The woman said to him,
“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;
but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus said to her,
“Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand;
we worship what we understand,
because salvation is from the Jews.

At this point, it seems to have sunk in that Jesus is talking about more than just physical thirst and physical water. She must be talking to a prophet! If I had just said, "I do not have a husband" because I was on my fifth "marriage," and then the stranger I was talking to said, "Yup, that's right. You've had five husbands, so you don't really have a husband," I'd be pretty taken aback. I would start asking, "How did you know that? Who are you?" I might even get kinda mad. But this woman recognizes that Jesus is a holy person, she assumes a prophet, and she sees this encounter as an opportunity to get answers to her most burning question. That question is about the difference between Jews and Samaritans.

At first glance, her question framed as a statement seems kinda random and mundane. Basically, should we pray in Jerusalem or on the mountain? And Jesus' answer seems cryptic: Soon, neither. But her question is not merely, "In what physical location should we pray?" Her question is about the entire divide between Samaritans and Jews. The Jews scorn the Samaritans. Her own people even scorn her because of her sins. Is the scorn deserved? If you're going to be scorned and belittled, you at least want to have the moral high ground. So, this statement is really a question: Who's right, the Jews or the Samaritans?

And Jesus says that soon, the answer will be neither. I'm not a Biblical scholar, but this looks to me like foreshadowing of the Church. The Jews are correct now, but there will soon be more to the faith. The Jews and Samaritans who reject Christianity will be in the same boat, only privy to a partial revelation. The Christians are the ones who will worship neither in Jerusalem or on the mountain.

Jesus does indicate, however, that the Jews are the chosen people rather than the Samaritans. "You people worship what you do not understand," He says. The Samaritans do worship the correct God, but they do so without understanding. This line makes me think of a lot of my protestant and Mormon friends who pray so much and want so much to love Christ, but they do not truly know Christ. They fail to recognize Him in the Eucharist. They do not know His Church or unite themselves to Her. They do not recognize the depths of His love because they do not know of His wondrous plan for His Bride. But they want to know Him, and they try to know Him. To the best of their ability and knowledge, they do love Him. But they are trying to love Him without having recognized, understood, or accepted His love for them and His Church, so they are trying to draw water without a bucket.

"We worship what we understand." Jesus explicitly refers to Himself as a Jew in this statement. The woman has already identified Him as a Jew multiple times, and far from denying it, Jesus says, "We worship what we understand." Jesus worships. Jesus prays to the Father, whom He adores and honors above all others.

"...because salvation is from the Jews." The hour is coming when Christianity arrives and the Church worships neither in Jerusalem or on the mountain, but Jews are still the original chosen people of God. The Catholic Church is the daughter of the Jewish people, and salvation has come through the Jews. The Savior has been born to a Jewish woman, into a Jewish household descended from Jewish royalty. He was promised to them and He has come to and through them. Salvation is from the Jews, but it is not only for the Jews. The Church worships neither on the mountain nor in Jerusalem. The Church is founded upon the Jewish faith, but it is not a Church for the Jews. It is a Church for all people, even the Samaritans if they will accept Christ. And so Christ sits down with this Samaritan woman, alone at the well, and talks to her about her past and her future, her sins and His healing mercy, thirst and water.

I'm praying for you!

:)