The waters that flowed from the temple in the first reading are the same waters that were stirred up in the pool at Bethesda, and those are the same waters that if you’re real quiet, you can hear flowing over in the baptistry. These are the waters of baptism that freshen all of the world and refresh those who live in it. Those waters of baptism provide healing for our sins and hurts and addictions, and all the things that we find so difficult to let go of.
But we have to have courage to wade into them as our Lord invites us in, and perhaps we may need some help to get in there. But it’s not impossible. We, at least have been in them before and have been washed clean. Our joy is now to look back at our baptism, renew our baptismal promises, and recommit ourselves to the healing waters that wash away our sins and bring us, pure and joyful, to our God.
Water is so important to us, and we see a lot of water in these readings. Water refreshes us, sustains us, cleans us. And when the readings talk so much about water, what we are being led to is a reflection on baptism. We ourselves are the sick and lame man who needed Jesus’ help to get into the waters of Bethesda. The name “Bethesda” means “house of mercy” in Hebrew, and that, of course, is a symbol of the Church. We see the Church also in the temple in the first reading, from which waters flow which refresh and nourish the surrounding countryside. These, of course, again are the waters of baptism. Lent calls us to renew ourselves in baptism. We are called to renew ourselves in those waters that heal our bodies and our souls. We are called to drink deep of the grace of God so that we can go forth and refresh the world.
But what really stands out in this Gospel is the mercy of Jesus. I think it’s summed up in one statement that maybe we might not catch as merciful at first: “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” I’m sure being ill for thirty-eight years is really bad. It’s hard to imagine anything being worse. But I’m also pretty sure missing out on the kingdom of God would be that one, much worse, thing. There is mercy in being called to repentance, which renews us in our baptismal commitments and makes us fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Sometimes parishes have removed the holy water from church during Lent in a kind of fasting. This is exactly why you shouldn’t: Lent is all about baptism, all about God’s mercy, all about being renewed and refreshed and healed in God’s grace. It’s only recently that we have been able to put holy water back in the font and stoups again after draining them due to the pandemic, and I couldn’t be happier to have it back!
So I encourage you all to not take holy water for granted. Think about that the next time you put your hand into the font and stir up those waters of mercy. Be healed and made new; go, and from now on, do not sin any more.
So we’ve taken down most of the Christmas decorations, and we won’t see the poinsettias and manger until next year. Yet we’re not quite done with the Christmas season in the Church. Traditionally, some aspects of Christmas joy and amazement remain in our Liturgy through February 2nd, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Today is an example of that. I almost think this should be called the Third Sunday of Epiphany. I say that because the Church has traditionally held that there are three traditional Epiphanies.
We’ll back up just a bit here. The word Epiphany, as we discussed two weeks ago on that feast, means a “manifestation;” we often think of it as a kind of “aha!” moment. It is basically God doing a “God thing” so that we will sit up and take notice. And so on the Feast of the Epiphany, we traditionally think of the first Scriptural Epiphany: the visit of the Magi to the Christ child. The other two traditional Epiphanies are, first, what we celebrated last week: the baptism of the Lord in the Jordan River by his cousin, Saint John the Baptist. And then the third Epiphany is what we have in the Gospel this week: the miracle of changing water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana.
So in each of these Epiphanies, we learn something about our Lord. In the first Epiphany, the Magi bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, which reveals that this is no ordinary child. No, this is the Child come from God who is to be anointed priest, prophet and king. Gold for a king; frankincense for a priest; and then the myrrh which foreshadows Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross, all to pay the price for our sins and bring in the joy of God’s mercy and redemption. In this Epiphany, Jesus is revealed as the One who has come to manifest God’s love in an incredibly generous way.
