Readings: Exodus17:3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42
The story in today’s Gospel is one of the most powerful stories ever recorded in the Holy Bible. It is impossible to explore the depth of it in one homily, no matter how long it is. If I were to properly reflect on this Gospel, I would divide it into 7 series, which I would call the 7 Ws. Each element is powerful and profound.
The 7 Ws in this story are:
I. The War: the historic hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans and the contemporary reflection of such hostility today in society (racism), in families (division), and even in the Church (segregation).
II. The Well of Jacob: a place with rich theological history and meaning. Ironically, on that day, the true Well was sitting on Jacob’s well.
III. The Water: the theology and meaning of water and Jesus as the living water who satisfies the deepest thirst of the human soul (John 7:37-38).
IV. The Woman: her history, her experience, her past, and the surprising choice of God, who meets her where she is.
V. Worship: the profound conversation about true worship and what God truly seeks.
VI. The Water Jar: the jar she leaves behind carries great symbolism. She leaves not just a jar but her old life and her former pursuits.
VII. Witness: she moves from being a condemned woman to becoming a courageous witness. She now has a new story to tell. Jesus gives us a new story to share.
Because the reading itself is long, let me just share two simple messages.
I. THE WATER THAT PACIFIES VERSUS THE WATER THAT SATISFIES
The woman at the well comes to fetch water to quench her physical thirst, but in her life, there is a deeper thirst. She thirsts for love, acceptance, stability, friendship, and a new beginning. Unfortunately, she has been going to the wrong places and the wrong people. This deep thirst has led her through six men. In all these relationships, she has known disappointment, rejection, brokenness, and isolation.
Today she encounters Jesus, or rather, Jesus comes to encounter her. She meets the Seventh Man – the perfect Man, the true Bridegroom, the One she truly needs.
Dear friends, what is the thirst in your life?
Many of us are searching for peace, love, truth, meaning, happiness, purpose, and joy. Sadly, we often go to the wrong wells. Some seek satisfaction in drugs, gangs, money, alcohol, sex, pornography, or secret societies. All these things can pacify, but they cannot satisfy. They create temporary relief but leave a deeper emptiness within.
The prophet Isaiah asks a penetrating question:
“Why spend your wages on what fails to satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2).
There is a well that pacifies, and there is a well that satisfies. Jesus is the water that satisfies.
Saint Augustine famously expressed the restlessness of the human soul when he wrote:
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that
“The desire for God is written in the human heart, because the human person is created by God and for God” (CCC 27).
After this woman encounters Jesus, she leaves her water jar behind. This is not a small detail. The jar represents her old search, her former thirst, her endless cycle of disappointment. Now she has found what she was truly looking for. She has found the well that satisfies.
The message today is simple: Jesus is the only one who can satisfy the deepest thirst of your soul. An active and intentional relationship with Him will change your life. Go deeper with Him, and you will find true love, meaning, joy, freedom, purpose, and truth.
II. JESUS IS THIRSTING FOR YOU
This woman has a difficult past. She is the kind of woman others whisper about. She carries shame and social rejection. That is why she comes to the well at an odd hour, when no one else is there.
Yet it is precisely because of her that Jesus comes to Samaria. He sits at the well and waits for her. He speaks to her. He reveals that He knows everything about her life, yet He does not condemn her. Instead, He reveals Himself to her and transforms her from a public sinner into a missionary.
St. Paul reminds us in the Second Reading that “while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The Catechism echoes this truth: “God shows his almighty power by converting us from our sins and restoring us to his friendship by grace” (CCC 277).
Jesus does not wait for us to become perfect before He meets us. He meets us in our brokenness.
In the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus says: “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he (she) has to My mercy.” (Divine Mercy Diary, 723).
Today’s Gospel is for all those trapped in a mess, for those in complicated situations, for those who have made serious mistakes, for those who feel ashamed, for those who feel unworthy to come when others come. The message is this: Jesus is sitting at the well waiting for you.
The well of life is sitting at the well of Jacob; the Water of Life is thirsty.
At the well, He says, “I thirst”, and on the cross, again He says, “I thirst.”
He thirsts for you. He is inviting you today:
Come and meet Him in the Confessional.
Come and meet Him in Adoration.
Come back to the Eucharist.
Come back to worship.
Come to His Word.
He is waiting to satisfy you, to transform you, and to send you forth, not just with a testimony but as the testimony.
Sermon preached by Fr Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on March 8, 2026