Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well
Johann Zick [Web Gallery of Art]
Readings
(New American Bible:
Philippines, USA)
Readings
(Jerusalem Bible: Australia,
England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,
Scotland, South Africa)
For the shorter form of the Gospel omit the passages [in square brackets].
For the shorter form of the Gospel omit the passages [in square brackets].
Gospel John 4:5-42 [4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a,
40-42] (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)
Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near
the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well
was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was
about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus
said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy
food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a
drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with
Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it
is that 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 have
no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are
you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons
and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her,
‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who
drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that
I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The
woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never 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 him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in
saying, “I have no 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 see that you are a prophet. Our
ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where
people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe
me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship
what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and
is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth, for the Father seeks such as these 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 Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he
comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the
one who is speaking to you.’
[Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking
with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking
with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city.
She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have
ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left
the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi,
eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not
know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has
brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the
will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four
months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper
is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so
that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds
true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you
did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’]
Many Samaritans from that city believed in
him [because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have
ever done.’] So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to
stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed
because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It
is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for
ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
John 4:5-42 in Filipino Sign Language
I remember reading a story about Pope
John Paul I when he was still known as Cardinal Albino Luciani, Patriarch of
Venice. One of his priests in a rural parish was known more for being absent
from his parish than for being present. Cardinal Luciani went to visit the
parish - and the priest was away. So the Cardinal covered for him until the
priest returned some days later. The wayward parish priest got the shock of his
life when his archbishop asked him to hear his confession.
Cardinal
Luciani, who later became known as 'The Smiling Pope' and was with us for only
33 days in 1978 as Bishop of Rome, didn't scold the priest. He simply asked him
to do for him what only a priest can do - forgive sins in God's name in the
sacrament of confession.
Pope John Paul I, 26 August 1978
In the
gospel Jesus asks the woman at the well directly, Give me a drink.
As she was to point out to Jesus he didn't have the wherewithal to draw water
himself from the well. She did.
Nearly thirty years ago I was at a sports-fest
for children and young people with mental disabilities in the campus of a
Catholic high school here in the Philippines. As I was leaving I saw a group of
teenage boys, who hadn't been involved in the sports activity, lounging in the
lobby. Behind my back they called Hey, Joe! a greeting that
goes back to the last days of World War II when American soldiers, 'GI Joes',
helped Filipinos to defeat the Japanese. The greeting lingered on for many
years and you still hear it occasionally. Often it is well meant but sometimes
there's a barb, or at least a lack of respect.
When I heard the Hey, Joe I got
mad. Then I saw that my car, an old VW, had a flat tyre. I immediately turned
to the boys with whom I was mad and asked, Can you help me change the
tyre? Immediately they came to my aid and I didn't have to do
anything. (Someone once asked me when I told this story if the boys had had
anything to do with the flat tyre. They hadn't. It was just one of those
things.)
Manila
American Cemetery and Memorial
Many 'GI Joes' are buried here [Wikipedia]
In the gospel Jesus gently leads the woman to
acknowledge her sinful life, but not by humiliating her. He draws her into an
expression of faith, a recognition that he might be the Messiah. Not only that,
he leads her to being a missionary. She goes into town to tell others about
Jesus.
In a commentary I once read the writer pointed out
that the gospel doesn't tell us if the woman actually gave Jesus the drink he
had asked for! But his physical thirst, which was real, was secondary to his thirst
for the welfare of the woman and the people of Sychar. Jesus wasn't the only
one to break the taboo of Jews and Samaritans not speaking to one another. So
did the people who asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two
days. Presumably the disciples were included in the invitation. All were
drawn into something higher than ancient divisions by the presence of Jesus.
All were drawn into a relationship with Jesus and in that to a new way of
relating to one another.
The teenage boys who said Hey, Joe behind
my back were being teenage boys. While perhaps there was some lack of respect
there was no real malice and it was more of adolescent bravado. But once I let
them know my need they didn't see me anymore as some anonymous foreigner but as
a person they could help. A personal relationship, even if fleeting, had been
established, one that called on their generosity. When I left we were all
smiling at one another and my heart was filled with gratitude.
Cardinal Luciani might well have berated the parish
priest for having neglected his parishioners. Instead, he called him to be a
priest in the deepest sense, hearing in his archbishop's request for confession
the voice of Jesus asking the Samaritan woman, Give me a drink.
Pope John Paul I
(17 October 1912 - 28 September 1978) [Wikipedia]
A Woman of No Distinction
by Chris Kinsley & Drew Francis [2007]
I am a woman of no distinction
of little importance.
I am a women of no reputation
save that which is bad.
You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances,
Though you don’t really take the time to look at me,
Or even get to know me.
For to be known is to be loved,
And to be loved is to be known.
Otherwise what’s the point in doing
either one of them in the first place?
I WANT TO BE KNOWN.
