When we stand in church or at home before the holy icons, make the sign of the cross, bow our heads or prostrate ourselves, say the words of prayer, make charitable contributions to the church, abstain from non-Lenten food, i.e. keep the fast, etc., – then we are externally serving and worshipping God. However, such worship is not yet the worship “in spirit and in truth” that was mentioned in today’s Gospel, it is not yet genuine prayer, but only its outward manifestation.
Today’s Gospel reading tells us of how Jesus Christ in
His conversation with the Samaritan woman teaches us, too, how to pray
and how to worship God.
We have just celebrated the great feast of Christ’s
Resurrection, the celebration of which continues until the end of the
paschal period. And throughout this period of time, every Sunday the
Church brings to our attention Gospel readings from St. John the
Theologian, whose Gospel is distinguished from the others by its lofty
spiritual style, and which most frequently deals with dogmatic teaching
and speaks of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as the Messiah.
The Holy Church, preparing us throughout the entire year
for the feast of Pascha, now offers us supreme truths in these Gospel
readings.
Often in prayer our soul is distracted by various
earthly thoughts, even against our will. Often we ourselves do not know
what we are saying, since our lips say one thing, while the heart deals
with another. How can we expect God to hear our prayer when we
ourselves often do not hear it? Rarely are we able to pray sincerely,
sometimes not at all, and there is little benefit from automatic prayer.
What should we do? Should we stop praying?
No, dear brethren! The Lord answers us through the Samaritan woman.
The Lord met this woman at the well, and during His
conversation with her He made her aware of her sinful life. This
revelation set her on the path to salvation – she was the first among
the Samaritans to acknowledge Christ as Messiah. Without even having
had time to do any penance, she asks this Stranger about spiritual life,
and He explains it to her. He does not reject her, though she is a
sinner, but discourses with her on the same level as with His listeners
in the synagogues.
The Lord knows what is in everyone’s heart, He knew what was in the
Samaritan woman’s heart, and He also knows our own hearts and our
weaknesses. He knows us well and can help us, only we must not fall
prey to despondency. Tradition holds it that the Samaritan woman, who
was called Photinia, was persecuted during Nero’s reign in approximately
66 A.D. for spreading Christianity, and died a martyric death by being
thrown into a well.
Despite leading a sinful life, the Samaritan Photinia had a
sincere desire to know the true faith, and the Lord did not overlook
her desire. In other words, she was not lukewarm in faith as is,
unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of contem-porary mankind. The
Lord accepted the sinful Samaritan woman, but did not approve of the
scribes and the Pharisees, despite the fact that outwardly their life
may have appeared more righteous.
Thus external actions alone, without internal coordination, are of
lesser value to us than making sure our inner spiritual state is better
and purer. At this point we come upon the most important aspect of our
life: the inner life.
Today’s Gospel reading teaches us to approach all spiritual issues in our life from within:
to pay scant attention to externals, for the internal has more value
than the external. And whenever we are faced with the question of
whether we are acting correctly in such-and-such a case, we should look
upon it from within the heart: if the answer is “yes” – then thanks be to God, and if the answer is “no” – then we must try to change ourselves.
Thus for a long time now, for almost two thousand years,
the time has been ripe to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for
God seeks such worshippers; and may He grant that we be among them.
Amen.
Father Igor Hrebinka
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