Praying in the Holy Spirit - more from Gonville ffrench-Beytagh

It is good for us to remember that a Christian is someone who allows himself or herself to be drawn into the prayer of Jesus to the Father by the Holy Spirit. S. Paul refers to this when he tells us not to worry when we don’t know what to say in our prayers:  

‘. . . the Spirit helps us in our weakness: for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit . . .’  (Romans 8:28)

According to S. Paul, prayer is the work of God within us. Jesus said something similar when he was teaching in the Temple. According to John’s Gospel, 

‘On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’" Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive . . . ‘ (John 7:37-39) 

Something of the adventure of the Christian life seen from this angle is captured by Gonville Ffrench-Beytagh in his little book A Glimpse of Glory. Here is what he wrote about the Holy Spirit and prayer:

'The Holy Spirit is pouring, cascading forth, in tumultuous torrents of love pouring out into the Son, pouring himself in torrents of love. And the Son himself is joyously, gloriously, pouring back his love into the Father. In this great procession of love pouring forth love, it is the Holy Spirit who is poured forth; it is he who is cascading forth in this glorious love affair. And that love is so unlimited, so limitless, that it spills over.

'The Holy Spirit spills over. This is not because God can’t contain himself, but because he is so longing to share his life of love and joy and glory, that he has made us as containers. That is what CAPAX DEI means - capable of containing God. Our glory and our purpose is to be filled with the reality which is God. We are designed to be filled with the love of God. We are like the great tankers, filled with petrol or milk, that go trundling along the road, marked ‘Capacity 20,000 gallons’. But you and I go about with a couple of gallons sloshing around in the bottom instead of being filled with the fullness of God. Yet that is what he made us for. That is the purpose of our existence - to be filled with God. If we think of prayer being for that, then we are expanding ourselves to receive a share of what is poured out and spilling over of the tremendous infinite power of the love of God.

' . . . I once spent four astonished days at the Victoria Falls in Africa. I was being pounded into the ground by their deafening roar and the magnificent sight of the millions and millions of gallons every moment pouring out, cascading, thundering down into the gorge below. It seemed as if the Congo and the Zambezi had drained all the water out of Africa and there it was. For me this made a picture of the ceaseless activity within the being of God himself. It was like the cascades of infinite divine love interflowing within the Godhead between the Father and the Son. God the Father is begetting love; God the Son is begotten love; God the Holy Spirit is the ceaseless flow of love between the Father and the Son. The Spirit binds them together in the gorgeous, ceaseless torrent of love.

'And beside the Victoria Falls is the rain forest. It is a weird place where you can put on a sou’ wester, hat, oilskins, gumboots, and walk into the forest and you’re just soaked to the skin. Water gets through everything. The heavy mist comes from the spray that rises up from the great canyon into which the torrent flows. It penetrates everything and seems wetter than ordinary water. As the mist from the cascade will drench us and soak into us if we put ourselves there in the forest, so, if we put ourselves close to the Lord God, his love that overspills and overflows will soak us in the Spirit. We long to share his love in as far as it can be shared by human beings. And he has made us for that, he has made us to be CAPAX DEI, to stand, as it were, in the rain forest, to be drenched in the love of God. That is the spiritual life.

'. . . the Falls make a picture of this torrential love of God which never stops. We are caught up into God’s love in the prayer of the Spirit praying within us. And we are caught up with the prayer of all the ages and the prayers of all the saints and of our own forbears. We are in their prayers with the angels and the archangels. It is the one great paean of love, agonizing sometimes, from the great chorus of heaven of which we are a part.'

Today's reading and reflection

FIRST READING  (Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12)

The angel brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.

Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side.

Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep.

Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins.

Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back along the bank of the river.

As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh.And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.

“And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

GOSPEL (John 5:1-16)

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethzatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed.

One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked.

Now that day was the sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me said to me, `Take up your pallet, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, `Take up your pallet, and walk’?”

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.”

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the sabbath.

REFLECTIONS

Do we really want to be changed? - Servants of the Word

In the River of God - David Wilkerson

The Holy Spirit is the River - St Ambrose of Milan

FURTHERMORE . . .

