Samaritan Woman Fr. Nicholas Carr

Glory to Jesus Christ. Christ is risen. Imagine,

if you will, you are a woman living in the land

of Samaria in the time when Jesus lived. You

have five sisters. You have two sons. You're

living your life in the world. You've had five

husbands. And the man you're living with now

is not your husband. You go to the well, the

well, the well of Jacob, the well of your forefathers.

And a Jewish man talks to you and asks for a

drink, which surprises you since the Jews had

no dealings with the Samaritans. And he says

something to you about living water. that if

you drink it would be a fountain springing up

to eternal life, and that he could give you such

water. And then he tells you about all you have

done in your life, that you had five husbands,

and he knows everything that you have done. And

you tell him, Sir, I perceive that you are a

prophet. And as you continue to converse together,

you say, I know that the Messiah is coming. And

when he comes, he will tell us all things. And

he says, I who speak to you am he. And you wonder,

could this be true? Could the Messiah be here

with me now? And you leave your water pot. His

friends arrive as you run into the city and say

to everyone, Come see this man, this prophet,

who told me everything I had done. And could

this be the Christ? Could this be the Messiah?

You believe and hope that he is. And many Samaritans

come to see him. And he stays there two days.

And some who were unsure at first if he was truly

the Messiah as he claimed, after they came and

heard him and they saw him, they said to you,

Now we believe, not because of what you said,

for we have heard for ourselves and know that

this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the

world. And now you know it's true too. You know,

the woman living in Samaria, that your life has

changed. And it did. Perhaps you are unaware

of what happened to Fotini, also some called

Svetlana, and happy names day to all those named

Fotini and Svetlana here. named after this wonderful

saint whose life was transformed and changed

after this moment. You may wonder what happened.

Well, the apostles returned, and she was baptized,

and her family was baptized. And after the deaths

of St. Peter and St. Paul, they relocated to

Carthage, which is in northern Africa. And they

lived there and their lives were light to the

Gentiles. And they were evangelists. And Saint

Fotini was a teacher. And they lived there until

a time came when all their efforts were noticed

by the Roman Emperor Nero. And without going

into detail, After that time, we know how Nero

persecuted Christians. All of them were persecuted.

And I think it is the martyrdom of Fotini is

interesting because she was martyred by being

thrown down a well. And we know that even though

a well brought her death physically, We know

that she had accepted the living water which

sprung up in her to eternal life. And now you

and I, like her, have a choice of what water

we will drink. Oh, there's nothing wrong with

drinking from earthly water, but we thirst again.

But will we drink of the living water? Saint

Fotini, allow ourselves to be transformed and

changed and sanctified and made holy. Well, let's

face it. We've been baptized, many of us here,

perhaps all of us. We have not been totally transformed

the way we should have been. Why? Because We

struggle against lusts and desires, anger, temptations.

They're hitting us. But let us not give up hope,

for these things are gradually transformed. If

we enter into the struggle and say, yes, God,

change me, and we do drink of the living water,

we will make it there. The question is, have

we started? Are we saying yes to God? Do we really

desire that change and sanctification, the living

water? Perhaps you think there's something in

your life that is unchangeable. The words of

St. Justin Popovich. In the lives of the saints

are shown numerous but always certain ways of

salvation, enlightenment, sanctification, Transfiguration,

Christification, Deification, all the ways are

shown by which man conquers sin, conquers passion,

every passion, conquers death, conquers the devil,

every devil. There is a remedy there for every

sin, for every passion, healing, for every death,

resurrection, from every devil. From all evils,

salvation. There is no passion, no sin, for which

the lives of the saints do not show how the passion

or sin in question is conquered, mortified, and

uprooted. Perhaps some of you are familiar with

the movie The Matrix, where the main character,

Neo, is presented with a choice. He's given the

blue pill or the red pill. And he has to choose

if he will take one pill that keeps him in the

illusions and delusions that are around him,

or another pill which will bring him into a realization

of the truth of the world that is truly around

him. And you and I are presented with that as

well. We're presented with the earthly water

or the spiritual water. And we can live in the

illusion. We can just be happy with the earthly

pleasures that, just like the water, may quench

your thirst temporarily. Or we can drink from

the living water. the spiritual water that is

a fountain that goes into eternity. God changed

the lives of Fotini, her five sisters, her two

sons, and countless other saints. His love calls

you to follow that same path of sanctification.

Drink the water that is a fountain springing

up to eternal life. Christ is risen.