So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "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." (The woman) said to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?

Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything."

Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you." At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking with her?" 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 Messiah?" They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Could someone have brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'In four months the harvest will be here'? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work." Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I have done." When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe and thank you for desiring to give me the gift of living water, the gift of eternal life. Thank you for showing me the way and giving me your sacraments and your word to instruct and encourage me. I want to understand how necessary it is to live in purity of heart, mind and body, to prepare myself for eternal life. Immaculate Mother, pray for me and strengthen me in virtue.
 
Petition: Lord, help me to develop firm habits to be pure in my thoughts, words and actions, in order to glorify you and live with you forever.

1. 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." Jesus intrigues the woman of this gospel with a gentle invitation and words of hope. Far down in her soul she is thirsting, but for something more dear to her than water, a different type of thirst for which there is a different remedy. She does not fully comprehend his invitation at first, but she is willing to dialogue. She is disarmed by his goodness and senses that he has something to offer her. Nevertheless, she is slightly cynical in her reply. Or she would say she was being realistic. "You don't even have a bucket and the well is deep." To her amazement, Jesus responds by upping the ante: The water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." By now she almost longs to believe him. Her womanly heart perceives his authenticity,  but she still hasn't quite grasped the full import of what he is saying, and she replies, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Her soul is presently open and the master healer goes to work, breaking up the ground, preparing to untap the flowing fountain of life.

2. For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." Since her heart was open and her trust established, Jesus, the gentle surgeon, applies his benevolent, healing scalpel. He speaks and she perceives all too well the condition of her soul. This living water will only be received by a pure vessel. Blessed are the pure of heart, Jesus taught, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus has a double motive in revealing her reality to her. She now sees that he is no ordinary man. She calls him a prophet. And Jesus' honesty with her does not close the door to a continued dialogue and discovery. Jesus wants to get further; because he truly wants her to receive the water she is looking for, the water that never lets us down.  His purpose is not to condemn her but to free her. The continued conversation allows Jesus to reveal himself more fully to her. Her present state, her weakness does not repel Jesus. It seems to attract him. He is patient, he is clear, he is kind.

It is so easy to condemn, but so difficult to build up patiently. Jesus is a builder, not a destroyer. How much confidence this has to give us as we approach him and open up our weakness to him. The woman did not deny her reality, she was weak but she did not try to say evil was good, so Jesus could find a way to reach her and begin to heal her.   

3. 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 Messiah?" The interruption of the apostles arriving was providential. She left her water jar. She left her former way of life for a finer vintage. What was important before is no longer the most important thing in her life. She has a message to give to the townspeople. Without being told to do so, she already has begun to imitate Christ in so far as she goes to those who have not been kind to her. She went to the well at a time no-one else was there, which means she was ostracized in the town, but that doesn't matter. She has something these people who shunned her needed to know.  This is always the test to see if our fervor or faith are real, if we are capable of leaving what was important for us to go and help others, if what we have discovered in Christ burns in us to such a degree that we absolutely must communicate it.

4. "I have another food" Jesus too shows us what it means to love others. For him, the encounter with the Samaritan woman, the will of his Father who sent him to find what was lost, was much more important than physical nourishment.

Conversation: Lord Jesus, you are all pure and holy and you are full of love and pardon. You do not count the cost to reach the least soul. You call me to see you face to face, to live like you. I want to learn from you never to condemn but to seek always a way to build up. I want to learn from you that truth, though it is difficult, is a balm for the soul and hope for sinners. Let me be always truthful in my own conscience. Let me never doubt that you can use me to spread your word, weak and sinful as I am.

Questionnaire:
 
1. How does my prayer compare to this woman's conversation with Christ? Do I learn about myself, get enlightenment for my conscience in my prayer, or do I shun the truth in it?

2. What is my main concern right now, and have I taken it to Christ?

3. What can I do to spread what I have received from Christ, how can I be a better witness to him?