FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:

Let me ask you a great question. What do you think God wants? At this very moment, what does he want? It’s a strange question. We often don’t think about this perspective when we think about God. Oftentimes, we focus on what’s happening in our lives and the tremendous burdens that we carry. We petition God to help with our family, our sicknesses, and myriad of other problems. When we go about our normal day, we wonder about what we have to accomplish. We think about our jobs. We think about what we’re going to cook for dinner? We think about what we need to do for our family? All great things. But what does God want?

 We can begin to answer this question with the famous encounter between Jesus and the unnamed women at the well that we hear about in this Sunday’s Gospel reading. To get the deeper meaning behind this story, we must put on our Jewish lenses. The details can be lost on us as 21st century Americans. The first line immediately launches us into the drama, “Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar.” (Cf. John 4:5). Jews of the first century did not mingle with the Samaritans. They were seen as half-breeds, traitors, disgusting remnants of the lost ten tribes of the northern Kingdom of Israel who were decimated by the Assyrian Empire in 721 BC. Jews always avoided their territory at all costs.

 Then we hear the woman is at a “well” at “noon”. First of all, it’s important to remember the cultural significance of a well in Jewish culture of that era. Wells were associated with marriage. It was the dance club of their time, where men and women meet to begin the dating process. Abraham's servant, for example, finds a bride for Isaac in Genesis 24. Jacob meets his future wife Rachael in Genesis 29 and Moses himself meets Zaphora in Exodus 2. Wells scream marriage. What was Jesus doing at this well with a woman? The detail of the time of day also jumps out. Noon was the hottest time of day. People instead, waited until the cool of the morning or the evening to carry the heavy jars of water back home. This little fact reveals that this woman is living a life of shame. She’s purposefully avoiding the crowds of the morning and evening because of a mysterious sin in her life.

As the conversation continues, the cause of her pain becomes clear: “For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.” (Cf. John 4:18). She’s living with a man that is not her husband. Now that encounter with the woman at the well takes on a dramatic new significance. Jesus is fulfilling the ancient prophecy of Jeremiah 51:5. The Samaritans were part of those lost tribes lost centuries before but God did not forget them. He promised one day he would restore them. The five husbands of this Samaritan woman recalled the five false Gods that the Assyrians worshiped instead of the true God. They gave their fidelity to these deities. In other words, they gave these pagan gods their love.

Now let us return to the first question I asked in the beginning of this Pastor’s Desk: What does God want? The woman at the well tells us – Jesus wants our hearts.

A Servant of Jesus Christ,

Fr. Brian J. Soliven