In the second Epiphany, Jesus is baptized. John’s baptism was for the forgiveness of sins, which clearly was not necessary for Jesus. Instead, his baptism consecrates the waters of baptism, so that every person ever to be baptized is washed with the same water that touched our Lord. In our own baptisms now, we can inherit divinity because the Divine man, Jesus Christ, was washed in that same water. Because Jesus humbled himself to be baptized, because he humbled himself to share in our humanity, we can be exalted to share in his divinity. In this Epiphany, Jesus is revealed as the One who claims all of broken humanity to be made new by God’s mercy.
In the third Epiphany, today, Jesus, having gathered his disciples and on the verge of his ministry, changes water into wine. But we know the symbolism of these things. Whenever we see water in the Scriptures, the Church thinks of Baptism, and whenever we see wine in the Scriptures, the Church thinks of the Eucharist, the blood of Christ. Here gallons of water, set aside for washing – another baptismal image – are miraculously turned into the best wine ever, poured out in superabundance to quench the thirst of those who gather for a feast. Clearly these are Eucharistic images for us. In this Epiphany, Jesus is revealed as the One who provides life-giving blood, the best wine ever, for all those who are baptized, all those who follow him in faith.
Over these three weeks, we have come to see who Jesus is in some very particular ways. If we had never heard of him before, but came to Mass these three weeks, we would have learned of a God who cares enough for us, his creatures, to provide a way for them to be healed from their sinfulness, cured of their brokenness, and changed from profanity to divinity, from death to eternity. If we had never before heard the Gospel, these three weeks would reveal very good news indeed!
But, of course, we have heard the Gospel and been raised in the faith. And so these three weeks are an opportunity for us to look once again at our precious Lord, in the great outpouring of God’s love that the Incarnation truly is, and see that he continues to reveal himself and his grace in so many ways among us every day. Have you had an experience of Epiphany this week? Has God given you what you need – probably through someone else – in just the way you needed it at some time recently? Have you seen God’s love active in a new way this Christmas season? If so, now is the time to give thanks for that experience.
And we have to remember that Jesus wants us to be Epiphany as well. God wants to use us in some way to reveal his love and grace to others. It doesn’t have to be a big and incredible experience. It might just be doing, as Saint Therese of Liseaux used to say, little things with great love. Then others can see Christ at work in you and me. Then we can be Epiphany and shine the bright light of Christ’s love in a world that is very dark and ponderous and weary. How do we do that? Mary’s instruction is all that we need to hear: “Do whatever he tells you.”
That word of instruction from our Blessed Mother is one that was directed not just to the waiters, but even more importantly to us. As we see who Jesus is in our lives, as he reveals himself and his will for us, we baptized believers, who are fed at the Table of the Eucharist with the Bread of Life and the Wine of Salvation, with his very own Body and Blood, must act on that Epiphany and do what he tells us.
Sometimes people struggle with this. They hear the call, but are afraid, or uneasy, or unmotivated, and they let the call go by. At the end of our lives, we never want to be wondering “what if” we had followed the call, “what if” we had done what he told us. If we want to be happy, truly happy in this life and forever happy in the next, we have to take the leap of faith and follow our Lord. Whatever happens as a result of that will be guided by the hand of our God who wants the best for us. If we want to be happy, we have to live the Epiphany, be the Epiphany: “Do whatever he tells you.”
Today’s readings Note: At this Mass, we were celebrating the First Scrutiny with the Elect preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil, so readings from Cycle A were used, as per the Rite.
We have with us today, three young people who are seeking to receive the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and First Eucharist, at the Easter Vigil this year. Because they are old enough to be of what we call “catechetical age,” they do not receive infant baptism, but instead prepare for the sacraments in a similar way to adults in our RCIA program. These children have been preparing for the last two years, and we have accepted them back at the beginning of that as catechumens, an order of people preparing for the sacraments. Two weeks ago, they were sent to the Cathedral in Joliet to be chosen by Bishop Hicks to receive these sacraments, and now we call them the Elect. Today they are with us to undergo a special ritual called the scrutiny, in which they are called to repent of sin and its hold on them, and receive a blessing which is a minor exorcism, giving them grace to open their hearts to receive these Easter Sacraments. Today we continue to support them with our prayers, and through our own ongoing conversion of heart.
