Once again our scripture read brings us to a moment of invitation. Jesus comes to a local gather spot where folks college a pail or two of water. They come to get what all human beings need: sustenance for our daily lives that comes from water. We've been here before, many times, I suspect. We've encountered the Samaritan woman and her life-changing encounter with this man she did not know.
At the site she meets someone she does not know but who knows everything about her. At first she might think that whoever this man might be he is condemning me, he is putting a burden of guilt upon my shoulders. Why? Quickly she learns that this man, Jesus, has but one goal: that she, a foreigner, might come to know she was speaking with the Healer of all healers. Without saying "I am the Savior, the longed-for Messiah," Jesus reveals his awareness of her past life and how he welcomes all sinners regardless of the seriousness of their past failures. Jesus uncovers for her the pain of her interior life, ler soul's unrest. No doubt she was frightened at the outset of this encounter. Yet, how quickly and peacefully Jesus' simple petition --"Give me a drink."-- led to a genuine reconciliation and the woman's desire to share the wonderful feelings she had received from Jesus.
The words in John's gospel are also an invitation to each of us, especially during the season of Lent. We have the healing power of Jesus available every day at the well of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Daily Jesus says to us the very words he spoke to the woman: "Give me a drink." In our own words today, Jesus is saying to us "I am here for you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Le me show you how I can restore your inner peace. I come not to condemn. I come to heal, to forgive. My gift in this Sacrament is freedom. I have come to embrace your and your humanity. There is nothing I will not forgive. Sit with me for a short time. Let us look at your life together so that I can give you a cup of living water. Let me quench your inner thirst with my peace, my forgiveness through the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
