As the Church observes the Third Sunday of Lent, Abbot Marion Nguyen offers this reflection on “Lent at the well of truth”
By Abbot Marion Nguyen In the Gospel of the Samaritan woman, the movement of the conversation itself reveals the patience of Christ in drawing a soul back to God. Lent is precisely this work. Jesus begins with what appears ordinary: “Give me a drink.” At first, the dialogue remains on the surface: questions about ethnic difference, the well of Jacob, and the mechanics of drawing water. Much of the conversation concerns things outside the heart: “You have no bucket… Are you greater than our father Jacob?” He then returns to the first impulse that brought her to the well, now with a promise: “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.” She responds with curiosity: “Sir, give me this water.” The pivotal moment comes when Jesus invites her, “Go, call your husband.” She replies simply, “I have no husband.” It is a small statement, but it is completely true. At that moment the conversation changes. Jesus could have pressed the law or confronted her past directly, but he does not. He affirms her truth: “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband.’” The patristic tradition notices this extraordinary restraint. Christ waits for the smallest sign of honesty and builds upon it. Her single truthful word becomes the opening through which grace enters. The woman senses that something profound has happened. She replies, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.” From that point, the dialogue ascends into spiritual matters. She asks about worship: whether it is on this mountain or in Jerusalem. Jesus lifts her beyond questions of place: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” As Saint Augustine reflects, this worship is no longer tied to location or ritual sacrifice but arises from the heart, the interior soul turning fully to God. At the same time, the Fathers, including Theophylact, emphasize that it must be sincere: truthful, unmasked, and genuine. The Samaritan woman embodies this: she speaks honestly about her life, and because of her truth, Truth himself reveals himself to her: “I who speak to you am He.” At the end of the encounter she leaves her water jar behind. The Fathers see in this jar the symbol of her old life, the weary routine of thirst and failed attempts to satisfy it. She leaves it because she has discovered a new well. The soul that speaks truth before Christ discovers that mercy is already waiting. When the heart encounters that mercy, the old vessels of life are quietly set aside. She went out a Samaritan and returned an apostle. Each Lent, Christ meets us at our own wells and waits for one truthful word.