The Holy Spirit
We hear in this Sundays Gospel proclamation of how Jesus meets the Samaritan women at the well. Jesus tells her of the fountain of water that he will give, water that is united with forgiveness and belief. The women (we are not given her name) is thirsty for the wholeness of life that she lacks and Jesus had come with that gift. Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah telling her of the fountain of life that he will give.
What is this water that Jesus tells the Samaritan women about? It is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that is present in Baptism. Baptism, the ritual which is the is the outward symbolic sign of a deep reality, the coming of God penetrating every aspect of a person’s life.
We hear how the Samaritan women becomes an evangelist, a missionary who invites others to Jesus. This is also a story of God embracing the outsider. The Samaritans were a people who were considered “godless” in general by the Judean people, but it is this town of Samaritan people that confesses that is Jesus the Saviour of the world.
This week as the world erupts into further violence, our prayer is that the peace and love that is the Holy Spirit, the fountain of life will be embraced, that violence will be rejected and peace will prevail.
“So, this week, we pray for Iran, we pray for our world. We may not know what to pray for (other than generally, for peace, for justice, for an end to violence as a means to various ends, for all Iranians and all humans to flourish) but we know to Whom we pray, and God is Wise, is Just, is Love, is Power. God is Life, not Death.” (Bishop Peter)
God Bless you
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From the Vicar