I want someone to look at my face
And not just see two eyes, a nose,
a mouth and two ears;
But to see all that I am, and could be
all my hopes, loves and fears.
But that’s too much to hope for,
to wish for,
or pray for
So I don’t, not anymore.
Now I keep to myself
And by that I mean the pain
that keeps me in my own private jail
The pain that’s brought me here
at midday to this well.
To ask for a drink is no big request
but to ask it of me?
A woman unclean, ashamed,
Used and abused
An outcast, a failure
a disappointment, a sinner.
No drink passing from these hands
to your lips could ever be refreshing
Only condemning, as I’m sure you condemn me now
But you don't.
You’re a man of no distinction;
Though of the utmost importance.
A man with little reputation, at least so far.
You whisper and tell me to my face
what all those glances have been about, and
You take the time to really look at me.
But don’t need to get to know me.
For to be known is to be loved and
To be loved is to be known.
And you know me.
You actually know me;
all of me and everything about me.
Every thought inside and hair on top of my head;
Every hurt stored up, every hope, every dread.
My past and my future, all I am and could be.
You tell me everything,
you tell me about me!
And that which is spoken by another
would bring hate and condemnation.
Coming from you brings love, grace,
mercy, hope and salvation.
I’ve heard of one to come
who could save a wretch like me
And here in my presence, you say
I AM He.
To be known is to be loved;
And to be loved is to be known.
And I just met you.
But I love you.
I don’t know you,
but I want to get to.
Let me run back to town
this is way to much for just me.
There are others: brothers,
sisters, lovers, haters.
The good and the bad, sinners and saints
who should hear what you’ve told me;
who should see what you’ve shown me;
who should taste what you gave me;
who should feel how you forgave me.
For to be known is to be loved;
And to be loved is to be known.
And they all need this, too.
We all do
Need it for our own.
of little importance.
I am a women of no reputation
save that which is bad.
You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances,
Though you don’t really take the time to look at me,
Or even get to know me.
For to be known is to be loved,
And to be loved is to be known.
Otherwise what’s the point in doing
either one of them in the first place?
I WANT TO BE KNOWN.
I want someone to look at my face
And not just see two eyes, a nose,
a mouth and two ears;
But to see all that I am, and could be
all my hopes, loves and fears.
But that’s too much to hope for,
to wish for,
or pray for
So I don’t, not anymore.
Now I keep to myself
And by that I mean the pain
that keeps me in my own private jail
The pain that’s brought me here
at midday to this well.
To ask for a drink is no big request
but to ask it of me?
A woman unclean, ashamed,
Used and abused
An outcast, a failure
a disappointment, a sinner.
No drink passing from these hands
to your lips could ever be refreshing
Only condemning, as I’m sure you condemn me now
But you don't.
You’re a man of no distinction;
Though of the utmost importance.
A man with little reputation, at least so far.
You whisper and tell me to my face
what all those glances have been about, and
You take the time to really look at me.
But don’t need to get to know me.
For to be known is to be loved and
To be loved is to be known.
And you know me.
You actually know me;
all of me and everything about me.
Every thought inside and hair on top of my head;
Every hurt stored up, every hope, every dread.
My past and my future, all I am and could be.
You tell me everything,
you tell me about me!
And that which is spoken by another
would bring hate and condemnation.
Coming from you brings love, grace,
mercy, hope and salvation.
I’ve heard of one to come
who could save a wretch like me
And here in my presence, you say
I AM He.
To be known is to be loved;
And to be loved is to be known.
And I just met you.
But I love you.
I don’t know you,
but I want to get to.
Let me run back to town
this is way to much for just me.
There are others: brothers,
sisters, lovers, haters.
The good and the bad, sinners and saints
who should hear what you’ve told me;
who should see what you’ve shown me;
who should taste what you gave me;
who should feel how you forgave me.
For to be known is to be loved;
And to be loved is to be known.
And they all need this, too.
We all do
Need it for our own.
Antiphona
ad Communionem
Entrance
Antiphon Cf Psalm 24 [25]:15-16
Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quia ipse
evellet de laqueo pedes meos.
My eyes are always on the Lord, for he
rescues my feet from the snare.
Respice in me et miserere mei, quoniam
unicus et pauper sum ego.
Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I
am alone and poor.
Ad te, Domine, levavi animam meam: Deus
meus, in te confido, non erubescant.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O
my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and
ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quia ipse
evellet de laqueo
pedes meos.
My eyes are always on the Lord, for he
rescues my feet from the snare.
Respice in me et miserere mei, quoniam
unicus et pauper sum ego.
Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I
am alone and poor.
The text in bold is used
in the Mass in the Ordinary Form (the 'New Mass') while the full text is used
in the Extraordinary Form {the 'Old Mass' or 'Traditional Latin Mass').
However, the full text may be sung in the Ordinary Form of the Mass.
