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March 16, 2021"For they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary” Ezekiel 47:12
A snowflake once descended on the mountainside begins to melt, and the drop rolls over rocks on its journey to the quiet Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota. This same water gathers and begins to move, coursing its way 2,500 miles, growing until these drops arrive in New Orleans as the Mighty Mississippi flows into the Gulf. The Prophet Ezekiel was led to go deeper into the water flowing from the sanctuary, one thousand cubits at a time, until the ankle-deep water became a river. Our response to God’s grace may seem to be small, like a trickle of water, in which we could splash across with rainboots. Through these intentional acts of cooperation with God’s grace, we can experience growth so as to pray with St. Catherine of Siena, “Eternal God, you are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for you.” We are invited like Ezekiel to experience the sheer depth of God’s grace, one step at a time.
After thirty-eight long years of sickness, showing up for one more day, the man lying at the edge of the pool of Bethesda carried hope that he would be well, if someone could just help him into the waters. Then, grace flowed as a mighty current as Jesus strengthened this man’s feet and revealed himself as the healer in the temple area. Jesus is the source and summit of our Christian lives, the author and perfecter of our faith. We trust that Jesus will give us the living water of his love, welling up to eternal life. As we grow in God’s grace, we repeat with St. Bernard, “Let the rivers of grace circle back to their Fountain-Head that they may run their course anew. Let the torrent that springs in heaven be channeled back to its starting point and be poured on the earth again with fertilizing power.”