Working with the Word

Focusing the Gospel

Key words and phrases:  Give me a drink, the gift of God, living water, What you have said is true, Messiah is coming, the Christ, woman who testified, savior of the world

To the point: When Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water, she completely misunderstood what Jesus was really asking: to understand the “gift of God” already given to her. What he was offering her was the gift of his very Self: the living water that would lead her from chance meeting to divine encounter, from being a woman who attempts to deceive Jesus to becoming one who gives true testimony to “the Christ,” from her expectation of the Messiah to her belief that the “savior of the world” has come. True encounters with Jesus never leave anyone the same.

Connecting the Gospel …

… to the Second Reading: The Second Reading spells out explicitly what the “gift of God” is: “the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” The Holy Spirit empowers us to recognize Jesus for who he is and be changed by him.

… to experience: How often in daily life do we simply “talk at” one another! Genuine conversation is harder work, but it opens up encounter with the other and brings life-giving transformation. In fact, transforming encounters with others are encounters with Jesus.

**From Saint Louis University