What would it mean to be truly seen — not for your labels, your past, or your failures, but for who you really are?

In this sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent, The Rev. Craig Swan explores the story of the Woman at the Well (John 4:5-42) — a Samaritan woman, ostracized by her community, who encounters Jesus at noon by Jacob's Well. Fr. Craig draws a moving parallel between her experience of being fully seen by Christ and a group of Fall River middle schoolers — many carrying labels of poverty, special needs, or family instability — who were cheered by name after their school production of Alice in Wonderland.

The sermon's central insight: every one of us carries something that makes us feel unclean, unlovable, or unworthy. The gospel's radical promise is that God sees past every label — and loves what God sees.

Scripture Readings

1. John 4:5-42 — The Woman at the Well; "living water"
2. Psalm 139 — "You knit me together in my mother's womb"
3. Jeremiah 1 — "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"

Fr. Craig Swan: The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fr. Craig Swan: According to John.

Fr. Craig Swan: Glory be to thee, O Christ.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of

Fr. Craig Swan: ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jacob's well was there, and

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus, tired out by his journey,

Fr. Craig Swan: was sitting by the wall by the

Fr. Craig Swan: well.

Fr. Craig Swan: It was about noon.

Fr. Craig Swan: A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her,

Fr. Craig Swan: give me a drink.

Fr. Craig Swan: His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.

Fr. Craig Swan: The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask a

Fr. Craig Swan: drink of me, a woman of Samaria?

Fr. Craig Swan: Jews do not share things in common with the Samaritans.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus answered her, if you knew

Fr. Craig Swan: the gift of God, and who it is

Fr. Craig Swan: that is saying to you, give me a

Fr. Craig Swan: drink.

Fr. Craig Swan: You would have asked him and he

Fr. Craig Swan: would have given you living

Fr. Craig Swan: water.

Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, sir, you

Fr. Craig Swan: have no bucket and the well is

Fr. Craig Swan: deep.

Fr. Craig Swan: Where do you get that living water?

Fr. Craig Swan: Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the

Fr. Craig Swan: well, and with his sons and his flocks, drank from it?

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, everyone who

Fr. Craig Swan: drinks of this water will be

Fr. Craig Swan: thirsty again.

Fr. Craig Swan: But those who drink of the water

Fr. Craig Swan: that I will give them will never

Fr. Craig Swan: be thirsty.

Fr. Craig Swan: The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water

Fr. Craig Swan: gushing up to eternal life.

Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, sir, give me this water, so that I may

Fr. Craig Swan: never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come back.

Fr. Craig Swan: The woman answered him, I have no husband.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, you are right

Fr. Craig Swan: in saying, I have no husband,

Fr. Craig Swan: for you have had five husbands,

Fr. Craig Swan: and the one you have now is not

Fr. Craig Swan: your husband.

Fr. Craig Swan: What you have said is true.

Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, sir, I see that you are a prophet.

Fr. Craig Swan: Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the

Fr. Craig Swan: place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming

Fr. Craig Swan: when you will worship the father, neither on this mountain

Fr. Craig Swan: nor in Jerusalem.

Fr. Craig Swan: You will worship what you do not know.

Fr. Craig Swan: We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Fr. Craig Swan: But the hour is coming, and now is here, when the true

Fr. Craig Swan: worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth.

Fr. Craig Swan: For the father seeks such as these to worship him.

Fr. Craig Swan: God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in

Fr. Craig Swan: spirit and truth.

Fr. Craig Swan: The woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming, who

Fr. Craig Swan: is called Christ.

Fr. Craig Swan: When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to her, I am he, the one who is speaking to you.

Fr. Craig Swan: Just then his disciples came.

Fr. Craig Swan: They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no

Fr. Craig Swan: one said, what do you want?

Fr. Craig Swan: Or why are you speaking with her?

Fr. Craig Swan: Then the woman left her water jug and went back to the city.

Fr. Craig Swan: She said to the people, come and see a man who told me everything

Fr. Craig Swan: I have ever done.

Fr. Craig Swan: He cannot be the Messiah, can he?

Fr. Craig Swan: They left the city and were on their way to him.

Fr. Craig Swan: Meanwhile, the disciples were

Fr. Craig Swan: urging him, Rabbi, eat

Fr. Craig Swan: something.

Fr. Craig Swan: But he said to them, I have food

Fr. Craig Swan: to eat that you do not know

Fr. Craig Swan: about.