Because of the scrutiny today, we have special readings, which are different from those we would ordinarily hear on this particular Sunday of the Church year. Today’s readings focus on the theme of water, which sets our hearts on baptism. Whenever we hear about water in the readings as we do today, we think of baptism. And so, appropriately enough, on this day of our first scrutiny, we think of the waters of baptism that will flow over the Elect and wash them of their sins, bringing them into the family of God’s chosen people. What a glorious thing that is to think about!
Our readings today tell us just how important water is to us. In the first reading, God has led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, and now they are making their way through the desert into the promised land. This is kind of how our spiritual lives are like: God never wanted us to linger in darkness and sin, so he made a way for us out of all of that. Traveling through the desert of our lives, God provides for us so that we can make our way to the promised land of heaven. And see how he does provide for the people! When they complain that they are thirsty, God gives them water in the desert, which is impossible. But nothing is too hard for God, and he gives them water so that they won’t faint from thirst in the desert. Water sustains us and gives us life.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus asks the woman of Samaria for a drink of water. Now Jesus was being really bold here, because men in those days did not speak to women who were not accompanied by another person, and Jews never, ever spoke to Samarians, and certainly never used something that they used, like a bucket or a cup to drink from. But Jesus says to her anyway, “Give me a drink.” But here’s the amazing thing. Jesus wasn’t so much thirsty for water as he was for her faith. He wanted to provide water for this woman, who has been bogged down by where life has taken her. He wants to get her through the desert of her life, to the promised land. “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst,” Jesus says to the woman, and this stirs up her faith. She responds with eagerness: “Sir give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty…” And then she goes into town, leaving her water bucket behind, turning away from her past life, and tells everyone about Jesus, and they come to believe in him. Jesus was thirsty for their faith.
Water is a powerful thing on earth. It can be dangerous: we’ve all heard sad stories about people drowning in Lake Michigan or on raging rivers, or even in backyard pools. But water most often is wonderful: it cleans us, refreshes us, sustains us. Our bodies are about sixty percent water, more or less, so we need water to keep us living. Today we see that water can be powerful in our spiritual lives. Water can wash away our sins, and we call that baptism. We look forward to that wonderful day with our Elect on the evening of Holy Saturday.
What we need to see in water is that it is a symbol of the fact that God gives us what we need, when we need it. He gave the Israelites water in the desert, which is amazing. He used water to awaken the Samaritan woman’s faith. He provides refreshment for us on our spiritual journey, and he washes us clean with the waters of baptism. We are all thirsty for something: the Israelites were thirsty for God’s help in the desert, Jesus was thirsty for the Samaritan woman’s faith. We are thirst people too, and we can only quench that thirst by being washed clean in the waters of baptism, and growing each day in our faith.
Even those of us who already have been baptized need to hear in these readings that we have to open ourselves to being quenched in our thirsts by God. We can’t be going back to Egypt when things get rough: that only leads to the slavery of sin. We have to be resolute and make our way through the desert of our lives, depending on the providence of God to build up our faith, so that we can make our way to the promised land of heaven. That promised land is where we are all expected. Life is our journey of getting there. The only way to make it is to drink deep of the Living Water that is Jesus, and allowing him to lead us to heaven.
This Mass was streamed live on Facebook in lieu of people attending Mass in person, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Is the LORD in our midst or not?
I remember a time a while back when I got the flu – bad. It was one of those rare occasions when I was so sick, I couldn’t even get out of bed. I had a fever, chills, aches and pains, the whole deal. When it was at its worst, I was trying to drink a lot of fluids, which is pretty much the only thing you really can do when you have the flu. So I drank a lot of water, but as time went on, I got sick of drinking a lot of water. So I supplemented it with tea, of course, but I even gave myself permission to do something I don’t do very often, and that was to drink some soda – 7up mostly. And that tasted good, the 7up, but because it’s sugary, sooner rather than later I’d be thirsty again, and the only thing that really helped was – water.
