Pope feels for Ecuador's flood victims, reflects on ‘Woman at the Well’

(Feb. 25, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI expressed his closeness to those in Ecuador affected by recent flooding caused by heavy rains since mid-January. The "recent floods have devastated large areas of the coast of Ecuador, causing very grave damage, which adds to the damage caused by the eruption of the Tungurahua" volcano, said the Pope speaking after his weekly midday ‘Angelus” prayer on Sunday in St. Peter's Square. "As I entrust the victims of this calamity to the Lord," he added, "I express my personal nearness to those who are experiencing times of anxiety and tribulation and I invite all to a fraternal solidarity, so that the people of these areas can return as soon as possible to the normalcy of daily life."
Before the ‘angelus’ the Pope reflected briefly on Sunday’s Gospel reading of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. The meeting began with "the real and sensible experience of thirst," to show how God made himself thirsty to refresh us, as he made himself poor to enrich us," the Pope explained. "Yes, God thirsts for our faith and our love. Like a good and merciful father he desires for us all possible good and this good is God himself." "For her part, the Samaritan woman represents the existential unhappiness of those who have not found what they are looking for," said Pope Benedict. "She had 'five husbands' and was currently living with another. "But everything changes for her that day," after her encounter with the Lord. She leaves the water jar and runs to tell the people of the village: 'Come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?'" The Pope concluded saying, “Let us too open our hearts to the confident hearing of the word of God to meet, like the Samaritan woman, Jesus, who reveals his love to us."