A Humble Servant of God

An important part of my life is the special relationships I had with my grandparents. One grandfather died when I was only four years old, but the other lived until I was 21. My grandmothers, on the other hand, lived very long lives – one until the age of 86, the other until she was 99! Both of my grandmothers were loving, supportive and humble women. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about my grandmother, Margaret, from Chicago, who died when she was 86.

It would be challenging for me to think of anyone in my life more loving and supportive of me than my grandmother, Margaret. She lived almost 30 years by herself after my grandfather died. She lived her life with a strong faith in God which never wavered – a humble servant of God. I remember how thankful, excited, and proud she was to become a Eucharistic minister in her mid-60’s, something she could never have imagined when she was younger.

My grandmother basically lived looking forward to the next call or visit from me, my sister, or my brother. As an example, since I played basketball in college, she would watch college basketball games on television even if she wasn’t a fan, so we could have something fun to talk about. It was remarkable!

While they are both humble, the difference between my grandmother and the Samaritan woman at the well in today’s Gospel is that my grandmother was not a deceptive person. She didn’t make excuses like the Samaritan when it was time to help others: “You have nothing to draw the water Sir”, and “the well is very deep”.

We quickly figure out in this passage that while it seems that Jesus wanted to quest his thirst after a long day, he was in fact reaching out to this woman. Jesus knew the unfortunate life she lived on the streets, going from relationship to relationship.

Despite her life, Jesus offered himself as the one who could provide eternal living water to quench her thirst. We need to remind ourselves that not only do we yearn for God, He constantly years for our love as well.

We thirst. We want our hope to be fulfilled. If we would humble ourselves, like my sweet grandmother, and not try to satisfy ourselves with the things of this world, our thirst, too, would be quenched by the living water.

True encounters always seem to change us like Jesus changed the life of the woman at the well. I know my grandmother changed mine.

Author: Jack Fitzsimmons, Director of Guidance and College Counseling