Title of the work in Latin
MEDULLA S. THOMAE AQUITATIS PER OMNES ANNI LITURGICI DIES DISTRBUITA, SEU MEDITATIONES EX OPERIBUS S. THOMAE DEPROMPTAE
Compilation and arrangement by
FR. Z. MÉZARD O. P.
NOTE
All titles with an asterisk contain material that is no longer attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas.
23. Thursday after the III Week of Lent: The Preaching of the Samaritan Woman
Thursday of the III Week of Lent
"The woman then left her water jar and went back to the town" (John 4:28)
After being instructed by Christ, the Samaritan woman acted as an apostle. Three things can be emphasized from her words and actions.
I
The devotion she felt and manifested in the following two ways:
a) Moved by intense devotion, the Samaritan woman almost forgot the reason for which she had come to the well and abandoned her water and jar. This is what the text says: "the woman left her water jar and went back to the town," to announce the greatness of Christ, without caring for the needs of the body. In this, she followed the example of the Apostles who, after leaving everything behind, followed the Lord. Now, the jar signifies the concupiscence of worldly things, with which from the depths of the darkness symbolized by the well, that is, from dealing with earthly things, men extract pleasures. Therefore, those who abandon the concupiscences of the world for God abandon the jar.
b) The intensity of her devotion is further manifested by the multitude of those to whom she announces Christ, for she did not go to one, nor to two or three, but to the whole town. The text says: "...and went to the town."
II
The quality of her preaching: "and she said to that people: come see a man...".
a) She invites everyone to see Christ: "Come see a man." She does not immediately tell them to come to Christ, to avoid giving occasion for blasphemy; rather, she begins by saying things that were credible and evident, namely, that he was a man. She does not say: believe, but: come see, for they knew that if they drank from that source, seeing him, they would experience the same as she had experienced. Finally, the Samaritan woman follows the example of the true preacher, and does not call men to herself, but to Christ.
b) She offers proof of Christ's divinity by saying: "who told me everything I ever did," or rather, how many men the Samaritan woman had. She is not ashamed to recount what is a source of embarrassment for her, for the soul inflamed with divine fire no longer cares about anything earthly, neither about glory nor about shame, but only about that flame that burns within her.
c) She concludes by confessing the majesty of Christ, saying: "could this be the Messiah?" She did not dare to assert that he was the Messiah, so as not to appear to teach others: she feared that they would refuse to go to Christ out of irritation. Nor did she completely silence him, but she presented him in the form of a question, as if to submit her judgment to theirs. In fact, this was the easiest way to persuade them.
III
The fruit of her preaching.
"They came out of the town and made their way toward him." This shows that, if we want to go to Christ, we must also leave the town, that is, abandon the love of carnal concupiscence. "Let us then go to him outside the camp," says Saint Paul (Hebrews 13:13).
In Joan., IV.
(P. D. Mézard, O. P., Meditationes ex Operibus S. Thomae.)
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