3rd Sunday of Lent, The First Scrutiny Yr.A
Ref. Jn. 4:5-42 An Offering of Living Water Sat. 3-22-25 Dcn. Bill Kenney
This portrait before you is called “The Head of Christ”. It was painted in the 17th century by the Dutch artist, Rembrandt. Like all the great Baroque masters, Rembrandt’s image of Christ’s face, especially his eyes, can convey an interpretative meaning. In the painting, the tilt of his head is inviting. His eyes are open, focused and seeking, peering into our hearts. We see within our Lord’s eyes heartfelt pools of mercy, and love. This is the face the Samaritan woman would have seen: the face of the man offering her living water.
The drink Jesus requests of the Samaritan woman is her belief in Spirit and truth. In love, he calls her as his child to take his water and never thirst again because it will become “…a spring of water welling up to eternal life”. St. Louis De Montfort tells us, “God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray."
Jesus is speaking of spiritual, “living water” for our salvation; the woman thinks he is speaking of ordinary water in the well. The Samaritan woman had long drawn from the depths of her ancestor’s well for refreshment and sustenance and now, with Christ, for spiritual purification and enlightenment from the bottomless pools of his love and mercy.
The woman half fills Jesus’ drink by confessing the truth of her public sin. Shortly afterward, she calls him a prophet and believes him when he says, “I am he”, the Christ, the Messiah. She evangelizes her belief to her townspeople and testifies of the man who has told her “…everything I have done”. By his word and her witness, the will and work of God at the well is finished. His drink is made full.
Our OCIA Elect are on a journey of faith driven by Spirit and truth to find Jesus in their lives, not unlike the woman at the well. Today’s Rite of the First Scrutiny asks the Elect to acknowledge and repent of their sins and find Jesus in the well springs of their hearts; to experience a metanoia, a conversion, and take up His cross for their salvation. How can you give to them a drink of your living water, your faith?
May they and all of us in our Lenten journey see with the eyes of the Head of Christ, who quenches our spiritual thirst with pools of living water. May we receive his body and blood in the Eucharist with equal joy and enthusiasm to announce “everything he has done” in us as his disciples. And may this rendition of your blessed face, O Lord, inspire us to live lives of mercy and love, for our salvation and for the greater glory of God.