“’The river of God is brimming with water.’ ‘You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them.’ There can be no doubt about the river referred to, for the prophet says: ‘There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God;’ and in the gospel, the Lord himself says: ‘Streams of living water welling up to eternal life will flow from the heart of anyone who drinks the water I shall give him. He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.’ The river of God is brimming with water; that is to say, we are inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and from that fountain of life the river of God pours into us in full flood.

“We also have food prepared for us. And who is this food? It is he in whom we are prepared for life with God, for by receiving his holy body we receive a place in the communion of his holy body. This is what is meant by the words of the psalm: ‘You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them.’ For as well as refreshing us now, that food also prepares us for the life to come.

“We who have been reborn through the sacrament of baptism experience intense joy when we feel within us the first stirrings of the Holy Spirit. We begin to have an insight into the mysteries of faith, we are able to prophesy and to speak with wisdom. We become steadfast in hope and receive the gift of healing. Demons are made subject to our authority. These gifts enter us like a gentle rain, and once having done so, little by little, they bring forth fruit in abundance.”

St Hilary of Poitiers (c.300 - c.368)

PRAYER

O, Ancient of Days,

We come from rivers that are not rivers, 

from fountains that do not sing of life, 

from barren springs where promise has failed, 

from stony wells that mock the dream of Jubilee. 

But from the abundance of your life, 

roll down upon us now the tide of your sweet Spirit, 

that flagging faith be refreshed, 

that stubborn wounds be cleansed and healed, 

that brokenness be drenched with wholeness, 

that what is defiled and disgrace be washed and relieved. 

From the headwaters of your mercy and goodness, 

flood the flatlands of resignation, 

carry away what is trifling, jaded, and vain, 

fill the cisterns provided to slake our thirst, 

fill us with yearning to mirror your lavish giving, 

brim the hearts of your people with tears of compassion 

and the laughter of joyful service. 

From heaven’s watershed of grace and salvation, 

cascade upon us the fullness of your realm; 

let its thunder possess our whole hearts, 

let its simplicity be our peace, 

let its quaking be our only strength. 

River of healing, Spirit of life,

grant this we beg you;

for love of your only One we pray. Amen.
- Jonathan Larson

There is a River . . .

There is a river that flows from God above._

There is a fountain that's filled with his great love.

Come to the waters, there is a vast supply._

Come to the river that never shall run dry.

Every now and then when I'm travelling I preach a well-worn mission sermon (or turn it into a retreat address) on "The River of God." It has remained substantially the same for about 40 years (primarily because it blesses me whenever I preach it!) - just new illustrations and up-to-date stories. For me, the "River of God" is among the most powerful images in Scripture to describe the spiritual life. Ezekiel 47 from today's Mass readings takes us to this theme, as does the Gospel of healing. So, here are some Scripture passages for your meditation, and one from St Hilary as well. I hope that they are a blessing to you.

EZEKIEL'S VISION  Ezekiel 47:1-12

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 

Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side.

Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.

And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

A PROPHECY  Zechariah 14:4,8

On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.

THE VISION OF St JOHN THE DIVINE  Revelation 22:1-4

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.

A UNIVERSAL HUMAN FAILING  Jeremiah 2:13

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

THE TEACHING OF JESUS (1)  John 4:10-14

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

THE TEACHING OF JESUS (2)  John 5:1-18

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethzatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed. One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.”

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked. Now that day was the sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your pallet, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your pallet, and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.

THE TEACHING OF JESUS (3)  John 7:37-39 

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive . . .

St HILARY OF POITIERS (c.300 - c.368)

“’The river of God is brimming with water.’ ‘You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them.’ There can be no doubt about the river referred to, for the prophet says: ‘There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God;’ and in the gospel, the Lord himself says: ‘Streams of living water welling up to eternal life will flow from the heart of anyone who drinks the water I shall give him. He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.’ The river of God is brimming with water; that is to say, we are inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and from that fountain of life the river of God pours into us in full flood.

“We also have food prepared for us. And who is this food? It is he in whom we are prepared for life with God, for by receiving his holy body we receive a place in the communion of his holy body. This is what is meant by the words of the psalm: ‘You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them.’ For as well as refreshing us now, that food also prepares us for the life to come.

“We who have been reborn through the sacrament of baptism experience intense joy when we feel within us the first stirrings of the Holy Spirit. We begin to have an insight into the mysteries of faith, we are able to prophesy and to speak with wisdom. We become steadfast in hope and receive the gift of healing. Demons are made subject to our authority. These gifts enter us like a gentle rain, and once having done so, little by little, they bring forth fruit in abundance.”

