Lent III Year A        Woman at the Well (found in John 4: 5-42)

 Max Lucando in his book Six Hours One Friday retells the story of the woman at the well. He does not focus on the scholarly details --explaining the ethnic and racial tensions which led Jews to consider Samaritans beyond God's salvation. Outcasts. He tells the story from the point of view of the water jug she left behind! An item that once was useful to her was discarded, no longer important.

That makes me wonder... What happened to the woman at the well after her conversation with Jesus? I mean, it is an important conversation which leads to her conversion. Right? In many ways, it parallels last week’s gospel.

Remember, Nichodemus comes at night to question Jesus?

Nichodemus at night.

This woman at high noon.

 Both times no one else is around. Nichodemus has much to lose-- social status and power. The woman has nothing let to lose– her reputation is gone that is why she is out laboring at high noon when everyone else would be home. Jesus speaks to them both about new life. Life in him.

Maybe when you put the two stories side by side, you can get the hint, the glimpse that God loves people because of who God is, not because of who we are. God's life giving grace flows into every desert where we cling to the emptiness of inflated self-importance or the weightiness of pass mistakes and sins. God loves us. And this seems to be what the woman heard.

 But we have not always been helped to see that in this story. Often lessons and sermons focus simply on how bad she was. . . five husbands and one now who's not. You can translate that, right? Often the only point made about this story is simply how good Jesus is to have stopped and even talked to her– a woman and a Samaritan.

But there's more. Something important. Her life was changed.

Here's what I found out... going to the internet... looking at the lives of the saints...this is what the orthodox tradition says... Her name is Photini. St. Photini, the enlightened one. In sermons from the fourth century to the 14th, she was called an "apostle" and "evangelist". Her witness at times surpassed that of the male disciples and apostles. Her feast day is February 26.

 It seems she responded to Christ's message with genuine repentance and she and her five sisters-- Anatole, Photo, Photis, Paraskeve, Kyriake, and her two sons- Photenios and Joseph were all baptized at Pentecost. Remember- according to scripture 3,000 people were baptized that day. With her family, Photini began traveling and preaching.

 When in Africa, Jesus appeared to her in a dream which caused her to head from Rome. Unafraid, she went to Nero who was persecuting Christians. She didn't wait to be found and arrested. She told Nero, "We have come to teach you to believe in Christ." Questioned by him, she said they would die for the love of the Nazarene.

 Now here I need to put up a label-- mature reading: contents become violent -Nero had their hands tied to iron rods. As they were beaten they sang psalms and showed no pain. When they were untied, their hands were unhurt.

This angered Nero who tried another tactic. He had the woman placed on golden thrones, showed them his wealth and let them talk to his women. He hoped to tempt them with his wealth and luxury. But they converted his daughter Domnina and 100 of her slaves! Domnina took the name of Anthousa and to celebrate her baptism sent royal gold and jewels to the poor of Rome.

 Now you'd better believe Nero was really angry.

He ordered the Christians burnt! Into the fiery furnace they went -- like Shadrach. Meshach. and Abednego (Daniel 3), Seven days later, they emerged unhurt.

Nero ordered them poisoned. Photini drank first. No one died.

More torture. Years in prison.

Remember this is the woman to whom Jesus gave Living Water. She left her water jug behind– our possessions don’t hold living water, only our hearts do.

 This is a woman who put her whole trust in that reality. Teaching, preaching, healing in prison, Photini made converts among the jailers. Prison became a house church.

 Finally, Nero ordered everyone but Photini beheaded.

Now she was alone. She grieved because she had not earned a martyrs crown. One night, God appeared to her, made the sign of the cross over her three times. This brought her joy. Several days later she gave her soul to God and died. St. Photini.

She knew living water. She knew God in Christ Jesus. She opened her hand to give that same living water to those who were thirsty around her.

Today, we are blessed to be nourished anew with the bread and wine, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we feast on Christ as nourishment, let us remember that the food of Jesus Christ was to do the will of God. May it bring us the grace to open our hearts, and our hands for the welfare of others; and may it give us the boldness to open our minds and our mouths for the witness of Jesus Christ, our Lord. AMEN.