Photina: the luminous one

This weekend many homilies will be preached about the life of the woman at the well, for good or bad. We do not even ask her name, just her past. The tradition of the church remembers her name as St. Photini (or Photina, Svetlana), meaning "the luminous one" or "enlightened one".  She certainly was enlightened by her meeting Jesus at that well so many years ago. Her shining example is one we can all from. What makes her important is not her past; it is her faith in the one who saw her for who she was: the beloved daughter of God that she always was. She was not her past. She was not her choices. She was the daughter of Light, the divine spark of God.

It is good we celebrate her life today as the world observes International Women’s Day tomorrow. This day has been observed for 115 years as a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year, I do not think it is a coincidence that we read Photina’s story this weekend. God is calling us to build a new world in which we know each other’s name and see what is in a person’s heart. In each of us, if we open our eyes to see, we will see the divine spark of God’s heart in others and in ourselves.

Today is a day to celebrate the women who have been the foundations of our faith. Eve, our mother. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachael and Leah, Zipporah, the wife of Moses, Esther and Judith who saved their nation. We as Catholics rejoice in the gift of Mary, the mother of God, of the Church, and our mother. We celebrate Ann her mother, Mary of Magdala, Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, Lydia who sold expensive cloth and supported the work of Paul. We honor all the women who stand before us as martyrs of the faith and the women who tended the poor and needy like Claire of Assisi and Louise de Marillac. We remember Kateri and Maryanne Cope, Dorothy Day, and the women martyrs of El Salvador. We also need to remember the women who build these local faith communities and continue to lead us to the Lord.

But, as we celebrate all of those holy women and more, we must remember the women who have struggled. Like Photina, many have been harshly judged and abused. I think of the women in the Middle East and Ukraine who are afraid for the life of their children. A few years ago, I saw a picture of an elderly Ukrainian woman walking away from the rubble of her house with a babushka and I saw my grandmothers in her. In National Geographic in 1984, there was a haunting picture of a young woman who became the picture of the refugees of that time. In every picture of a Middle Eastern women with fear in their eyes because of the violence, I see the Mother of God. We must remember the women in our neighborhoods who are the victims of domestic violence and abuse and, we the Church, must work for a world in which they will feel safe.

Photina’s voice speaks loudly today: He told me everything I ever did. Could he be the Christ? Jesus treated her with dignity and showed her he was the Christ, the Anointed One. We are called to anoint the world with the justice, love, and peace of God’s Kingdom and work for a world where sexism no longer exists. Let us give thanks here today for the women who have served and serve the Kingdom among us.