Bishop Joe Grech on the River of God

This morning I read Ezekiel 47, the well-known passage about the River of God (go HERE for a previous blog post on that theme). I share with you here a reflection on that great river given by the late Bishop Joe Grech:

The prophet Ezekiel has a vivid description of a river flowing from underneath the temple. The river starts small and gradually it gets bigger and wider. As it flows down, it brings life and makes the water wholesome.  It teems with fish and wherever the water goes it brings health. It becomes truly a river of bounty which gives life and sustenance to everything that lies in its path.

This image was very important for the Old Testament people and it formed a very important aspect of one of the great feasts celebrated by the Jewish people, the feast of Tabernacles.  This feast commemorated the forty years the people of Israel lived in the desert before they came to the land which was promised to them by God.  During this time they lived in tents or Tabernacles.  This feast was celebrated around mid October. On the occasion of this feast, all males were expected to come and pray in the temple and therefore this meant that during this feast there would be literally thousands of people present in Jerusalem.

At one stage, the High priest would go down to the pool of Siloam which is outside the city of Jerusalem and he will take some water from this pool and brings it back to the Temple.  This was to remember the time when Moses brought water forth from the rock.  It was a time of saying thank you to God for providing water for the past year and looking forward to the same blessings during the forthcoming year. During this ceremony, the passage from Ezekiel 47, the same one that we read today was proclaimed.

When the procession arrived back at the Temple, the High Priest would take the pitcher with the water from the pool of Siloam and he would pour it out through a funnel which was on the west side of the altar. This water will go underground into the valley of Kidron. For the Jewish people, Jerusalem was the centre of the world and the temple which was at the centre of Jerusalem was recognised to be the very centre from which everything else in the world flows. The ceremony of the pouring out of the water from the temple proclaimed clearly that all life, all health, all that is good, all that is worthwhile and beautiful had its source from the temple; from a relationship with God. This feast wanted to impart in a powerful and dramatic manner that when we are united with one another and with God, then we become a source of great blessings to ourselves and to those whom we encounter.

We can take all of this a step further. In the Gospel of John chapter 7, verses 37 to 38, we find Jesus in Jerusalem during the time of this feast of Tabernacles. The outpouring of the water by the High Priest took place everyday for seven days but not on the eighth day.  On the eighth day according to St John, Jesus stood up and said, “Let anyone who is thirst come to me!  Let anyone who believes in me come and drink!” As Scripture says, “From his heart shall flow streams of living water”. This was a very bold and awesome statement form Jesus.

In plain English what Jesus was saying was this “The temple is not the place from which you will find peace and rest. The real purpose of your life is not formed by participating in a ceremony.  This is only a reminder.  God is not very far away.  Just come to me. I am here to give you life. The promises that God has made with our people that He would never abandon us and that He will always be close to us is fulfilled in me. I am now the living waters which give you life.  Come to me, believe in me, follow me and in doing so you will find life, fruitfulness and healing”.

What a great reminder for all of us. The meaning behind this feast is to remind all of us, that because of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ living in us, we are also enabled and empowered as a church and as a community to give life and hope to so many.  Each one of us is a source of great healing and blessings. This is all the more evident when we come together as a church. Christ is still continuing his mission through all of as. We belong to a big family that is found all over the world.  As a church, we are not perfect, in reality we are sinners. This is the reason why we need to maintain our close relationship with Jesus Christ. This is also why it is so important to meet regularly to celebrate the Eucharist to be sustained in our unity and encouraged to be the face, the heart and the mind of Jesus whenever the opportunity presents itself. Under the leadership of Jesus and with our feet firmly planting in the life of the church in unity with those who have been given the ministry of leadership, then we can embrace everybody.  We can truly become a source of living waters giving life where there is little or none.

God Bless

Swim in that River

Ezekiel’s vision of the river of God (in chapter 47, the first reading at Mass today) has many applications, even among ancient commentators. I have often experienced this passage as a question - the fundamental question - about our relationship with God. Are we are just ankle or waist deep in the river, splashing around, enjoying where we are, but playing, and in control? God, on the other hand, is coaxing us out to where the water is so deep that it is only on tip toes that we can touch the river bed. At that point we are faced with a moment of decision. Will we shrink from the challenge to let go of our security or will we respond to the Lord? Will we go back to where we felt safe and in control,  or will we start to swim in the living waters of God’s spirit?

