This Scrutiny leads the Elect to focus on conversion and on the new life that will begin through the sacraments. In the Gospel, Jesus encounters the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s well (John 4:5-42). Our Lord is the Light who alone is able to examine and scrutinize the hidden places of our hearts. When He encountered the Woman at the Well, she was moved to acknowledge her sinfulness. In the presence of the Divine Physician, she exposed the festering sores of her soul and began to experience healing. So also the Elect are encouraged through the prayers of this rite to open their souls to the Divine Physician, to allow Him to bring light where there is darkness and healing to any and all wounds. The prayers of exorcism, which conclude the ritual, beg God to deliver the Elect from the deceits of the Devil.

Just as Moses once struck the rock with a staff in the desert to quench the thirst of the Israelites, so Christ, the New Moses, promises the Samaritan Woman “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In fact, the New Moses is Himself the spiritual Rock (see 1 Cor 10:4), for blood and water flow from His pierced side as He hangs on the Cross. The twin streams, flowing from that pierced side, are the sources of eternal life, made tangibly accessible through the sacraments.

Tradition gives us the name of the Samaritan Woman as Photina, which means Light Bearer (Lucina in Latin). Soon the Elect will receive the Living Water and will become radiant bearers of the Light of Christ. Let us continue to hold them in prayer during these final weeks of their journey.