Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
“Domine, da mi hi aquam” ( Lord, give me water)
Today is the third Sunday of Lent and is International Women’s Day. In our gospel today a woman plays a very important rule and, I want to bring some important women in the church history and in the monastic life to help us in our reflections.
When I was in college in Spain, between my colleagues we always had biblical and theological discussions and questions and preparing this homily came to my mind the question about the Samaritan women, about her name. We know from tradition that her name was St. Photina. The first one that recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
Most of you left your home and come here to our monastery to a centering prayer retreat, personal retreat, came to mass and others to become a monk like my brothers and myself. We all came here because there is a desire for God in us. I want to invite you to be aware of, to recognize the desire for God that is present in you, in your heart, inside us, in the depths of our being.
I
believe that you heard about Saint Teresa D’avila about prayer. (1515–1582), a
Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic. In her autobiography, The Book of Her Life (30:19), she says:
“Oh, how many times do I recall the living water that the Lord told the Samaritan woman about! And so, I am very fond of that gospel passage. Thus, it is, indeed, that from the time I was a little child, without understanding this good as I do now, I often begged the Lord to give me the water. I always carried with me a painting of this episode of the Lord at the well, with the words, inscribed: Domine, da mihi aquam” (Lord, give me that water).
In
today's gospel, we see how Christ approaches a Samaritan woman and establishes
a dialogue with her, saying, "Give me a drink."
The
Samaritan woman was surprised because it was not normal for a man to approach
and speak with a stranger woman alone, and especially since she was a
Samaritan, who did not speak with the Jews. But Jesus has something different,
Jesus has something special, that makes her trust in Him, engaging in a
conversation.
And back to Saint Teresa D’avila again when she talks prayer she says (The Book of Her Life (Vida, Chapter 8). ("Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.")
I see this moment, this dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman as Prayer and I believe that to begin this path of love and friendship, we need to know how much Jesus loves us.
Jesus says to the Samaritan woman: "If you knew the gift of God..." He is telling her, "If you knew the gratuity of God, his infinite and unconditional love for you, everything he wants to give to you and who it is who asks you for a drink, you would ask him, and He would give you living water."
Jesus always invites us for dialogue, to discover who he is. To show us the importance of becoming aware of our need for living water.
On our journey through Lent today, we are invited to take another step in our conversion. Lent is a time for Metanoia (from the Greek μετάνοια) is a profound, transformative change of heart, mind, and direction. To think differently, to go "beyond" one's current, limited way of thinking.
Jesus
invites us to discover what is the radical thirst of our life and what is the
water that can truly quench our thirst to become aware that he is the only one
that can satisfy our thirst in this life. He reminds us today that it is not
outside where we will find that happiness we long for.
The living water is not in things external to us, but within ourselves and must be sought within.
I want to read from The Confessions of Saint Augustin this quote.
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever
ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was
outside, and it was there that I searched for you. You were with me, but I was
not with you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched
me, and I burned for your peace.
This
is a call to us to make an inner journey, to a personal relationship with
Jesus, to receive this living Water in prayer and in love.
Jesus
replied: ‘Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again; but anyone who
drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water that
I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life’.
Jesus
promises us that if we receive his water, we will not only quench our thirst
but will become springs of that water and will be able to give drink to many
thirsty people around us.
Like
the Samaritan woman, we are invited to leave our fleeting loves that take away
our strength and do not quench our thirst, and to focus on love in Christ so
that from him we can love everyone.
I
invite you to enter silence, enter the depths of your being (into the depth)
and let Jesus speak to your heart. Let him discover the deep thirst of your
soul. Let Him open your life to others and to love. Let Him plant in the
deepest part of your being that spring of faith and peace never runs out but
extends to eternal life happy with the Lord.
And
let's say to Jesus: Jesus, help me
discover that, prayer is a meeting of the thirsty. I, being thirsty, ask You
for living water, but You also tell me, "Give me a drink." You are
thirsty for me.
I
believe that you heard about Saint Thérèse of Lisieux in her book of a Soul:
She says: "Behold then all that Jesus asks of us: “…He has no need of our works but only of
our love. for this same God, who declares He has no need to tell us if he is
hungry, did not hesitate to beg for a little water from the Samaritan woman. He
was thirsty. But when He said: “Give me to drink,” it was the love of His poor
creatures that the Creator of the universe was asking for. He was thirsty for
love.”
In this text, she reflects on a very
beautiful idea: God does not need our works, but He desires our love. God is
the Creator of everything, so our actions do not add anything to Him. Yet in
the Gospel, Jesus allows Himself to appear poor and thirsty. For example, when
He asks the Samaritan woman for water in John 4:7, He says, “Give me to drink.”
Saint Thérèse understands that Jesus was
not only thirsty for water. She says that He was thirsting for love—the love of
human souls. The Creator of the universe was asking His creatures for their
love.
The message is very simple: God is not
first looking for great achievements or extraordinary works. What He desires
most is love. Even the smallest act, if it is done with love, can respond to
the thirst of Christ.
This is the heart of Saint Thérèse’s
spiritual teaching: that simple acts of love, done every day, are very precious
to God.
Saint Thérèse reminds us that great holiness is not about doing great things, but about doing small things with great love.
I want to conclude this reflection with this question: How can we give our love to Christ today, even in the smallest things?
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