Jesus answered and said to her,
“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.” The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Are you thirsty? Today's readings are some of my favorites. I call it Living Water Sunday. The Old and New Testament passages parallel so nicely. From the book of Exodus, we read about the Israelites complaining to Moses how thirsty they are in the desert. God intervenes by asking Moses to strike a nearby rock with his staff. Instantly fresh water flows and the thirsts are quenched. Compare this event to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus asks the Samaritan woman to give him a drink of water. Later Jesus says to the woman she will never go thirsty again with Christ's living water. Jesus Christ is the rock who saves us and will eventually save her. She will become a believer, spreading the good news to her people.
Have you been so thirsty that you felt lightheaded and faint? Has your throat ever been so dry that it felt like sandpaper? We all need water to physically survive, but sometimes we forget that we need water to spiritually survive. We are baptized with water. We bless ourselves with water when we enter and exit mass. The priest sprinkles us with holy water during special feast days. The living water of Christ quenches are spiritual thirsts that forever keep us connected to him. The holy water of Christ lives and breathes inside of us nurturing us in spiritual growth. If we allow Christ's living water to dry out because of our own lack of faith, we allow the burdens of life to overwhelm us.
Stop complaining The Israelites constantly mumbled and grumbled during the 40 days in the desert. Moses got pretty sick of the complaining. Do you know people who are negative all of the time? The Debbie Downers and Peter Poopers can really make life uncomfortable if not down right unbearable. As a result, we become negative ourselves. Negativity can spread like a virus.
I remember in high school I used to complain a lot mainly because of high stress and anxiousness. In the ninth grade, my biology teacher gave me a special gift. It was a "No Whining" pin! I still have that pin in a scrap book somewhere. But, that's the first time I realized that mumbling, grumbling, whining and complaining about stuff unfair, too hard, or too boring is a waste of time. It doesn't necessarily help a situation. People really don't want to hear habitual complaining. Having worked with the general public in a retail setting and as a volunteer at a public arboretum, I know complaints can get pretty ridiculous! Even my own parish always hear a complaint here and there from someone. It annoys our pastor, but what can you do? Smile and try to console. Some things are not worth complaining about.
We need to stop the complaining and let it go if it's something we can't change. Lift up our grievances to God in prayer instead of burdening others with negativity.
Let us quench our throats with the living water of Christ. Stop the complaining and start living in meek, humble, and respectful ways.
-J.
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