It’s not so different now, is it? I think a bottle of water is worth about $37 on the open market. With the COVID-19 situation taking a toll on all of us, it’s little things like water that remind us that we can’t take anything for granted.
I thought about that experience as I was preparing today’s homily, because this set of readings, which are being used just for this Mass because of the Scrutiny we will pray in a few minutes with our RCIA Elect, these readings are all about water. Whenever we see this much water in the Sunday readings, we should always think of baptism. And so we’ll talk about that in just a minute, but before we go there, let’s take a minute to get at the subject of thirst. That, after all, is what gets us to water in the first place.
The Israelites were sure thirsty in today’s first reading. After all, they had been wandering around the desert for a while now, and would continue to do so for forty years. At that point, they were thinking about how nice it would have been if they had just remained slaves in Egypt, so that they wouldn’t have to come all the way out here to the desert just to die of thirst. Better slaves than dead, they thought. The issue was that they didn’t have what they thirsted for, and had not yet learned to trust God to quench that thirst. So Moses takes all the complaining of the people and complains to God, who provides water for them in the desert. Think about that – they had water in the desert! And they had that water for as long as they continued to make that desert journey. They never ran out, they didn’t die of thirst, God proves himself trustworthy in a miraculous way. The end of the reading says they named the place Massah and Meribah because they wondered, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?” Can you imagine that? God had led them out of slavery in Egypt with great miracles and signs, and is guiding them through the desert with a column of cloud by day and a column of fire by night. Is the LORD in their midst or not? Obviously, the answer was “yes.”
Which brings us to the rather curious story we have in the Gospel reading. If we think the story was all about a woman coming to get a bucket of water, then we’ve really missed the boat. This story asks us what we’re thirsting for, but at a much deeper level. Did Jesus really need a drink of water? Well, maybe, but he clearly thirsted much more for the Samaritan woman’s faith. Did she leave her bucket behind because she would never need to drink water again? Maybe, or maybe she just forgot it in the excitement, but clearly she had found the source of living water and wanted to share it with everyone.
In the midst of their interaction, Jesus uncovers that the woman has been thirsting for something her whole life long. She was married so many times, and the one she was with now was not her husband. She apparently couldn’t find what she was thirsting for in her relationships. She was worshipping, as the Samaritans did, on the mountain and not in Jerusalem as the Jews did. And every single day, she came to this well to draw water, because her life didn’t mean much more than that. She was constantly looking for water that would quench her, and yet she was thirsty all the time. Kind of reminds me of having the flu.
And all of this would be very sad if she hadn’t just found the answer to her prayers, the source of living water. There is a hymn written by Horatio Bonar in 1846 called “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” that speaks to this wonderful Gospel story. We sang it as our opening song and we’re going to hear it in a few minutes as part of our scrutiny, but I want to focus on the words of that hymn because they relate to today’s Gospel story:
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give the living water; thirsty one, stoop down and drink, and live.” I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.
And that’s exactly what happened to the Samaritan woman. She drank of the stream of Jesus’ life-giving water, and she now lived in him. She couldn’t even contain herself and ran right off to town, leaving the bucket of her past life behind, and told everyone about Jesus. They were moved to check this Jesus out, initially because of her testimony. But once they came to know him as the source of life-giving water, they didn’t even need her testimony to convince them; they too lived in him now.
Today’s Scriptures plead with us on the subject of conversion. The Israelites were wandering through the desert learning to trust God, being converted from the Egypt of their past sinful lives to the Promised Land of God’s inheritance. The Samaritan woman was being converted from the stagnant water of her own past life to the living, life-giving water of new life in Christ.
Remember that I said earlier that, whenever you see this much about water in the readings, the point is always baptism. Conversion is necessary before baptism can happen. And that’s what brings us here today. Lent, if we give ourselves to it, is totally about our baptism and our need for life-long conversion. For those among the Elect, that’s quite literally true. Our elect have been walking the desert journey to come to God’s promise just as the Israelites did. And they, like the Samaritan woman, have come to know the source of life-giving water. Just four weeks from yesterday, they will stand before us, have life-giving water poured over their heads, and receive what they have been thirsting for all this time.
