Fourth Monday of Easter

Athirst is my soul for the living God. As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?

This Easter season is a constant reminder that our souls should be athirst for God. We should long to be with God in prayer, in communion, and through acts of charity and mercy. We should seek to behold the face of God through meditation on the mysteries of our faith, through visitation of our Lord at mass and in adoration, and through being good and faithful servants to His children. When given the choice between chasing after worldly things and heavenly ones, our first instinct should be to follow Christ. This requires each of us to cultivate a spirit of longing for God within us and then do everything in our power to seek God out in our daily lives.

Are our souls athirst for the living God? How can we use our longing to make better decisions in our lives? What can we do to prepare ourselves to go and behold the face of God?

O Lord, we athirst for you.

Amen.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

God is a Good Shepherd. He is constantly looking out for our best interests. If we begin to wander away from Him, He gives us ample warning. If we put ourselves before others, He reminds us what is true important. If we get into danger, He guards us. If we are lost, He will guide us. If we are in need, He provides for us. If we are in sorrow, He comforts us. If we have fallen into sin, He offers us His Divine Grace to help us return to Him.

Are we good shepherds of those who are put into our care? How can we become better shepherds of others? Are our ears open for God to call us?

O Lord, with you, we will never be spiritually hungry or thirsty.

Amen.

Second Thursday of Lent

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.

It is easy to say we trust in God when things are going well, but it can be more difficult to trust in Him when life takes a turn for the worst. However, this is exactly the time when we need to place our trust in God. It is how we respond to the trials of our lives that determines where our heart truly lies. Does it rest in God, secure in the knowledge that He will take care of us? Or does it quake in fear and seek to end its difficulties through selfish and sinful actions? Hopefully, we choose to rest in God and allow His Love, Mercy, and Grace to sustain us through every challenge. If we do, then our lives will be rooted in God and no matter the dryness of our spiritual lives or the difficulties the world throws at us, we will show no distress and bear good fruits.

Do we trust God to deliver us from every evil? Are we willing to root our lives in the living waters of faith in God, hope in His Goodness, and love of the Holy Trinity? How can we become more dependent upon God as our Father, Teacher, and Inspirer?

O Lord, bless us who trust in you.

Amen.

Fourth Tuesday of Lent

Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.

The river in this passage signifies God’s blessing upon His followers. He wants us to live abundantly, to be refreshed in faith, and to grow in love. He wants us to bear good fruits in thought, word, and work. He wants our hearts to remain ever green with life-giving grace. He wants to wash us with the waters of His Love and Mercy. He gives all these things to us because He wants us to be fruit for the world, sustaining those in physically, emotional, and spiritual need. He wants us to be medicine for the sick in mind, body, and spirit. He pours Himself out to us not to grow in isolation from each other, but to imitate Him and pour ourselves out for Him and His children. He is our sanctuary because He wants to show us how to be shelters for others.

Are our lives planted near the living water that flows from the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit? Are we drawing our sustenance from the eternal spring of God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace? How can we become fonts of goodness in the midst of the deserts of the world?

O Lord, water us with your love so that we might bear good fruits.

Amen.

Sixth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Noah built an altar to the LORD, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: “Never again will I doom the earth because of man since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Noah burns his offerings in thanksgiving for God giving him and his family a chance to continue the race of man and rebuild man’s relationship with God. Although things didn’t turn out perfectly, for our race still had evil desires, God promises to never destroy us like that again. Instead, He prepares a new flood, a spiritual flood of His Love and Mercy in the form of His Beloved Son. Unlike the flood in Noah’s time, the Living Water of Christ will destroy sin and death rather than mankind's bodies. It will be an endless stream of life-giving and cleansing love poured out for us so we might become filled with the Holy Spirit and God’s Saving Grace.

Have we given God praise and thanksgiving for all the wonderful things He has done for us? Are we prepared to let Him flood us with His Love and Mercy? How can we in turn become living fonts of His Grace?

O Lord, make us into living floods of your compassion.

Amen.

Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

The blood and water that pours out of the side of Jesus reminds us of the love and mercy God constantly offers us. It is out of love for us that Christ sacrifices himself on the cross and it is out of mercy that he accepts the waters of baptism from John. When the lance pierces his side, these symbols of his love and mercy flow out into the world. They are also made manifest when the Church celebrates them in the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. The symbolic act of the piercing of the side reminds us that if we truly live Christ-like lives, then love and mercy will flow from our legacy just as it did after Jesus's death.

Do we appreciate the sacrifice God made for us on the cross? Do the love and mercy of God flow from our lives not only when things are going well, but also when we are being persecuted or suffering trials? What will our spiritual legacy be?

O Lord, let your blood of love and water of mercy flow from our hearts.

Amen.

Third Sunday of Lent

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Like the woman at the well, we are thirsty for more than just water. We thirst for eternal life too. We have physical and spiritual needs in our lives and if we tend to one and not the other problems arise. If we satisfy our bodies, but not our spirits, we become empty husks with no life in us. Sure we survive, we might even appear healthy, but everything we have lacks meaning. On the other hand, if we tend to our spirits, but not the flesh and blood God gave us, our bodies wither and die. If we are mystics graced with the ability to subsist on the Bread of Life alone, then this is a great grace, but most of us need to take care of the temples God has given us. By taking care of our bodies we are better able to know, love, and serve God and his children.

Are we thirsty for eternal life? What are we doing to ensure we satisfy not only our physical needs, but our spiritual ones? How are we a spring of eternal life for others?

O Lord, lead us to your spring of eternal life.

Amen.