Pope at Angelus: Christ the source of living water

By Vatican News

Pope Francis began by recalling how Jesus was on a journey with His disciples when He decided to take a break in Samaria near a well.

“Jesus is tired. He is thirsty”, said the Pope. When a woman arrives to draw water, He asks her for a drink. By doing so, added Pope Francis, Jesus broke every barrier, because the Samaritans were despised by the Jews.

The mystery of living water

“Jesus initiates a dialogue in which He reveals the mystery of living water to this woman, of the Holy Spirit, God’s gift”, continued Pope Francis.

“The focus of this dialogue is water”, he added. “On the one hand, water as an essential element that slakes the body’s thirst and sustains life. On the other, water as a symbol of divine grace which gives eternal life”.

God is the source of living water

“In the biblical tradition, God is the source of living water”, explained the Pope, “distancing oneself from Him and His Law brought on the worst type of drought”.

Pope Francis gave the example of the people of Israel in the desert, and how “God willed that Moses made water flow from a rock, as a sign of God’s providence”.

The spring from which the Spirit flows

“The Apostle Paul, too, interprets that rock as a symbol of Christ”, continued the Pope.

“Those who thirst for salvation can draw freely from Jesus”, he said. “The promise of living water that Jesus made to the Samaritan woman becomes a reality in His Passion”, added Pope Francis.

“Christ, the Lamb, immolated and risen, is the spring from which flows the Holy Spirit who remits sins and regenerates to new life”.

Testifying to life and hope

“Like the Samaritan woman”, continued the Pope, “whoever personally encounters the living Jesus feels the need to talk about Him to other so that everyone might arrive at the point of professing that Jesus ‘is truly the Savior of the world’”.

“We too are called to testify to the life and hope that are within us”, concluded Pope Francis.

“May Mary, Most Holy, help us cultivate a desire for Christ, source of living water, the only one who can satisfy the thirst for life and love which we bear in our hearts”.