Valerie D.
Valerie D.
Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
I am a Samaritan woman, yet the Lord called me by name.
He knew all of my sins. Yet He loved me just the same.
He sat at the well with me.
He gave me living water and set my soul free.
Let us worship Him in spirit and truth, Jesus is Lord I do proclaim!
Even though I was sinning and sinning –
Yet He called me by name and loved me just the same!
I turned my life around and His mission I proclaim!
Just imagine! This woman that we know as the woman at the well. It was at the noon hour, that she was at the well (the central location of the village) to bear water for her household. She went at a time when the village would be isolated. She was someone shunned by her community. She in a sense was made to be invisible by the other women and the men of the town. She was not embraced or welcomed. Her human circumstance of living in a manner that was frowned upon by the community- made her other- disenfranchised and marginalized by the customs of her time.
The well or watering hole of a village is where the women gathered. It was not only to gather water for their activities of daily living. The well was also the social location and meeting place where the unmarried gathered to look for a potential spouse. Abraham’s servant Eliezer was at the well when he found a bride for Isaac, Rebekah, in Genesis 24. Jacob was at the well when he met Rachael- Genesis 29. Moses was at the well when he met his future wife Zipporah- Exodus 25:15-22.
The Gospel of John 4:15-28 provides us with a wellness check-up.
So, what is it, that we bear witness to at the meeting at the well? We see that this Samaritan woman and Jewish man (whom she comes to realize and acknowledges as the Messiah) have an encounter. It is a conversation that provides an insight, not only of how Jesus sees this woman, but also how she as well, comes to see herself! Where to others she is invisible- Jesus sees her.
Jesus looked beyond her faults and saw her need. He did not dwell on her past human brokenness. He acknowledges the truth so that he could bring her to a place of truth and it is here that the healing begins. Jesus looks at her and mirrors to her what His eyes see, when He gazes upon her.
Jesus does not allow the limitations and taboos of the time, religiosity, culture, and gender- to define how He sees this woman. It is in the recognizing her human dignity- that He talks with her and walks with her and lets her know that she is His own! You see, Jesus saw her, and He sees us!
We as women are not invisible to Him! Although the world may see us as sacrilegious, scandalous, and superstitious- Jesus looks at us with the eye of de novo, a new look. We are a new vision in His eyes. A vision that is not scarred by our past sin. Just one look by Christ that is all it took. A look that sees us as those who are renewed in His broken body and shed blood of the Cross!
Where the world makes us invisible – we are made visible again in Christ! This is the faith we are initiated into at the well of Baptism. It is this proclamation of conversion and metanoia and faith that we are called to run and tell about. We are called to lead others out of a place of invisibility and into the light. A “Well” Woman’s Witness* so to speak! The testimony of one who has been healed and made whole, plunged into the Living Water!
So let us go and tell that!
I am a Samaritan woman, yet the Lord called me by name.
He knew all of my sins. Yet He loved me just the same.
He sat at the well with me.
He gave me living water and set my soul free.
Let us worship Him in spirit and truth, Jesus is Lord I do proclaim!
Even though I was sinning and sinning –
Yet He called me by name and loved me just the same!
I turned my life around and His mission I proclaim!
*Well Women Witness is language used courtesy of Sr. Oralisa Martin @ Oracle Ministry.org
Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
Doctor of Ministry: Healer, Scholar, Pastoral Theologian and Social Justice Advocate
Dr. Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley is an alumna of Boston College School of Nursing (BSN 1979), Seton Hall University School of Law (MSJ - Health Law 2006), Seton Hall University School of Theology – Immaculate Conception Seminary (MAPM -Christian Spirituality/Spiritual Direction 2011) and Drew Theological School (Doctor of Ministry - Practicing Healing Mind Body Spirit 2015). Valerie has graduate studies in Nursing Leadership from New York University. She is also a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana-Institute for Black Catholic Studies (2002) with a certification as a Master Catechist in the Catholic Church. She also has doctrinal certification from the Archdiocese of Newark where she has served in ministry for over thirty years. She serves the Archdiocese of Newark on the Advisory Board for the African-American African and Caribbean Apostolate. As well she has presented lectures at the Deanery on racism and the Pastoral Letter Open Wide Our Hearts.
She is the retired Director of Religious Education at the Church of Christ the King - Jersey City, New Jersey, a historical Black Catholic Parish an Apostolate for Evangelization in the African American community. She serves in various capacities across the nation as a mentor to youth and young adults; evangelist, retreat leader and revivalist and public speaker, life coach and Spiritual Director. Catechesis to children and youth and women’s spirituality and empowerment are a major component of her ministry as a pastoral associate. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Theology at Caldwell University, Caldwell, New Jersey, and Xavier University of Louisiana Institute for Black Catholic Studies. Valerie is a member of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium. She belongs to various International Honor Societies and is a Silver Life member of the NAACP. She is a Lady of the Confraternity of the Knights of St. Peter Claver.
Valerie is retired from clinical practice at the New York Hospital-Weill Cornell University Medical Center. Her specialty area was in High Risk/Tertiary Care Obstetrics- Women and Children’s Health where she served as the Senior Staff Clinical Nurse, Unit Preceptor, and Quality Assurance Committee Representative, and Interim Administrative Nurse Recruiter.
She is an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and a Lector. She has served as a minister on the Pre-Cana team preparing couples for the Sacrament of Matrimony. She serves the Church as a Lay Associate Order of Preachers (OPA) The Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, New Jersey. It is her mission” To Praise, To Bless, To Preach” the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her life models the spirituality of the Dominican and Jesuit charism. Black Catholic Spirituality and Catholic Social Justice Teaching are premiere in her use of culture and faith to authentically evangelize. She is the recipient of the Caldwell Dominican Peace Award for 2022.
Valerie has contributed several articles in various Liturgical Magazines and Scripture reflections in Ministry Publications. She is a consultant and contributing writer for The Hallelujah People: Eat the Scroll Ministry. She is an Aquinas Institute of Theology- Delaplane Preaching Scholar of the 2022 Writing Cohort - Preaching Racial Justice: Challenge and Journey. The project is funded by the Lilly Foundation and will be published by Orbis Books. She is a contributing writer in Religion, Women of Color, and the Suffrage Movement: The Journey to Holistic Freedom, Does Christian Catechesis Have a Gender Problem? Toward a Catechesis of Wholeness (2022) Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
October 17 at 7pm ET: Join Catholic Women Preach, FutureChurch, contributors to the Year C book, and co-editors Elizabeth Donnelly and Russ Petrus as we celebrate the release of the third and final volume of this ground-breaking, award winning series.
"Catholic Women Preach is one of the more inspiring collection of homilies available today. Based on the deep spirituality and insights of the various women authors, the homilies are solidly based on the scriptures and offer refreshing and engaging insights for homilists and listeners. The feminine perspective has long been absent in the preached word, and its inclusion in this work offers a long overdue and pastorally necessary resource for the liturgical life of the Church." - Catholic Media Association
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