Jesus’ thirst was not so much for water, but for the encounter with a parched soul. Jesus needed to encounter the Samaritan woman in order to open her heart. The outcome of that encounter by the well was the woman’s transformation. She had gone to draw water from the well, but she found another kind of water, the living water of mercy from which gushes forth eternal life.
In this Gospel passage we likewise find the impetus to “leave behind our water jar,” the symbol of everything that is seemingly important, but loses all its value before the love of God. We all have one! I ask you, and myself: “What is your interior water jar, the one that weighs you down, that distances you from God?” Let us set it aside a little and with our hearts; let us hear the voice of Jesus offering us another kind of water, another water that brings us close to the Lord.
— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis by Diane M. Houdek