Fr. Craig Swan: So the disciples said to one another, surely no one has

Fr. Craig Swan: brought him something to eat.

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent

Fr. Craig Swan: me, and to complete his work.

Fr. Craig Swan: Do you not say, four months more than comes the harvest?

Fr. Craig Swan: But I tell you, look around you

Fr. Craig Swan: and see how the fields are ripe

Fr. Craig Swan: for harvesting.

Fr. Craig Swan: The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for

Fr. Craig Swan: eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together.

Fr. Craig Swan: For here the saying holds true.

Fr. Craig Swan: One sows and another reaps.

Fr. Craig Swan: I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor.

Fr. Craig Swan: Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.

Fr. Craig Swan: Many Samaritans from that city

Fr. Craig Swan: believed in him because of the

Fr. Craig Swan: woman's testimony.

Fr. Craig Swan: He told me everything I have done.

Fr. Craig Swan: So when the Samaritans came to

Fr. Craig Swan: him, they asked him to stay with

Fr. Craig Swan: them and he stayed there two

Fr. Craig Swan: days.

Fr. Craig Swan: And many more believed because of his word.

Fr. Craig Swan: They said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said

Fr. Craig Swan: that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know

Fr. Craig Swan: that this is truly the Saviour of the world.

Fr. Craig Swan: The gospel of the Lord.

Fr. Craig Swan: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Fr. Craig Swan: In the name of God, father, son and Holy Spirit.

Fr. Craig Swan: Amen.

Fr. Craig Swan: Please be seated.

Fr. Craig Swan: Yesterday afternoon, Maureen and I had the opportunity to go to

Fr. Craig Swan: see a Broadway style play.

Fr. Craig Swan: Now, obviously we didn't see this in New York because there

Fr. Craig Swan: really was no way we'd been able to go there and get back on time

Fr. Craig Swan: for this morning.

Fr. Craig Swan: So it was sort of an off

Fr. Craig Swan: Broadway play, way off Broadway

Fr. Craig Swan: play.

Fr. Craig Swan: And it was not exactly a professional play either.

Fr. Craig Swan: It was an amateur production.

Fr. Craig Swan: It was actually the fall River

Fr. Craig Swan: Middle School's production of

Fr. Craig Swan: Alice in Wonderland, produced

Fr. Craig Swan: and directed by our daughter

Fr. Craig Swan: Chelsea.

Fr. Craig Swan: And it was an absolutely wonderful play.

Fr. Craig Swan: And I'm not here talking about

Fr. Craig Swan: that because just because I'm

Fr. Craig Swan: proud of her for what she

Fr. Craig Swan: accomplished, but because of

Fr. Craig Swan: what I saw happen in the midst

Fr. Craig Swan: of that play, that was just so

Fr. Craig Swan: absolutely wonderful.

Fr. Craig Swan: And it has a lot to do with today's gospel.

Fr. Craig Swan: And because our daughter is the director, it means that Maureen

Fr. Craig Swan: are the last ones to leave because we're waiting to have a

Fr. Craig Swan: chance to see her.

Fr. Craig Swan: And so I get to observe a lot of what goes on after the play.

Fr. Craig Swan: And what I always found

Fr. Craig Swan: wonderful is after the play is

Fr. Craig Swan: over, after the applause is done

Fr. Craig Swan: and the faces of the parents and

Fr. Craig Swan: glowing over the pride of their

Fr. Craig Swan: children.

Fr. Craig Swan: The curtain goes down and all of a sudden you hear this huge

Fr. Craig Swan: cheer from behind the curtain.

Fr. Craig Swan: Forty five kids cheering, proud of what they had accomplished.

Fr. Craig Swan: And then, as each student exited the auditorium after taking off

Fr. Craig Swan: their costumes, many still in their makeup, there was a line

Fr. Craig Swan: of teachers and administrators.

Fr. Craig Swan: And no matter whether they had

Fr. Craig Swan: the lead or their part of the

Fr. Craig Swan: ensemble, each one was cheered

Fr. Craig Swan: for by their name and applauded

Fr. Craig Swan: by their administrators and

Fr. Craig Swan: teachers.

Fr. Craig Swan: And you could just see the kids beam.

Fr. Craig Swan: And then after all of that, there came the tears.

Fr. Craig Swan: And Marie and I, having been in high school productions, know

Fr. Craig Swan: what it's like to feel that letdown after you've worked so

Fr. Craig Swan: hard for so long to put something on like a play that

Fr. Craig Swan: all of a sudden it's over and there's a lot of emotion that

Fr. Craig Swan: needs to come out.