But the rest of us, too, find conversion and baptism in our Lenten journey. Lent, as is often pointed out, means “springtime” and during Lent we await a new springtime in our faith. We await new growth, we look for renewed faith, we recommit ourselves to the baptism that is our source of life-giving water. We have what we are thirsting for, and Lent is a time to drink of it more deeply, so that we will be refreshed and renewed to live with vigor the life of faith and the call of the Gospel. These Lenten days take us to Easter and beyond with water that we can pour out in every time and place where God takes us. The life we receive in baptism can revive a world grown listless and jaded and make it alive with springs of refreshment that can only come from the one who gives us water beyond our thirsting, that follows us in our desert journeys, that springs up within those who believe.
The Israelites wondered, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?” As we see the waters of baptism refreshing our Elect, and as we ourselves are renewed in our own baptism, should certainly answer that question with a resounding “YES!” The Lord is, and always has been, in our midst. Our thirst has been quenched, our souls revived, and now we live in him.
Winter is always rough on people, health-wise. If it’s not the flu, then it’s some sort of virus making its way around. That’s been true this winter for sure. Staff members here at church and people in my family have been coming down with one form or another of seasonal illness, and I was glad I got my flu shot this fall. But this week it was my turn: despite the flu shot, I had a fever, fatigue and some light-headedness that made me think it was a sinus thing cranked up a few notches. It’s been hard to shake it. One thing you learn when you have a fever or something like that is that you should drink a lot of water. But eventually, that becomes tiresome: you get sick of drinking just plain water, no matter how good it may be for you. So this week I supplemented it with tea, of course, and I even gave myself permission to do something I don’t do very often, and that was to drink some soda – 7up or ginger ale mostly. And those drinks tasted better than just plain water, for sure, but because they are sugary, sooner rather than later I’d be thirsty again, and the only thing that really helped was – water. I drank a lot of water this week!
I thought about that experience as I was preparing today’s homily, because this set of readings are all about water. When the Church talks about water, it sees something different than most of the world does. Water is a striking image in the literature of our religion: when we hear of water, maybe we think about the waters swirling around before creation, or the waters of the great flood. During Lent, we might think often about the waters of the Red Sea, through which the Israelites passed as they fled from slavery in Egypt. We might think of the water that flowed from the Temple in Isaiah’s imagery, that gave life to all the world. And of course, as we near Good Friday, we cannot help but remember the water and blood that flowed from the side of Christ, giving life to the Church. And then we could think sacramentally, couldn’t we? Whenever we see this much discussed about water in the Sunday readings, we should always think of a certain sacrament. Guess which one? Right, baptism. And so we’ll talk about that in just a minute, but before we go there, let’s take a minute to get at the subject of thirst. That, after all, is what gets us to water in the first place.
The Israelites were sure thirsty in today’s first reading. After all, they had been wandering around the desert for a while now, and would continue to do so for forty years. At that point, they were thinking about how nice it would be if they had just remained slaves in Egypt so that they wouldn’t have to come all the way out here to the desert just to die of thirst. Better slaves than dead, they thought. The issue was that they didn’t have what they thirsted for, and had not yet learned to trust God to quench that thirst. So Moses takes all the complaining of the people and complains to God, who provides water for them in the desert. Think about that – they had water in the desert! And they had that water for as long as they continued to make that desert journey. Read the whole story of the Exodus – it’s a good Lenten thing to do – they never ran out of water, they didn’t die of thirst, God proves himself trustworthy in a miraculous way. The end of the reading says they named the place Massah and Meribah because they wondered, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?” What a ridiculous question! Obviously, the answer was “yes.”
