This Sunday we heard the gospel that provides the longest dialogue recorded between Jesus and a woman. By breaking with social ‘norms’ Jesus reaches out with acceptance, self-worth and compassion to one who was socially outcast. For this is a Gospel story that teaches us, reminds us, encourages us that in the Kingdom of God there are no outcasts, there are no strangers, there are no us versus them, rather it is a kingdom of only repentant and welcomed sinners – people like you and me. But the core message of this gospel is hidden – and one that opens our eyes to what we already have. What is that? Check it out….

1. 1 Deacon Jim Knipper
12 March 2023 3rd Sunday of Lent – A Princeton, NJ
Over the past months, at a variety of Sunday liturgies, we have been blessed to have had with us the
adults who will be baptized this Easter as well as those who will be coming into full communion with
the Church. You have likely seen them sit up front here, and then following the homily dismissed so
to continue their instructions and to reflect more deeply on the Word of God. This past fall we
celebrated the Rite of Acceptance – where they were received and accepted by our St. Paul faith
community. Then, just a few weeks ago, we celebrated the Rite of Election where those to be
baptized were enrolled here and then before the Bishop and therefore are now called “The Elect.”
So, beginning this Sunday and continuing for two more weeks, the newly Elect participate in taking
part in three successive rites called the Scrutinies. The name is sort of a misnomer in as much as God
is not scrutinizing the catechumens in what is wrong with them, rather to celebrate all that is good and
true within them – just as Christ ‘scrutinizes’ each of us with his Divine Light revealing all that is
valuable within us…as well as all that is hurting us – calling us to a new life filled with healing.
So these three weeks is an opportunity to join the Elect in looking inward at areas of weakness where
healing needs to take place. It is a time to pause and to remember that God is the “root reality of our
lives; God is what we do with our lives. And so, we celebrate the Scrutinies at our Sunday liturgies (as
we did this morning at the 8:30 mass) because they are a communal activity…for we “cannot love
God [who] we cannot see if we do not love the neighbor we do see.”1
For true conversion is not only a personal matter but it is a communal commitment – we are with
them, and they with us – there is no exclusion – we are all in this together.
The three Scrutinies carry the themes of water, light and life, which are reflected in the readings we
will hear each week. Which brings us to this morning’s Gospel story of the woman at the well. The text
we just heard is the longest conversation Jesus has with any woman across all four Gospels. It is
used on this First Scrutiny for it includes the baptismal theme of saving waters and God’s abundant
love for all people. For the heroine, this seeker of truth in the story, is a woman and a Samaritan. By
1st
century Jewish standards, she is the lowest of society - an outcast - worthless. Due to their
religious differences, Jews greatly disliked Samaritans and therefore it was totally inappropriate for a
Jewish man to have spoken to this woman, much less drank from her water bucket. And yet, Jesus, a
Jew, reaches out to her and offers her acceptance, self-worth, and compassion. He treats her as he
would have treated any member of his society – with respect and dignity. In his encounter with her,
Jesus, once again, welcomes the lost and includes the sinner, the outsider.
And what was the woman’s response? She recognized Jesus for who he was – the Messiah and
Savior. She was the first evangelist and the only person recorded to bring an entire group of people
to faith in Jesus as she ran to “go tell everyone…and they came to believe on her testimony”…and
later the Samaritans believed because they heard the words themselves.
1
Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF

2. 2 Deacon Jim Knipper
And therefore by extension, we are invited to cast aside any idols of our own making that get in the
way of our authentic connection to God and to listen…and then live the Word of God spoken each
Sunday so that we will believe…and then leave, going forth to spread the Good News and to welcome
all, especially those who are on the bottom rungs of society – all those we may have shunned.
For this is a Gospel story that teaches us, reminds us, encourages us that in the Kingdom of God
there are no outcasts, there are no strangers, there are no us versus them, there is no ego driven
judgements made about others – rather it is a kingdom of only repentant and welcomed sinners –
people like you and me.
In light of the celebration of the scrutinies, this gospel helps us name the social and personal sin that
keeps us from an intimate relationship with God. This gospel highlights the evil of exclusion on any
level, in our personal lives, in our society and in our religious structures. This gospel begs us to
question: What am I doing? What am I not doing? Where am I going? What is my deepest fear? What
changes do I need to make? And what needs to be healed?…because this Gospel is not about the
sinfulness of woman by the well….or of the Elect and Candidates…or of any of us – rather it is all
about the overwhelming love and grace of God in Christ…which is already within us!
For we heard in the second reading, “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” And the Gospel tells us that the “spring within you will well up
into eternal life.” In other words, heaven and union and love emerges from the deep wellsprings within
us which implies it is already there! Our task is to recognize, nurture and bring forth this
wellspring…which is exactly what Jesus was doing when engaging with the woman at the well!
For you see, in the words of the Jesuit Fr. Greg Boyle, “God is too busy loving you to have any time
left over to be disappointed in you. In the face of adversity and exclusion what other answer is there,
but love…for God is in the loving. Thus when we can build a community filled with loving and
belonging – then there is no separation of God and us – there is no us and them. It is all about
mutually indwelling.”
This powerful story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well is told on this Sunday, during this First
Scrutiny to remind the Elect and the Candidates…and all of us…that the saving waters of baptism call
us to lead a faith-filled life that is not about relevance but relationship…is not about our personal
beliefs but about the Gospel teachings, it is not about a life focused on power and prestige but of one
where we are free to let go of all that we hold onto to so that our heart and soul and body are free to
embrace our God whose “love has been poured out into our hearts.”
So, for these three Sundays, where we celebrate the Scrutinies, allow the time to look inside your
God-given wellspring…take time to examine how we are burdened in what we have done and what
we have failed to do…make time to remind our Elect and Candidates – and each other! - that we are
all walking together on this journey to wholeness where our thirst will be quenched and our personal
deserts be made fertile with the refreshing and cleansing waters of the risen Christ.