Having celebrated Mid-Pentecost, we continue to observe our Lord’s Resurrection, while looking ahead to His Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, which our Lord speaks of with the Samaritan Woman in this week’s Gospel.
For us to understand the importance of this event, we must remember that while Jews worshiped in the Temple, Samaritans believed that they were correct in worshipping God on Mount Gerizim. It is for this reason (among many others) that the Jews and Samaritans considered each other an anathema. This is why the Samaritan Woman is so surprised, when our Lord asks her for a drink from the nearby well. Knowing only that He is a Jewish stranger, she answers, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (John 4:9) Jesus responds with a beautiful figure of speech, that He is the living water, and “…whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
Now, thinking as a person, she asks, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw” (John 4:15). He reveals that He knows of her sins, but He speaks compassionately, “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21; 23-24).
Here we have a woman, who, like both St. Thomas & the Myrrh Bearers, wishes to have an encounter with our Lord. Through this common desire, the Samaritan woman overcomes her doubt and believes in our Lord. She returns to her home, and to her village, enthusiastically preaching His Gospel. The people are so moved and amazed that they forget about her sinful life and instead come to Him as well. Here we are shown yet another group of people, strangers and outcasts, who are brought together as one by the Word of God. I hope and pray that this message serves as an example that we as believers, also have an obligation to share the Good News with others; and not only our non-Orthodox brothers and sisters, but even our Orthodox friends who need understanding and support as well.
+SEVASTIANOS
Metropolitan of Atlanta
Greek Orthodox Nun Elucidates the Plight of Christians in the Holy Land
Dear Brother Archons and friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, a Greek Orthodox nun who has lived in the Holy Land for many years, recently granted a lengthy and detailed interview to journalist Tucker Carlson on the persecution of Christians in the Holy Land. If you have not watched this interview in its entirety already, I strongly urge you to do so, as Mother Agapia provides a uniquely illuminating perspective on the difficulties that our sister and brothers in the faith face on a daily basis.
As you watch this revealing and often shocking interview, please remain in prayer for the Greek Orthodox Christians of Israel and its environs, and for all the embattled Christians of that war-torn region.
Watch the interview here, and see a full transcript here.
If you need help creating an online giving account, or if you are not receiving communications from the church, please contact the office so we can update your information in our systems. (803) 252-6758 or htgocc@gmail.com
