TWO WOMEN
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Two Women.”
FIRST WOMAN
The first woman is the woman in today’s gospel – the so called, “Woman at the Well” or “The Samaritan Woman” in the 4th Chapter of the Gospel of John.
Notice she’s not a Jew, but a Samaritan. John’s community is reaching out to Samaritans and Gentiles. Samaritans and Jews didn’t talk to each other.
Notice she’s a woman and it wasn’t a woman’s world outside the home in the Mediterranean Basin at that time – and in some places in the world – at this time. Women and men were not supposed to talk to each other in public. (1)
There’s two things we can learn from this gospel story – and there are many other observations. It’s always been a favorite for speculative scripture study.
Notice we don’t have her name. John does this at times. We see this in the story of the Blind Man in Chapter 9 and the Sick Man at the Pool in Bethzatha in Chapter 5. For some, this helps people identify with these characters.
Notice the woman changes gradually. She’s a work in progress. Faith and understanding comes in stages. It develops. The plot thickens. It’s good story telling.
Notice the image and symbol of the well.
Notice the image and symbol of water.
Notice the movement from the literal to the figurative. The woman sees water as water. Slowly she sees the invisible besides the visible. Slowly she moves from the real to the symbolic. Slowly she realizes there is more to life than meets the eye.
Jesus triggers the big change when he brings up the question of the men in her life. Till she meets Jesus – there are 6 men in her life. Is John playing with the number 7 – a significant number in his gospel?
When Jesus brings her inside to her inner well – well she begins to change.
In her excitement, she then runs to the other members of the village to tell them about Jesus. This might be the Messiah.
The disciples saw her before she ran – in fact, did she run when she saw these men coming towards her?
The disciples then have to go through the same process – of moving from the literal to the imaginative, from the material to the spiritual, from the visible to the invisible.
They have to learn about deeper hungers – just as the woman had to learn about deeper thirsts.
Then the villagers arrive and it takes them two days to move through the same process.
A key text is when they say that they no longer believe on her word, but now that they have experienced Jesus for themselves, they know and believe.
An obvious message for the reading and listener to John, is that we too have to go through the same process.
We first believe on the word of others, parents, church, but hopefully the day comes when we experience Jesus for ourselves.
We too have to go through the growth and development process.
We too have to drink deep of the well called, “Jesus”.
Jesus offers the living waters that will quench our thirst.
Jesus offers the living bread that will satisfy our hunger.
THE SECOND WOMAN
The second woman is St. Teresa of Avila [1515-1582]. I chose her because her statue is here in our sanctuary.
I chose her because her life is one more example of the steps and stages of spiritual growth. You can read biographies of her life – or her Vida or autobiography.
You can read her book, “The Interior Castle.”
Today I would stress her image of water – and her garden. You can read this in her works – and the way I present it is sort of simplistic – but this is how I sort it out – having taught this stuff for years when I had a job called, “novice master.” I read the works of Teresa of Avila because St. Alphonsus our founder was a great fan and reader of Teresa. I would assume that’s why her statue is up here on our altar piece in parallel with Alphonsus. (2)
Here goes….
Teresa compares growing in prayer and a deeper spiritual life to watering her garden.
At first she uses buckets to bring water from a stream to her garden. She walks back and forth, back and forth, back and forth with the buckets.
Next, she uses a waterwheel with buckets on it. The buckets dip into the water and then she can water her garden a bit easier. I’m not too clear in picturing this. I looked for diagrams – but couldn’t find any.
Thirdly, she builds or digs a sluice or irrigation canal that runs to her garden from the stream. Neat. It’s makes work easier.
Fourthly, it rains. The water pours down from the heavens into her garden.
I love the progression. It’s how life works. Everything takes time. Learning takes time. Hopefully we keep growing spiritually, imaginatively, intellectually all our lives – and in the meanwhile without effort on our part, the skies open and the rain of God pours down upon.
Is one of life’s great delights to stick one’s tongue out and taste the rain or the snow on one's tongue and face as it falls?
CONCLUSION
So the lessons from these two women are: (1) You have to start the process by yourself. (2) You learn and grow by doing. (3) And don’t forget to stand in the rain in wonder and laugh at God and everything, because life and God is a God of surprises and twists and turns.
NOTES
The picture on top is part of the altar piece here at St. Mary’s Church Annapolis, Maryland.
(1) Confer page 98 in Bruce Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science on the Gospel of John [Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1998]
(2) Confer Libro de la Vida – the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. Confer Chapters 11-22.