Which brings us to the rather curious story we have in the Gospel reading. If we think the story was all about a woman coming to get a bucket of water, then we’ve really missed the boat, to misuse another water metaphor! This story asks us what we’re thirsting for, but at a much deeper level. Did Jesus really need a drink of water? Well, maybe, but he clearly thirsted much more for the Samaritan woman’s faith. Did she leave her bucket behind because she would never need to drink water again? No, she probably just forgot it in the excitement, but clearly she had found the source of living water and wanted to share it with everyone.
In the midst of their interaction, Jesus uncovers that the woman has been thirsting for something her whole life long. She was married so many times, and the one she was with now was not her husband. She was worshipping, as the Samaritans did, on the mountain and not in Jerusalem as the Jews did. And every single day, she came to this well to draw water, because her life didn’t mean much more than that. She was constantly looking for water, or something that would quench her unsated thirst. She didn’t even know what she was seeking, and yet she was thirsty all the time.
And all of this would be very sad if she hadn’t just found the answer to her prayers, the source of living water. One of my favorite hymns is a hymn written by Horatio Bonar in 1846 called “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say.” This hymn is sung all during the year, but I think it may be the quintessential Lenten Hymn. One of the verses speaks beautifully to this wonderful Gospel story:
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give the living water; thirsty one, stoop down and drink, and live.” I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.
Which is exactly what happened to the Samaritan woman, isn’t it? She drank of the stream of Jesus’ life-giving water, and she now lived in him. She couldn’t even contain herself and ran right off to town, leaving the bucket of her past life behind, and told everyone about Jesus. They were moved to check this Jesus out, initially because of her testimony. But once they came to know him as the source of life-giving water, they didn’t even need her testimony to convince them; they too lived in him now.
But remember that I said earlier that, whenever you see this much about water in the readings, the point is always baptism. The readings for this Sunday are particularly chosen for the First Scrutiny in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. So if we had anyone becoming Catholic in our parish, which we don’t this year, we would be reflecting in a particular way on their upcoming baptism. The Catechumens of the Church in these Lenten days are, like the Samaritan woman, coming to know this Jesus who is the source of life-giving water. Since we have no Catechumens in our parish this year, I want us to reflect on two things.
The first thing is to reflect on our own baptisms. Because we too find baptism in our Lenten journey. Lent, as is often pointed out, means “springtime” and during Lent we await a new springtime in our faith. We await new growth, we look for renewed faith, we recommit ourselves to the baptism that is our source of life-giving water. We have what we are thirsting for, and Lent is a time to drink of it more deeply, so that we will be refreshed and renewed to live with vigor the life of faith and the call of the Gospel. As we approach Easter, then, we should reflect on our own baptisms, perhaps received before we could even understand or remember them, but certainly renewed as we have journeyed through life. Those baptisms have called us to a particular way of life, leaving behind the buckets of life in the world and the well that can never really quench our thirst, so that we can embrace Jesus the Lord, our source of life-giving water. He alone gives us water in such a way that we will never thirst again.
The second thing is to commit ourselves as a parish to the task of evangelization. Just because we have no Catechumens this year doesn’t mean that there is nobody unbaptized among us. We all know people who need to know the Lord. Maybe they are unbaptized, maybe they are baptized in another Church, or maybe they are just not practicing any religion. But because we know the source of life-giving water, they we know that everyone should be drinking of that water. We have to bring the message to them. Maybe not by preaching on the street corner, but more by the witness of our lives. We might also need to extend the invitation, bring someone to Mass, encourage them to join us. These Lenten days take us to Easter and beyond with water that we can pour out in every time and place where God takes us. The life we receive in baptism can revive a world grown listless and droopy and make it alive with springs of refreshment that can only come from the one who gives us water beyond our thirsting, that follows us in our desert journeys, that springs up within those who believe.
The Israelites wondered, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?” Surely we cannot be as unbelieving as they were. We see the marvels God does for us, we experience the assurance of our faith in good times and in bad. We see lives changed as they embrace the faith. So how would we answer the question, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?” Absolutely, yes he is, always and forever. Amen.
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