“God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24)
Thirsting The Right Way
In the first reading (Exod 17:3-7), the people of Israel grumble against Moses after being liberated from Egypt, because of thirsty. In the Gospel (Jn 4:5-42), the Samaritan woman comes to draw water from Jacob’s well, where she meets Jesus. In both scenarios, thirst is a primary motivator.
The thirst of the people of Israel in the wilderness, puts a strain on their relationship with God and Moses, while the mutual thirst of Jesus and the Samaritan woman leads both of them to finds each other.
St. Augustine explains that the Samaritan woman, — a “foreigner” to the Jews — prefigures the Church, which would be composed of people from all nations, rather than just the Jewish race. Jesus thirsts for her faith, he says. Augustine further explains that the woman’s five former husbands represent the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) which rule the soul before it is governed by reason and faith. The woman admits she lives with a man who is not her husband. Augustine explains that this man represents error, which corrupts the soul until it encounters the truth (Christ). She leaves her water pot behind, which Augustine explains, represents the abandonment of worldly desires and desires of the flesh.
The people of Israel and the Samaritan woman both represent the Church, on a journey to freedom from the oppression of sin (Egypt). They primarily thirst for such freedom. The Israelites are led by the first Moses who lacks the power to quench their thirst, corrupted by earthly desires, hence they seek to return to Egypt. But the Samaritan woman encounters the new Moses who teaches her how to thirst, saying: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23-24). Christ also teaches her what to thirst for, saying, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:13-14) – the Holy Spirit.
Let us therefore pray for the gift of perseverance is thirsting for the Holy Spirit every day, so that he may teach us to love and worship the Lord in Spirit and truth.
Fr. Augustine