Third Sunday of Lent

Dear Friends,

In this week’s Gospel, Jesus boldly and intentionally pursues  a woman on the fringes of society. The Samaritan Woman is someone well aware of her sin, her social status, and her past. She knows her own story, and as she makes her solitary way to draw water in the heat of the day, she does not seem interested in any new chapters or new encounters. But Jesus is unperturbed: he wishes to know her, and to show her the new life that is possible for her. And even though she has her own hesitations and objections to his approach, she ultimately lets him in and allows Jesus to reveal who he is, and who she is in light of that. At the beginning of the story, she is isolated from her community, not even wanting to draw water at the same time as her neighbors; by the end, she is going to every person she can find and sharing about her encounter with Jesus.

Jesus seeks us out just as intentionally, and even when sin and shame cause us to hide or isolate, he is unbothered. He sits down beside us, meets our gaze, and invites us to new life. And if we, like the woman, allow him to encounter us and change us, then we too become living monstrances, springs of living water, eager evangelists who cannot help but point to the One who has saved us. 

The woman at the well had to let go of the story she thought she knew about herself and her past, and let God tell her his story of how he sees her. She had to let go of self condemnation and shame, and let God look at her with love. What do we need to let go of this week in order to let God encounter us?

Jule Coppa, Penn Campus Minister