Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

Fr Andrew Gliga

            In the Old Testament, we hear about the stories of the great men who guided the nation of Israel towards God. But behind each of these men, they also had a great woman. The Patriarch Abraham had Sarah, who brought forth Isaac in her old age. Isaac's wife, Rebecca had helped Jacob to be the chosen one of God instead of his brother Easau. Jacob worked for many years (14 in total) to be able to get married with his beloved Rachael, who gave birth to Joseph. Moses had Zipporah, who probably nurtured him and gave him a home when he fled Egypt. And one of the interesting things we can see with this is the nature where some of these great men found their wives.

Isaac had one of his servants sent forth to find him a suitable wife. And as the book of Genesis states, that servant found Rebecca at a well drawing water. As soon as the servant saw her, he knew she would be a good match for Isaac. Jacob escaped from his brother Easau, who wanted to kill him since Jacob stole the birthright which was supposed to be Easau's. When he arrived in a land, he saw Rachael there by a well drawing water to give to the sheep. And at that moment he knew this was to be his wife. Moses as well, after escaping from Egypt, stayed at a well, and that's where Zipporah came and he was able to be married to her.

All in all, in the old testament, when we speak about a woman at a well, we see her as a woman who is suitable for marriage, especially to those forefathers of old. This makes sense, since water in the Old Testament Church is viewed as lifegiving (since it was so hard to find in desert areas). This ties in that when a woman and man come together they would meet and bring forth new life. The fruit of their love bears fruit and brings forth children for the continuation of the human race.

Today in the Church, we hear the Gospel of the Samaritan Woman. This Gospel speaks about how Christ was sitting by the well when a woman came to draw water. Anyone hearing this Gospel who would have knowledge of the old testament would surely think in their minds: this woman must be a bride for Christ. Just like how Rebecca or Zipporah were virtuous and chaste women, this woman too must be a virtuous one.

And yet, this is not the case. First off, this woman is a Samaritan which were viewed as the outcasts of this time. Not only that, but this woman herself was an outcast of the Samaritans. As we hear, she came to draw water from the well at about the 6th hour. The 6th hour would be around noontime, which would be probably the worst time in the desert to gather water. Most people would gather water between the 1st or 3rd hour before the day would get too hot. She came at that time because no one else would be there; she was trying to avoid people.

As we find out, this woman was unchaste who had 5 different husbands, and she lived with a man without being married. And yet she is the bride of Christ, as the Gospel implies. In a sense, she represents all of us. We are outcasts, removed from paradise. We are sinful, living in bondage to the devil. And Christ came to be united spiritually with all of us. He came and died on the cross for us sinful humanity, to be united mystically with us. The Church through tradition is stated to be the bride of Christ. Christ came to be united to us and to sanctify us. By uniting to Him through his body and blood, we are cleansed and freed from sin.

            This is seen by the transformation of the Samaritan woman. She started off as sinful, and by being united to Christ, she transformed her life. She gave up her sinful life, and became an Apostle for Christ, bringing both her children and people around her to faith. As we see, after she encounters Christ she begins to tell people in her village about him, teaching them the things that Christ did. Those people came and saw Christ and they too were brought to faith and transformed.

            So as we come to Church to pray and to be united to Christ our true God, we have to ask ourselves: have we had this profound transformation that the saints had? They too received the same faith that we have, why was their life changed and we still remain the same. In fact, we should be asking ourselves: does this encounter with the living Christ through partaking of His body and blood: does this encounter change us? If it does not, then we should be asking and seeking why it does not. I believe it's because many of us choose to ignore Christ. The things of this world attract us too much, the money, the technology, the entertainment, we choose to be attached to those and to not be attached to Christ. We are giving up the kingdom of God for the things of this world.

            St Seraphim of Sarov states: "Excessive care about worldly matters is characteristic of an unbelieving and fainthearted person, and woe to us, if, in taking care of ourselves, we do not use as our foundation our faith in God, who cares for us! If we do not attribute visible blessings to Him, which we use in this life, then how can we expect those blessings from Him which are promised in the future? We will not be of such little faith. By the words of our Savior, it is better first to seek the Kingdom of God, for the rest shall be added unto us (see Mt. 6:33)".

Let us therefore examine our conscience and make sure that when we leave Church, we leave as truly transformed people through our encounter with the living Christ, our true God.