Pastor
~ When I was in the seminary, we took classes on the art and practice of preaching, which is called homiletics. One of my homiletics professors insisted that we always summarize and synthesize our homilies into one key idea, and we had to put the key idea at the very start of our written text. So, as not to keep you in suspense, the key idea for my homily today is the key idea that is in this long Lenten gospel today: An encounter with Christ changes everything. An encounter with Christ changes everything. That was true for the woman at the well, who our Orthodox brothers and sisters have named “Photini”, or “enlightened one”, and it is true for us, or at least it should be!
We all have truths about us that no one else knows, and that we ourselves don’t want uncovered. Painful experiences. Bad choices. Terrible mistakes. Sad memories. Paralyzing fears. Secret sins. Agonizing doubts. We often wonder what will take away the pain. Yes, this is true for all of us, myself included, and so it must have been true for Photini, who may have been ashamed of her poor choices and her many relationships. Oh, Jesus was the one who first asked her for a drink of water, but it was really Photini who was thirsting for answers. And she found them in Jesus, because an encounter with Christ changes everything.
We are all, in a sense, the woman at the well. We thirst. We thirst for love, or mercy, or understanding. We thirst for justice or peace. We feel ourselves spiritually dry. We thirst for wholeness, for grace. And we find it, like the woman at the well, not in ordinary water from a deep well, but from Christ.
Throughout the Gospels, we see this truth: an encounter with Jesus changes everything. The blind see. The lame walk. The sinner is forgiven. The dead rise. The apostles leave behind their nets and their families. A woman who just wanted to get some water finds her whole life transformed. And so, conversion begins. And conversion is not a one-time event. It is the journey of a lifetime.
Conversion is part of our own Lenten story. During these days, we are seeking to be something better than we were. Two and a half weeks ago, as a sign of that, we were marked with ashes. We joined Jesus in the desert. We now spend this time looking more closely at who we are, what we have become, and who we want to be. And, in our desert, we thirst. And this gospel tells us that whatever we are thirsting for—whatever is lacking in our lives—Christ will provide. He offers us living water. If only we encounter him, talk to him, listen to him, trust in him.
There’s one detail in this Gospel that I find especially striking, because it tells us that this is not just about a random meeting with a Samaritan woman on a hot day. It’s much more!
This incident is really about the Resurrection. It foreshadows Easter. Easter morning, you’ll recall, Mary Magdalene meets Christ outside the empty tomb and runs to tell others what she has seen. Here, another woman encounters Christ by a well—and also runs to tell others what she has seen. She leaves behind her water jar just like the apostles left behind their fishing nets after encountering Jesus. The good news cannot be contained. One woman bears witness. And then others. And nothing can stay the same.
Yes, An encounter with Christ—an encounter with grace—changes everything. Lent is all about seeking that encounter, desiring that change. We want to alter the direction of our lives. We thirst for it.
As a symbol representing all of us, we hold up our elect and our candidates during these days of Lent. Those who are preparing for the Easter Sacraments have looked at their own lives, considered their deepest hungers and thirsts, and have realized that their life is better with Jesus in it. Friends, we are all here today because we thirst. We are all here because we are each on our own journey of conversion. That is the journey of Lent. But it is also the journey of a lifetime. May this journey draw us closer to Christ, who longs to encounter us. Because an encounter with Christ changes everything!
