Tuesday of the Fourth Week

Reflection

Today—in the midst of forty days of reflecting on Jesus’s time in the heat and drought of the desert—we find water.  What begins in the first reading as a small trickle coming from the temple deepens and widens into a powerful river as Ezekiel follows the angel further. Much like the river flows downstream to make fresh the massive salt water sea, Christ comes down from Heaven to Earth to save the sea of imperfect people so that they, too, may be cleansed, as He does for the man who was afflicted in the Gospel. Ezekiel’s inability to cross the river in the first reading and the Psalm’s declaration that “we fear not, though the earth be shaken / and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea”  ground us in our own temporality and physical limitations of our humanity, yet also place us side by side with God, who is limitless in His divinity. Illustrated further in the Gospel, this contrast emphasizes Christ’s ability to radically reimagine and give new life to laws that was hijacked by Pharisees and Sadducees and kept us from right relationship with God.

Just as the river nurtures the soil and vegetation while journeying to cleanse the sea, Christ gives us new life as He passes through the physical world. It is a life of abundance, even during this season of restraint. For this, we give thanks to the water, and we give thanks to God. 

Prayer

Lord, let my faith in you grow deeper, wider, and stronger like a river during this season of Lent. We give you thanks for renewing and cleansing us through Christ. 

Mackenzie Faber, ’18

Scripture

First Reading: Ezekiel 47: 1-9, 12
Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
Gospel: John 5:1-16

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website