Jewish and Christian traditions of spirituality speak of the Word of God as the living water whereby the spirit is cleansed and refreshed. A quick sip - an occasional prayer snatched from the jaws of a relentlessly busy world - is better than no water at all, but roots that grow deep draw the water of life by frequent prayer. This living water produces a healthy tree that gives fruit to all who come.
- Magnificat, March 2026
Vincenzo Catena, Christ and the Samaritan Woman
"We see God begging for a drink of water from a human being, and a sinful one at that.... Indeed, he is a thirsty God, a tired God, a God looking for the companionship and dialogue of one of his creatures. How could it be that God is needy? Christ the one who by nature has need of nothing outside himself has nonetheless voluntarily made himself needy, but only in order to communicate to us the life that is his. This action of making himself needy out of love may well be the greatest and most astounding work of his omnipotence."
- Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis
We had this Gospel reading today too. Our priest was away so we had a retired priest come to give us Communion. He reminded us that today was International Women's day and that around the world women are still being treated very badly. He said that the Samaritan woman that Jesus spoke to wasn't necessarily an immoral woman. In their culture, if a woman's husband left her or died she would be ostracised and treated as though she were guilty of something. Women had no choice as to what happened to them and if she was left on her own she would have no means of support and no friends. The priest we saw today is a supporter of the charity Amnesty International and he spoke of an Iranian girl, 16 years of age who had been raped repeatedly but who was arrested for losing her virginity was found guilty (of what I don't know) and was executed. This happened recently. These people say they worship God, but their God is no God of love.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you entirely! Poor girl.
Delete