A friend of mine is reading a book and she said they are comparing the woman at the well to Martha and Mary (sisters of Lazarus). As she was saying she'd like me to do a talk on this subject I was thinking it was strange to compare those three women. For me, I was leaning toward comparing the woman at the well to our Blessed Mother.
It may not make sense to compare the Blessed Mother to the woman at the well either, given they come from two completely different backgrounds, but it's not their backgrounds I want to compare, but what they did after they encountered our Lord.
Our Blessed Mother is of course without sin and we know this because St. Luke tells us in his gospel that she is "full of grace" and you cannot be full of grace and have sin in you. The Samaritan woman; however, is a sinful woman. Two completely different backgrounds, but their futures (once they encounter Christ) are full of similarities.
Mary's encounter with Jesus starts with the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel. He appears and tells her she has found favor with God and that she will become the Mother of His son. She consents and the Holy Spirit descends upon her and she becomes pregnant (I'm paraphrasing of course, the full story can be found in the gospel of Luke). Once she is with child, she immediately leaves for the hill country to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who is with child as well. When she arrives, the child within the womb of Elizabeth "leaps with joy". Mary spends three months with Elizabeth, helping her prepare for the arrival of John the Baptist.
The Samaritan woman has also found favor with Jesus (and we have too, He loves each and every one of us). She, like us, cannot accept Christ as easily as Mother Mary did though. When she encounters Jesus, she argues with Him (have you ever done that?) and wonders out loud how He can do all He promises to do for her (again, I'm paraphrasing, see John 4:7-42 for the "rest of the story"). She is confused about this encounter with Jesus but when Jesus tells her what her sins are, she completely understands He is who He says He is. He has shed light on her sins and the darkness is banished. She leaves Jesus and heads into town and tells everyone about Jesus. Many Samaritans came to know Christ because of this woman.
Two women, two completely different backgrounds, but both bring others to Jesus immediately after they receive Him. They don't keep Him to themselves, they take the light He has given them to others, to share Him (evangelization). Christ is too great to be contained within us and if we truly have Christ within us, we will not be able to contain ourselves. He will come forth from us, just as He did with Mary and the Samaritan woman.
Mary will live many, many years with Jesus and after His crucifixtion, she lives her days with John, the beloved disciple, praying and continuing to lead others to her Son.
The Samaritan woman, scripture tells us, was responsible for bringing many to Christ through her acceptance of Him. We can imagine she lived at least a few more years and continued to love Jesus and bring others to Him.
As I was writing this, I thought of another who received our Lord and immediately evangelized. He failed to convert anyone as far as we know, but he was able to save his own soul. Remember the good thief? He came to know Christ while he was hanging on this own cross next to Jesus and he rebuked the other thief for mocking Jesus and then he confessed his own guilt. He asked our Lord to remember him when He came into His kingdom (Luke 23:32-43) and what did Jesus say? He assured him he would be with Him that day in paradise. The "good thief" saw the light of Christ, the truth, evangelized to another, confessed his own sins and was able to gain heaven. Some say that was his last act of "theft", to be able to "steal" heaven at the last moments of his life. Gotta love divine mercy!
I still need to read my friend's book to see how the woman at the well compares to Martha and Mary, but for now, I'm happy comparing myself to her and learning not just from her example, but that of our most Blessed Mother and the good thief.
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