"...apud aquam contradictionis."

In die tribulatione invocasti me, et liberavi te:
exaudivi te in abscondito tempestatis:
probavi te apud aquam contradictionis.

In distress you you called, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Psalm 81, 7

The river of God

Flumen Dei repletum est aquis, parasti cibum illorum: quoniam ita est praeparatio eius. Rivos eius inebria, multiplica genimina eius: in stillicidiis eius laetabitur germinans.

...the river of God is full of water; thou providest their grain, for so thou hast prepared it. Thou waterest its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.

Psalm 65, 9-10

"Give me this water"

"Baptism, the gateway into communion with Christ, is...interpreted for us here as rebirth...Rebirth involves the power of God's Spirit, but it also requires the sacrament of the maternal womb of the receiving and welcoming Church.

"Spirit and water, heaven and earth, Christ and the Church, belong together. And that is how 'rebirth' happens. In the sacrament, water stands for the maternal earth, the holy Church, which welcomes creation into herself and stands in place of it."

Pope Benedict XVI, "Jesus of Nazareth", pp. 239-240.

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy offers a reflection for The Third Sunday of Lent.

"Send Lazarus"

"I am in anguish" says the rich man, as he gazes upon Lazarus, and he begs Abraham: "Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue."

Lazarus' finger is capable of carrying only the smallest drop of water. Now, in Mercy, we have poured out for us an overwhelming flood of divine grace. Our poor parched souls have more than we can ever drink in the Lord's self-offering. Drink deeply of His grace in the Eucharistic Blood. Feast richly to satisfy the hunger for Life everlasting.

"You will drink my cup."

Of His chalice will drink all those who are faithful in witness to Him: "The world will hate you because of me." In union with His suffering our crosses also become, like His, the source of resurrection and new life.

In each Holy Mass the fountain of water and blood flow again from His side: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in you." Apart from Him we can do nothing. Without His Flesh and Blood there is no escape from the grave.

"As radiant as light"

We can become "as radiant as light", God's own light, in the grace of Christ who was transfigured on the mountain. Shall we choose light? Let us, then, "put off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light". Let us put on Jesus Christ in faith, hope and love.

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy offers a reflection for The Second Sunday of Lent.

Photo by author: Bay of Naples and Vesuvius.

Aquam de petra

Interrupit petram in eremo; et adaquavit eos velut in abysso multa.
Et eduxit aquam de petra: et deduxit tamquam flumina aquas.

He cleft rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
Psalm 78: 15-16

Photo by author: Sunrise Christmas Eve, Euphrates River near Juba, Iraq.