The Samaritan woman at the well was simply in the midst of her daily work. Who knows how far she had to walk to get water for her household? We don’t even know how many people she was cooking for. She shows up at the well with a pitcher to carry the water and likely a leather dipper to drop into the well. She was ready for her task.
And Jesus interrupts her daily routine. He says, “If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, ‘Give me to drink;’ thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”
Do we know the gift of God? We may be just as confused as the Samaritan woman. At what point in our lives can we truly say we know the gift of God? We step through our routines, cleaning, cooking, soothing, praying, and more. Like the Samaritan woman, we’ve heard about the Messiah, but often He seems at a distance.
Jesus is the Gift of God, and Mary received Him. Thus, Mary is our exemplar and model. After an exhausting journey, Mary gave birth to Jesus, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. Surely, as she received this Gift, she was in awe. What did she do to deserve such a Gift? And yet, the Baby, our Messiah, was her child.
Mary loved this Child. She fed Him, kept Him warm, and prayed with Him. She watched Him grow, knew the sound of His voice, and laughed with Him. Outside of her husband, Joseph, and her cousin, Elizabeth, few understood that there might be something special about Him.
Mary received the Gift of God. And then, he departed her home and began his public ministry. Without her. Do you ever wonder what people said to her as the fame of her Son started to spread? Especially after he turned water into wine at Cana, and raised Lazarus from the dead at Bethany. Mary pondered so many things in her heart.
Even as the story led to tragedy, Mary received the Gift of God. She watched him walking along the Via Dolorosa, carrying the cross. Wordlessly, their gazes met. There was nothing she could do to help him. Her role was to be a witness to His tremendous Passion. On Calvary, Jesus entrusts her to the beloved disciple, and then dies.
Who could watch without weeping the scene of the Pietà? She received the Gift of God. There are not words to describe the emotions, the reality of the moment. And when Jesus is laid in the tomb, she had to walk away without His physical body. Who could imagine the desolation of our Blessed Mother in those agonizing days?
And yet, imagine her reaction when she learns that He is Risen! Can we even imagine such wonders? What does it mean? Scripture does not record a single word or action of Mary in this time between Easter and the Ascension. We ponder the great mystery. “How do I understand the Gift of the Risen Lord?”
After the disciples returned from Mount Olivet, full of hope and yet unsure of what to do, they entered the Upper Room. And Mary was with them there…hearing their first-hand accounts of Jesus, risen from the dead.
And, in the presence of the apostles, Mary receives the Gift of God, the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Mary receives the Gift of God again, and rejoices with the apostles. What joy filled her heart to be with the One Whom Her Soul Loves! She knew the Gift of God!
“If you knew the gift of God,” said Jesus to the Samaritan woman. Humbly, She acknowledges her need to Jesus, and asks, “Sir, give me this water…” To know the Gift of God, we simply and humbly say, “yes,” when the Holy Spirit asks us to receive Him.
And he gave her a promise that is fulfilled for each one of us today. “But the water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting,” (John 4:14).
Instead of exhausting Mary, the Gifts of God were continually present in her life. In the mundane details of housekeeping and in the dramatic unfolding of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, Mary received the everlasting fountain of God’s power to save. And she shared it with all the world.
Mary, Mother of God, pray for us to receive the Gift of God, and bring Him to all the world. As many times as He asks. With confidence in His Divine Love.
Icon: Mary Star of the New Evangelization, written by Br. Claude Lane, OSB, Mount Angel Abbey
Volume Three of My Secret is Mine newsletter includes essays and discussions on Mulieris Dignitatem, On the Dignity and Vocation of Women, an apostolic letter written by St. John Paul the Great in 1988.
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