Fr. Craig Swan: But I realized after we left and were at dinner with Chelsea and

Fr. Craig Swan: she was telling me the stories about these kids, I realized

Fr. Craig Swan: there was something more to those tears than just a letdown

Fr. Craig Swan: at the end of a play.

Fr. Craig Swan: Every child, all forty eight

Fr. Craig Swan: children in that production, has

Fr. Craig Swan: a story, and she knew all of

Fr. Craig Swan: their stories.

Fr. Craig Swan: Many of them had special

Fr. Craig Swan: education labels, whether it be

Fr. Craig Swan: for academic issues or behavior

Fr. Craig Swan: issues.

Fr. Craig Swan: Many came from very poor, chaotic homes.

Fr. Craig Swan: She will often talk about in

Fr. Craig Swan: times past, where she would

Fr. Craig Swan: start with one student in a role

Fr. Craig Swan: and then all of a sudden have to

Fr. Craig Swan: recast it three weeks before the

Fr. Craig Swan: play because that family lost

Fr. Craig Swan: their apartment and had to move

Fr. Craig Swan: away.

Fr. Craig Swan: This year, she talked about the

Fr. Craig Swan: students who weren't there

Fr. Craig Swan: because in fall River, what we

Fr. Craig Swan: see on TV in regards to what's

Fr. Craig Swan: going on with Ice is their

Fr. Craig Swan: reality.

Fr. Craig Swan: Every child had an opportunity to shine in that production.

Fr. Craig Swan: Every child with different ethnic and racial backgrounds

Fr. Craig Swan: were part of that production.

Fr. Craig Swan: Every single child was seen over

Fr. Craig Swan: those two days of the

Fr. Craig Swan: production.

Fr. Craig Swan: For someone who was beyond whatever their labels are.

Fr. Craig Swan: And for many, maybe it was the first time that someone saw them

Fr. Craig Swan: beyond their special needs label or their inner city child label

Fr. Craig Swan: or whatever, somehow boxes them off and kind of shifts them to

Fr. Craig Swan: minority status or marginalized in this country.

Fr. Craig Swan: They were truly seen for that.

Fr. Craig Swan: Our production by their

Fr. Craig Swan: teachers, by their parents, for

Fr. Craig Swan: someone greater than they have

Fr. Craig Swan: been seen.

Fr. Craig Swan: Most of their time and most of their life.

Fr. Craig Swan: That feeling that they had of being fully seen is what today's

Fr. Craig Swan: gospel story is about being fully seen by God.

Fr. Craig Swan: We heard the story of the

Fr. Craig Swan: Samaritan woman, and as the

Fr. Craig Swan: story progresses, we begin to

Fr. Craig Swan: realize that this is a woman who

Fr. Craig Swan: has been ostracized not just

Fr. Craig Swan: because she's a Samaritan, but

Fr. Craig Swan: because of the events in her

Fr. Craig Swan: life.

Fr. Craig Swan: Now we hear that she has had five husbands.

Fr. Craig Swan: Now, unless she is the main

Fr. Craig Swan: character in the book of Tobit,

Fr. Craig Swan: who lost her husband on the

Fr. Craig Swan: night of her on her wedding

Fr. Craig Swan: night, each time it is clear

Fr. Craig Swan: that she has perhaps been

Fr. Craig Swan: widowed and also divorced, and

Fr. Craig Swan: now is forced for survival to

Fr. Craig Swan: live as if married with somebody

Fr. Craig Swan: else.

Fr. Craig Swan: And we know that she's been ostracized because the time of

Fr. Craig Swan: day that she's going to the well, the women of the community

Fr. Craig Swan: did not go to the well at high noon when it was hot.

Fr. Craig Swan: They went early in the morning to gather water to bring back to

Fr. Craig Swan: the home, to be used with cooking and washing and all that

Fr. Craig Swan: goes with it.

Fr. Craig Swan: So this is a woman who is fully

Fr. Craig Swan: labeled as not just unworthy but

Fr. Craig Swan: unclean, and has lived a life of

Fr. Craig Swan: being told that is what she is

Fr. Craig Swan: unclean.

Fr. Craig Swan: So imagine her surprise, as we hear in the gospel, when this

Fr. Craig Swan: Jewish rabbi comes into town.

