THE PREACHING OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
The woman therefore left her water-pot, and went her
way into the city. —John iv. 28.
This woman, once Christ had instructed her, became an apostle. There are three things which we can gather from what she said and what she did.
1. The entirety of her surrender to Our Lord. This is shown:
(i) From the fact that she left lying there, almost as if forgotten, that for which she had come to the well, the water and the water-pot. So great was her absorption. Hence it is said, The woman left her water-pot and went away into the city, went away to announce the wonderful works of Christ. She cared no longer for the bodily comforts in view of the usefulness of better things, following in this the example of the Apostles of whom it is said that, Leaving their nets they followed the Lord (Mk. i. 18).
The water-pot stands for fashionable desire, by means of which men draw up pleasures from those depths of darkness signified by the well, that is, from practices which are of the earth earthy. Those who abandon such desires for the sake of God are like the woman who left her water-pot.
(ii) From the multitude of people to whom she tells the news, not to one nor to two or three but to a whole city. This is why she went away into the city.
2. A method of preaching.
She saith to the men there: Come, and see a man who has told me all things whatsoever I have done. Is not he the Christ? —John. iv. 29.
(i) She invites them to look upon Christ: Come, and see a man she did not straightway say that they should give themselves to Christ, for that might have been for them an occasion for blasphemy, but, to begin with, she told them things about Christ which were believable and open to observation. She told them he was a man. Nor did she say, Believe, but come and see, for she knew that if they, too, tasted of that well, looking that is upon Our Lord, they, too, would feel all she had felt. And she follows the example of a true preacher in that she attracts the men not to herself but to Christ.
(ii) She gives them a hint that Christ is God when she says, A man who has told me all things whatsoever I have done, that is to say, how many husbands she had had. She is not ashamed to bring up things that make for her own confusion, because the soul, once it is lighted up with the divine fire, in no way looks to earthly values and standards, cares neither for its own glory nor its shame, but only for that flame which holds and consumes it.
(iii) She suggests that this proves the majesty of Christ, saying, Is not he the Christ? She does not dare to assert that he is the Christ, lest she have the appearance of wishing to teach others, and the others, irritated thereat, refuse to go out to Him. Nor, on the other hand, does she leave the matter in silence, but she puts it before them questioningly, as though she left it to their own judgment. For this is the easiest of all ways of persuasion.
3. The Fruit of Preaching.
They therefore went out of the city, and came unto Christ. —John iv. 30.
Hereby it is made clear to us that if we would come to Christ, we too must go out of the city, which is to say, we must lay aside all love of bodily delights.
Let us go forth therefore to him without the camp (Heb. xiii. 13).
(In John iv.)
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St. Thomas Aquinas. Meditations for Lent. Passages selected from the works of St. Thomas by Fr. Mezard, O.P.; translated by Fr. Philip Hughes. London: Sheed and Ward, 1937. 91-93.
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| Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well. By Guercino. Oil on canvas, 1640-41; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. |
