The Samaritan Woman

This is a homily that I gave at Ecumenical Advocacy Days yesterday.

Men and women are different. That seems pretty obvious! Men and women also have many shared similarities. We have different approaches to life, to our lived experiences, to how we relate to the world around us. These differences are made clear to us as Catholic women and men through our church- “big c” church and “little c” church. This reality of difference I think is especially made clear in our Gospel story of the Samaritan Woman.

The Samaritan woman is continually ostracized in her own community, she goes to the well during the middle of the day- she is dismissed by her own society- the women don’t socialize with her, the men in her community certainly don’t. Yet, when she meets Jesus, in the middle of the day at the well, her entire life changes. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last time that Jesus reveals himself to women. His mother knows him, he already has an entourage of women who are following him (though in most accounts they are “not counted”). It is the women at the tomb whom Jesus will reveal his risen self. The women need no convincing. They approach him for healings, to raise their brother from the dead. The women know what Jesus has to offer.

Jesus redeems her through the act of offering her life giving water, and acknowledging her gender. He references her in conversation as “Woman”- he is acknowledging who she is, her experience as woman. Jesus recognizes how important it is to call her this way. He has not dismissed her, but rather expresses his care and concern for her by calling her woman. In this naming of the Samaritan woman, Jesus has given her dignity- her dignity as a woman, as a human, to claim as her own. The Samaritan woman accepts her dignity and begins her mission when she accepts the life giving water that Jesus offers. Rev. Nunes yesterday reminded all of us that the living water cannot remain in a reservoir- in a well, but it must be moving- it cannot be stagnant. Our baptism is what calls us forth to be moving- to recognize the life giving water that Jesus is!

This is the reality of community for us- the ambiguity and mixed reality of what our sacramental life in the church means. We are all called through the sacrament of our baptism to be a part of this community. We are all baptized priests, prophets and kings. Some people might think we stumble most over the “Priest” part, but I think we are more afraid to be prophets. It is our prophets who die, because they challenge the church, the communities, the governments. Our prophets are challenging us to remember the affect of life giving water- of baptism daily. It is the life giving waters of baptism that calls us to communion- to reconciliation. We find our reconciliation in our relationship with God, each other and the community at large. Our Eucharist, our meal brings us together to be with each other, to share our common expression of faith and commitment to the beauty of imperfection in our church.

But this is not the end of the story for the Samaritan woman nor should it be the end for us today in the church. Our dignity- our self worth is not to be relegated to someone else- this dignity is inherent in our knowledge of Jesus and belief in the paschal mystery. Our dignity is not relegated to their understanding of who we are, rather, our dignity is tied up in our relationship with each other- and ultimately with our God.