Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Wednesday, 2 April 2014 - Catholic Meditations

Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Wednesday, 2 April 2014 - Catholic Meditations

Meditations: Isaiah 49: 8 Yahweh says, “In an acceptable time I have answered you,

    and in a day of salvation I have helped you.

I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people,

    to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage:

9 saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’;

    to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’

“They shall feed along the paths,

    and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst;

    neither shall the heat nor sun strike them:

    for he who has mercy on them will lead them.

    He will guide them by springs of water.

11 I will make all my mountains a road,

    and my highways shall be exalted.

12 Behold, these shall come from afar;

    and behold, these from the north and from the west;

    and these from the land of Sinim.”

13 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth;

    and break out into singing, mountains:

for Yahweh has comforted his people,

    and will have compassion on his afflicted.

14 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me,

    and the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

    that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Yes, these may forget,

    yet I will not forget you!

Saint Francis of Paola, Hermit

He who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. (Isaiah 49:10)

Did you know that the earth’s surface is over 70 percent water? And more than half of the people on earth live within 3 kilometers of fresh water! Not only that, but our bodies are 60 percent water. And while you can survive for weeks without food, you will only last 3-5 days without water. Clearly, water is essential for life.

The theme of water permeates the Scriptures, too, especially in Lent. So far, our Lenten readings have presented multiple images of trees planted by streams of water; Moses striking the rock for water in the desert; Naaman the leper being cleansed in the river; and a Samaritan woman receiving living water from Jesus. And just yesterday, we read Ezekiel’s image of the Temple flowing with the river of life along with the story of a man Jesus healed by the pool of Bethsaida in Jerusalem.

Through all of these stories and more, God is showing us that his life is like water for us. In fact, our spiritual lives are surrounded by water. In Baptism we were cleansed by water, and we received within ourselves a spring of living water bubbling up in our hearts. And at the end of our lives, during the Mass of Christian Burial, our bodies are sprinkled with holy water. Each Lent, we prepare for the great liturgies of the Triduum, when holy water is blessed, and catechumens are baptized into the Church.

How do you need to experience God’s life-giving water today? Take a moment in prayer, and ask the Lord to help you come in touch with the life he has placed in you. Let the spring well up within you—a spring of hope, of joy, of cleansing, and of peace. Let that living water irrigate any “parched ground” in you—softening your heart, cleansing your conscience, healing your memories, enlivening your imagination. Let it carry away your burdens and give you the simple joy of knowing that Christ is in you and that he will never stop loving and caring for you.

“Father, I want your living waters to flow in me today. Nourish, cleanse, and bring me your joy. I need you to give me your life.” Amen.

Psalm 145: 8 Yahweh is gracious, merciful,

    slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.

9 Yahweh is good to all.

    His tender mercies are over all his works.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

    Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

Yahweh is faithful in all his words,

    and loving in all his deeds.[a]

14 Yahweh upholds all who fall,

    and raises up all those who are bowed down.

Footnotes:

a. Psalm 145:13 Some manuscripts omit these last two lines.

17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways,

    and gracious in all his works.

18 Yahweh is near to all those who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.

John 5:17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.” 18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. 20 For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. 22 For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.

24 “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. 27 He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. 28 Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, 29 and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. 30 I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.

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