 00:13:40.860 the Gospel narrative. Which of the lepers came 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:45.559 back to thank Jesus? Samaritan, of the ten lepers 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:48.360 that was cured. Only one came back, he was a 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:52.320 Samaritan. Another gospel event, which is only 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.840 in St. John, again, by the way, the Good Samaritan, 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:02.259 who, when the officials in Judaism, the priests 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:05.740 and the Levite, pass up that guy who was beaten 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:09.620 on the road to Jericho, and left half dead and 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:14.440 robbed. It was the Samaritan who came and bound 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:19.159 up his wounds. And then the ultimate irony here 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:25.059 is in today's gospel too. When the woman calls 00:14:25.059 --> 00:14:29.980 her fellow Samaritans to listen to Jesus, and 00:14:29.980 --> 00:14:34.580 Jesus stays there for two days with them. And 00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:37.620 what do they, how many... Days and weeks and 00:14:37.620 --> 00:14:42.419 months did Jesus spend teaching the Jews, the 00:14:42.419 --> 00:14:45.320 people who had the pure, unadulterated faith. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:49.500 Some believed, some didn't. The officials of 00:14:49.500 --> 00:14:52.240 Judaism turned their back and ultimately called 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.399 for his crucifixion. But Jesus is with Samaritans 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:05.600 for two days, and then what happens? The woman 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:10.159 tells the Samaritans, he told me everything I 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.860 ever did. So when the Samaritans had come to 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:17.679 him, they urged him to stay with them, and he 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:21.480 stayed there for two days. And many more believed 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:26.519 in him because of his word. They said to the 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:32.000 woman, now we believe, not because of what you 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.830 said. But we ourselves have heard him, and we 00:15:36.830 --> 00:15:41.590 know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior 00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.750 of the world. So they acknowledge him as the 00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:48.970 Messiah. But more than that, one step beyond 00:15:48.970 --> 00:15:53.610 being the Messiah is a unique term which is only 00:15:53.610 --> 00:15:57.450 used by St. John here and in his first epistle 00:15:57.450 --> 00:16:00.950 where he describes Christ as the Savior of the 00:16:00.950 --> 00:16:05.379 world. He's not only the one promised, the promised 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:09.059 Messiah for the Jewish people, but he's the savior 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:14.340 of all mankind. This is the great revelation 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:19.360 that is acknowledged by the Samaritans that the 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:25.639 Jewish people were reluctant to give. So to us 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:29.679 then, this means that the beginning of our... 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:35.899 relationship with God began specifically and 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:41.980 especially at the fountain of baptism. But throughout 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:45.799 our life as Christians, our life should be one 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:50.000 of thirsting for God, for drinking from this 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.820 fountain, and being thirsty, because it does 00:16:53.820 --> 00:16:57.620 satisfy our inner longing. But once we've drunk, 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:01.779 this water, we want to drink more and more and 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:05.599 more and more to come into deeper communion with 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.019 God. So this is what Jesus offers to us. He who 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:13.859 is the fountain of life, the savior of the world, 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:19.640 offers us communion with him in this world, in 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:22.299 the church, in the sacraments of the church, 00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:25.940 which begin at baptism and were nourished especially. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.799 in the Holy Eucharist, receiving his body and 00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:34.960 blood, we drink of this in anticipation of that 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:39.079 never -ending fountain of life that we participate 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:43.299 in in the kingdom of heaven. So to our Lord Jesus 00:17:43.299 --> 00:17:47.119 Christ, the author of our life and the fountain 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.380 of our life, be glory and honor forever and ever. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:53.140 Amen. Christ is risen.