Fr. Craig Swan: And as we hear in those words, there was such animosity between

Fr. Craig Swan: the Jews of Jerusalem and the Samaritans, who were also Jews,

Fr. Craig Swan: that a good Jew would not even receive a glass of water, let

Fr. Craig Swan: alone speak to a Samaritan.

Fr. Craig Swan: So she is shocked to know that Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, is even

Fr. Craig Swan: willing to speak with her.

Fr. Craig Swan: And then more and more, to her surprise, is that not only is he

Fr. Craig Swan: speaking to her because he needs a glass of water.

Fr. Craig Swan: He sees something greater in her than a woman who has had five

Fr. Craig Swan: husbands and living in what would be usually classified up

Fr. Craig Swan: until recently as living in sin.

Fr. Craig Swan: He saw a beloved child of God.

Fr. Craig Swan: And he treated her in that way.

Fr. Craig Swan: In that moment, she was no longer an unclean Samaritan

Fr. Craig Swan: woman, but worthy of God's love.

Fr. Craig Swan: An experience she most likely hadn't had in quite some time.

Fr. Craig Swan: And she is so moved by this experience that she runs out and

Fr. Craig Swan: tells the whole community of what she had experienced with

Fr. Craig Swan: Jesus, realizing that not only had it been a Jewish rabbi, but

Fr. Craig Swan: this was the Anointed One to bring salvation to the world,

Fr. Craig Swan: even to her who had been perceived as unworthy.

Fr. Craig Swan: Each and every one of us carries something with us that tells us

Fr. Craig Swan: that for some reason we are unclean or unlovable or

Fr. Craig Swan: unworthy, whether it be our trauma of our past or our

Fr. Craig Swan: deepest and darkest secret that we keep hidden behind the facade

Fr. Craig Swan: that we use to allow ourselves to be acceptable in our

Fr. Craig Swan: communities and our society.

Fr. Craig Swan: And all any one of us wants is

Fr. Craig Swan: to know that we are truly and

Fr. Craig Swan: fully loved.

Fr. Craig Swan: And that is why we come here, to be part of a community of faith

Fr. Craig Swan: that tells us that through the waters of baptism, we are truly

Fr. Craig Swan: adopted children of God, fully beloved by God, but not even

Fr. Craig Swan: because of our baptism, because we are God's child.

Fr. Craig Swan: To begin with, Psalm one thirty

Fr. Craig Swan: nine tells us that it is God who

Fr. Craig Swan: knit us together in our mother's

Fr. Craig Swan: womb.

Fr. Craig Swan: God tells Jeremiah that he knows

Fr. Craig Swan: the count of the hairs on his

Fr. Craig Swan: head.

Fr. Craig Swan: That is how intimately our creator knows us and how deeply

Fr. Craig Swan: our creator loves us.

Fr. Craig Swan: So much so that he gave us his

Fr. Craig Swan: only begotten son, so that we

Fr. Craig Swan: should have salvation and

Fr. Craig Swan: eternal life.

Fr. Craig Swan: That is truly the good news that

Fr. Craig Swan: the Samaritan woman came in

Fr. Craig Swan: contact with.

Fr. Craig Swan: And on some wonderful basic

Fr. Craig Swan: level, that is the experience

Fr. Craig Swan: that the young people in fall

Fr. Craig Swan: River had yesterday after they

Fr. Craig Swan: gave the best of their abilities

Fr. Craig Swan: on the stage yesterday afternoon

Fr. Craig Swan: to be told they had accomplished

Fr. Craig Swan: something great and were worthy

Fr. Craig Swan: of applause above and beyond

Fr. Craig Swan: their labels.

Fr. Craig Swan: And it is something that each and every individual that we

Fr. Craig Swan: come in contact with seeks, wants and needs.

Fr. Craig Swan: And so, just like the Samaritan woman, the fact that we have

Fr. Craig Swan: found something so unique and wonderful and joyful, we have no

Fr. Craig Swan: choice but to let that joy go forth into the world.

Fr. Craig Swan: And just like the Samaritan,

Fr. Craig Swan: tell everyone we meet about how

Fr. Craig Swan: deep and great the love of God

Fr. Craig Swan: is for you, for me, and for

Fr. Craig Swan: everyone else.

Fr. Craig Swan: Because this is truly a lonely

Fr. Craig Swan: and scary world, and it is only

Fr. Craig Swan: through God that we find

Fr. Craig Swan: connection and here that we are

Fr. Craig Swan: truly and fully lovable and

Fr. Craig Swan: beloved.

Fr. Craig Swan: Amen.