This year May 30, 2021 is the Sunday of the Samaritan Women which is taken from the Gospel of St. John chapter 4 verses 5-42 where Jesus tired from his journey from Judea to Galilee sat down by a well in the district of Samaria.
Jews of this period would avoid at all cost traveling through Samaria but Jesus saw love and goodness in the Samaritans. At the well Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman saying, “give me a drink…”, to which she replied, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan, how is it that you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan for a drink…”
The hostility between Jews and Samaritans was well known, however, Jesus enters into a dialog with the women, explaining what he meant by “living water”, and soon she believes in Him, telling her fellow people of the many things He had told her.
You see this story tells us by virtue of His spiritual depth and inner authority, He was able to break through the religious bias and racial prejudice of the time and bringing more souls for the kingdom of God. He was also able to break down the existing barrier between men and women even to the astonishment of His own disciples.
You see by Our baptism into Christ we are all one in Him. (Galatians 3:27-28). According to tradition, the Samaritan woman received the name, Photini, which means “the enlightened one” and subsequently as years past becoming a venerated Christian Martyr.
It was because of her hospitality and joyful interaction with Jesus at Jacob’s well, that many Samaritans were brought to Him. It is our Christian mission to our families, to our neighbors, to our fellow man to bring about a rich harvest for Almighty God. It is our charge to preach the message of His glorious Resurrection to all the peoples of the world.
This is the true meaning and significance of this gospel lesson following Pascha. May the joy and radiance of this day be with you always and forever.
Christ is Risen – Indeed He is Risen!
