Exodus 17:3-7 / Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 / John 4:5-42
To begin a conversation, the obvious thing to do is to talk.
To talk might seem easy, because what is needed is to open our mouths and speak to the other person.
But what if the two parties don't want to talk to each other.
Then there is what is called “cold war”.
So, there is cold war in the family, cold war between neighbours, cold war in work-place, and maybe even cold war in the Church.
The parties involved in the cold war don’t want to talk to each other.
But they talk to everyone else about the other.
And obviously, the more they talk about the other, the more the resentment against the other.
And that is also a bit like how when we don’t want to talk to each other.
We talked to others about the other, and obviously what we say about the other are not nice or pleasant things.
And the more we talk about the other, the greater will be the rift and the greater the resentment.
In the gospel, Jesus and His disciples came to the Samaritan town of Sychar.
His disciples went to buy food, and Jesus tired out by the journey, sat down by the well, tired and obviously thirsty.
Then, a Samaritan woman came by to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink.
The gospel narrative made it clear that Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans.
Between the Jews and Samaritans, there is a deep-rooted centuries-long animosity and tension.
They would avoid contact and not talk to each other.
So, when Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink, she was surprised and probably agitated.
She would be hesitant to continue the conversation, and besides, she also wouldn’t want to be seen talking with a Jewish man.
But as the conversation went on, Jesus turned the request for water into an offer of living water.
The Samaritan woman became interested in the living water that Jesus was talking about.
And coming to the well at noon, also indicated that she didn’t want to meet anyone or talk to anyone, because there is something in her life that she wants to hide.
As the conversation went on, she revealed her real thirst, and that is her thirst for God.
And it is Jesus who will quench her thirst with living water, the water of God’s love.
Today’s gospel makes us reflect and ponder about our interactions with others.
As we come to Church, as we come to the House of God, do we greet each other as brothers and sisters in Christ?
A polite nod, or a “hello”, would be enough to acknowledge each other’s presence.
There is this story of a woman who worked in a meat-processing factory.
One day, after she was about to finish her work, she went into the cold storage room to carry out a routine inspection.
Suddenly, the cold storage door accidentally shut automatically. She was locked inside and disappeared from everyone’s sight.
She shouted and banged on the door with all her strength, but no one could hear her. By then, most of the workers had already gone home from work, and no one knew that she was in the cold storage room.
Five hours later, when she was almost frozen to death, the factory security guard opened the door of the cold storage room and miraculously saved her.
Later, she asked the guard, “Why did you go to open the cold storage door? That’s not part of your job!”
The guard explained, “I’ve worked in this factory for 35 years. Every day, hundreds of workers come in and go out. Many people treat me as if I’m invisible. But you are the only one who greets me ‘good morning’ when you arrive at work and says “goodbye” to me when you leave.
“Today, after you greeted me in the morning, I didn’t see you say goodbye to me when work ended. I felt something was strange, so I decided to look around the factory. I was waiting to hear your ‘hi’ and ‘goodbye,’ because those words remind me of who I am and made me very happy. That is why I searched every corner for you.”
When we greet others, we also show our respect for them, and we are also letting them know then we care about them.
When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman, He also respected her, although He knew what was going on in her life.
In their conversation, Jesus shared with her the living water of God’s love.
May our conversation with others also be dignified and respectful.
And may our conversations also be like living waters that flow from the heart of Jesus into our hearts.
May the living waters of God’s love quench our spiritual thirst, and heal that dryness and burnt-out areas of our lives.
And may our hearts be filled with the living waters of God’s love so that we will talk to those whom we have stopped talking with.
