This time just one month ago, I had the blessing of experiencing the sacred ground of the Holy Land. We walked with Jesus from his birth in Bethlehem, through the area around the Sea of Galilee where he gathered His apostles and preached, to the horrible events surrounding His passion and death, and finally, the victory of the Resurrection. Those of you who have made this journey can attest to its transformative power.

This week’s Gospel reading of Jesus meeting the woman at the well became “real” for me as we visited this desert land. The importance of life-giving water was evident in so many ways. We saw an ancient boat that had been excavated from the Sea of Galilee and ate “St. Peter’s fish” (aka tilapia) from its waters. We saw the fresh water springs that spill forth from the mountain craigs; we put our hands and feet in the waters of the Jordan river where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. We saw from afar the very place where this scene of the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well may have taken place. Water was indeed life-giving for the people of Jesus’ time just as it is for ours.

The Samaritan woman who meets Jesus at the well is doing what she probably does every day – getting water for her daily needs. And yet, through her encounter with Jesus, she discovers a different kind of water. Jesus recognizes what this woman really needs: forgiveness, happiness, peace, truth, love, although she herself does not understand this. He approaches her, seeks her out, because He has compassion for her, knows her need. Although shocked by how well He knows her, she boldly accepts His invitation for “Living Water:” “Sir, Give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty!” And then he forgives her of the very sins that were keeping her from seeing the truth. Receiving the mercy He offers her and freed by Jesus’ words, her life is forever changed. She not only recognizes Him as the Messiah, but spreads that good news!

Is not the same true for us? No matter how much we depend on water from the earth, it will never completely satisfy us; we will be thirsty again. The “living water” that Jesus offers, wells up in us, draws us to Him, and ultimately becomes the source of our eternal life. This Living Water is His Divine presence within us. It is his generous offer to quench our thirst for mercy, peace, joy, love with Living Water – His grace poured out, welling up like a spring within us.

Are we not called to respond just as the woman did? Are we not called to “come to the water,” to satisfy that for which we are seeking, to receive Divine healing, and to share that Good News?

I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on this meditation based on an exercise by Anthony deMello called “The Fountain.” As you do, become aware of your own thirst for God and His invitation to come to the water, to drink freely, and then to freely give. For what are you thirsting today?

“I attempt to get in touch with my thirst for happiness, for peace, for truth, for love, for mercy, for something quite beyond myself.

I first cry out:

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God. (Ps. 42-1-2)

I hear Jesus’ invitation:

“Anyone who is thirsty should come to me and drink.” (John 7:37)

And His promise:

“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.” (John 4:14)

Finally, the fulfillment:

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”

Let everyone who listens answer, “Come!”

” And let the one who is thirsty come;

All who want may have the water of life and have it for free. (Rev 22:17)

Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world; only You can quench my thirst for ……

Cleanse and nourish my soul with Your Living Water, that I may never thirst again. Cf. Jn 4:42, 15

De Colores - Sue Dougherty