Using the image of the seaside rather than the river, Evelyn Underhill makes a related point:

When I was a child, we used to be taught to swim by lying across a chair on our stomachs and exercising our arms and legs in a corresponding way. It used a great deal of energy, but we ended just where we began and quite dry. When at last we were put into the sea and found it wet, salty, deep, and with no supporting chair beneath us, that correct series of movements were at first replaced by desperate struggles. But presently we found ourselves using the movements, or something like them, after all. But it was in a much less exact and deliberate way. We were swimming - badly perhaps, but really swimming!

Now many people try to learn prayer lying over a chair on dry land. They go through a correct routine, learning from a book, but end up quite dry and just where they began. But real prayer isn’t just an exercise. It is an entrance into our inheritance which St. Catherine called the Great Pacific Ocean of God. So, to continue our image, the main point is to get into some new water. What one does in it - diving, quietly floating, swimming, going on long excursions, helping others who are learning, or, while we are small, just contentedly paddling - is of secondary importance. All the accumulated knowledge about swimming is of great interest, but, until we are actually in the water, we have no right idea what it means.

Real prayer begins with the plunge into the water. Our movements may then be quite incorrect, but they will be real. If we would look on prayer like that, as above all, an act in which we enter and give ourselves, our souls, to our true Patria, our ever-waiting inheritance, God “in whom we live and move and have our being,” most of the muddles and problems connected with it would disappear. As 1 John 4 has already told us, “You are of God, little children.” This is where we really belong, and if we will only plunge in, we shall find ourselves mysteriously at home.

And this strange home-like feeling kills the dread which might overcome us if we thought of the terrific and unknown depths beneath and the infinite extent of the power and mystery of he ocean into which we have plunged. As it is, a curious blend of confidence and entire abandonment keeps us, because of our very littleness, in peace and joy. So we continue with our limited powers in the limitless love in which we are held. What matters is the ocean, not the particular little movements which we make.

(In Ways of the Spirit p.236)

And here are two other posts on the River of God:

Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent

The River of God - Scripture Passages

The Holy Spirit - River of Grace (St Ambrose)

The Holy Spirit is the River, and the abundant River, which according to the Hebrews flowed from Jesus in the lands, as we have received it prophesied by the mouth of Isaiah (Isaiah 66:12). This is the great River which flows always and never fails. And not only a river, but also one of copious stream and overflowing greatness, as also David said: “The stream of the river makes glad the city of God" (Psalm 46:4).

For neither is that city, the heavenly Jerusalem, watered by the channel of any earthly river, but that Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Fount of Life, by a short draught of Whom we are satiated, seems to flow more abundantly among those celestial Thrones, Dominions and Powers, Angels and Archangels, rushing in the full course of the seven virtues of the Spirit. For if a river rising above its banks overflows, how much more does the Spirit, rising above every creature, when He touches the as it were low-lying fields of our minds, make glad that heavenly nature of the creatures with the larger fertility of His sanctification. 

(St. Ambrose of Milan On the Holy Spirit, Book 1 Chapter 16)

The River of God - Scripture

There is a river that flows from God above._

There is a fountain that's filled with his great love.

Come to the waters, there is a vast supply._

Come to the river that never shall run dry.

(A chorus from the charismatic renewal)

Every now and then when I'm traveling I preach a well-worn sermon (or turn it into a retreat address) on "The River of God." It has remained substantially the same for about 35 years - just new illustrations and up-to-date stories! In my opinion, the river of God is among the most powerful images in Scripture to describe the spiritual life. I thought about it yesterday when posting Fr Schmemman's piece on spiritual thirst.

So, today I simply post some Scripture passages on this theme, and hope that they are a blessing to you.

EZEKIEL'S VISION (Ezekiel 47:1-12)

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.

Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side.

Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.

And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing."

A PROPHECY (Zechariah 14:4,8)

On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.

THE VISION OF St JOHN THE DIVINE (Revelation 22:1-4)

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.

A UNIVERSAL HUMAN FAILING (Jeremiah 2:13)

"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

THE TEACHING OF JESUS - A (John 4:10-14)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

THE TEACHING OF JESUS - B (John 7:37-39)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive . . .