It’s funny how many times I have read this story and I never asked the simple question:  “What was Jesus doing in Samaria?”  The Samaritans and the Jews during the time of Jesus did not intermingle much.  In fact, each thought they worshipped God correctly, and each had their own separate Temple; though by the time of Jesus, the Samaritan Temple had already been destroyed by Alexander the Great and, most scholars believe, with the help of some Jews.  But though their temple was gone they considered the place where it stood – Mount Gerizim – to still be very Holy.

But it wasn’t unlike Jesus to cross boundaries, and - sorry for the Star Trek pun - to boldly go where no one had gone before.  For Jesus didn’t see boundaries, He didn’t see lines drawn on a map, and He didn’t see barriers between people.  He didn’t see a woman who at the time was considered less than a man, He didn’t see a Samaritan who worshipped differently and in the wrong way, He didn’t even see a Samaritan woman who was not worthy of His company.  He just saw a person:  a person who - maybe even unknowingly - was searching for the water that would last forever; a person who was searching for God, for truth, and for meaning in life.

This of course would continue to get Him into trouble; this view He had about putting people first, sometimes even when it meant breaking the rules, such as healing on the Sabbath, or letting a woman who was bleeding touch Him, and caring for all those that were considered outcasts during His time, and sometimes even hanging out with them and eating with them.  He even let women become disciples, sitting at His feet and being taught by Him.  His mission, it seemed, was to turn the world upside down.  It’s no wonder that the authorities confronted Him a little later in John’s Gospel, asking Him who gave Him the right to do the things He did; and when He told them that He and God were one, they accused Him not only of having a demon within Him, but of also being a Samaritan, God forbid.  If this happened today they might have called Him a Catholic, or a Protestant, or a Hindu or a Muslim, and so on.  Boundaries; boundaries formed for many reasons:  disagreements about doctrines, cultural differences, misuse of power, and the list goes on.  But, Jesus looked beyond all boundaries.

So when the Samaritan women questions Jesus about where people must worship God correctly, the Jews say Jerusalem and the Samaritans say Mt. Gerizim, Jesus gives an answer that at the time was nothing less than revolutionary.  He tells her that it’s not about a place, it’s not about who has the sole patent rights to God, it’s about worshipping the Father in Spirit and in Truth; God is Spirit, and true worshippers must worship in Spirit.

So what does it mean to worship in Spirit?  What are the means we need to connect us to God in such a way that our whole life will never be the same?  What is it that will connect us in such a way to God, that we too can go into the villages as this Samaritan women did, proclaiming that we have found the Messiah, that we have found the source of  Spiritual knowledge, the river of life, the water that will quench our thirst for meaning, for truth and for God?  By the way, this story is another example of Jesus using a woman as an evangelist as a disciple spreading the Good News.

One clue to how we can connect to God more fully is shown to us by the Samaritan women in today’s Gospel.  When Jesus asks her to go get her husband, she tells Him that she has no husband.  In some readings, it says that the man she is living with is not her husband, and Jesus then goes on to tell her that he knows she has had five other husbands and that she is telling the truth.  You get a sense that by her being open with Him, that Jesus really appreciates her honesty.

Lent is a time to look at areas of our life that need some special attention, some improvement; some new growth.  I like to think of it as interior gardening, being a person who works with the good earth.  Before we grow anything, we need to till the ground; we need to stir the soil.  By being honest with Jesus, this woman didn’t give an answer that came from the surface; she told it like it was.  She was being herself which sometimes means bringing that which others don’t normally see to the surface.  We all need at times to bring to light all those things that hinder our growth so that they maybe raked away, so that the water which gives life may get to our roots.

So, one way to better connect with God, is to be honest with Him.  For as Jesus shows us, He knows everything about us anyway; we can’t hide anything in some secret compartment away from God.

One of the most important ways to better connect with God, to truly worship Him in Spirit, is by emptying ourselves of all those things which are not of Him.  This is something I have found which is shared by the mystics of all different faiths, from Merton in the Christian Faith to Rumi in the Muslim Faith, and of course it was central to the teachings of Jesus.

I recently heard a true story about Bruce Lee, who was famous for his martial arts movies in the sixties and early seventies, and who started his own philosophy on the subject.

The story is about a novice martial arts student who asked Bruce Lee to teach him all he knew about martial arts.  Bruce Lee held up two cups filled with water.  “The first cup”, Bruce said, “represents all the knowledge of martial arts that is your knowledge.  The second cup”, Bruce said, “represents all of my knowledge about the martial arts.  If you want to fill your cup with my knowledge you must first empty your cup”.

Jesus, in today’s story, is telling the women and us the same thing:  we must be willing to set aside all we think we know about how to worship God; we must empty our cups so that God can fill them up full with life giving water, so that God can be known to us the way that Jesus knows God, so intimately that we don’t have to think about what God wants us to do in any situation - we will just do it.

When we see someone who is injured by the roadside, we will be like the Samaritan in another story and stop and help.  When we see someone who is thirsty and hungry we will give them drink and food, for Jesus tells us that we are also giving it to Him.  When we are fully connected to God, we will love as He loves.

When we look closely and spiritually at our Mass, all of it is centered on these things.  We start out by saying “Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid”.  We start out honest with God, like the Samaritan women.  And, after reflection, we tell God about our misdoings, and we ask for newness of life; we ask to be emptied of all that is not of God so that we may receive a fresh cup of life giving water.  We then hear the Gospel - Jesus Present with us with His words, sitting by the well, learning from Him.  At Eucharist, we receive Him into ourselves so that we maybe made one with the Father as He is one with Him, and then we are sent forth into the village to share the good News with others - that we have seen the Messiah - and then, we love others as He loves us.  And, like Jesus, we see no boundaries, only people; people who are also loved by God.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, Source of life giving water, refresh us this day so that we may know You more fully, and love You more dearly.  May we be so filled with You, that others are drawn to know You also, and may we be a witness to all those we meet, of Your unconditional love so that they too can be open and honest with You without fear.  All this we ask through Your Son our Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen!

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