MARCH 12, 2023
A famous picture has the Samaritan woman looking into the well and seeing there her image – and the image of Jesus.
In the depths of the well of her life is the presence of Jesus.
In the depths of the well, when we are in love, pain, death, decision, joy, we find God.
God is near when we are near to ourselves, even in shame and sin. We thirst for meaning in life, for knowing we are totally loved, for community and companionship – and God offers all this.
This is the offering of God – the living water is the Holy Spirit. We thirst for inclusion – the disciples in this story did not want Jesus talking to a woman. So much of the religion of the time separated people. In the depths of the well we are all equal.
We find the mercy of God in the well. As we go into the depths of prayer and ourselves we are open to mercy. We may put conditions on God’s mercy – naming our sins, or numbering them. At the bottom of the well is the water of mercy.
Of the mercy of God, Pope Francis says that ‘there is no sin or crime of any kind that can erase from the mind or heart of God even one of the children he has created’ (November 2013).
Imagine yourself looking into a well;
see the face of Jesus looking at you from its depths.
He looks at you with love.
Lord, send me the living water of the Holy Spirit.
