Tuesday, IV Lent
Ezekiel 47 and John 5)
Both the readings today illustrate the restorative power of water. In Ezekiel the water flows from the Temple to saturate the ground so that it may produce abundant life. The water is seen as a kind of grace that provides healing and nutritive benefits for the people. In John the crippled man cannot avail himself of the Temple waters so Jesus intervenes to heal the man directly. He becomes a more dependable source of grace than the Temple whose waters stir only intermittently and whose effectiveness is limited.
Jesus can come to us in ten thousand ways. But the channels that he has established are the seven sacraments. In Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Healing, Marriage and Orders he both heals us and empowers us.
“Crops grow where water flows.” That’s the message on a road sign that the agricultural lobby puts on highways. The lobby wants to remind citizens that water cannot be taken for granted. It may fall from the sky but it has to be preserved and channeled by often costly government actions. So we should not take for granted the sacraments. To keep the waters of grace flowing we need to come to Penance services and, of course, Mass. It may take some effort but the benefits enhance our life.
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