Every year in May, Pittsburgh, has a marathon. The route takes runners through and around the city, and stationed in every neighborhood are volunteers who offer them little cups of water. Runners who don’t care about their finishing time will take a short break to drink the water. Those who want to clock a winning time or even a personal best may grab the water and drink it while still running. Some just pour it on their heads to cool themselves off. The water refreshes them for their arduous journey.
Many of the runners in various levels of the competition train with pacers, a person who rides or runs in front of them to encourage them to keep running at a consistent pace, mile after mile. If the runner is tempted to slow down or quit, the pacer goads him on, not allowing him to slack off.
In today’s gospel when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, He asks her for a drink of water. Then He tells her that He can give her “living water,” “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The Baptismal waters that initiated us into communion with God and our Christian community removed the stain of original sin. These waters, then, start us on our arduous journey as Christians in following the Way of the Cross and living our faith. We should exude joy as children of God; still, this is our time of trial and testing.
Each time we enter a Catholic church, we dip our fingers into the holy water and make the sign of the cross. This symbolizes our Baptism, which resulted in our incorporation into the Church. Now, in the church where we worship, we join with other baptized Catholic Christians, who can help us through our trials, who can be our “pacers.” These pacers are especially true during the season of Lent, a unique time which passes all too quickly. While no one is perfect, we each may have received certain virtues that others might find edifying or inspiring. For a period of time, someone might try to imitate the patience that someone else in the congregation always exhibits, or someone’s charity or prayerfulness. The saints are also pacers for us, goading us on to stay the course on our challenging journey and celebrate with them at the ultimate, glorious finish line.
We are now about half way through Lent. This is a good time to recall our Lenten resolutions. Have we been faithful to them? If we found that one or two have dropped off, could we reinstate them or substitute others? Let’s arrive at Easter having united our sufferings with Christ’s passion, and with gratitude for His giving us living waters which can bring us to eternal life.
Many of the runners in various levels of the competition train with pacers, a person who rides or runs in front of them to encourage them to keep running at a consistent pace, mile after mile. If the runner is tempted to slow down or quit, the pacer goads him on, not allowing him to slack off.
In today’s gospel when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, He asks her for a drink of water. Then He tells her that He can give her “living water,” “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The Baptismal waters that initiated us into communion with God and our Christian community removed the stain of original sin. These waters, then, start us on our arduous journey as Christians in following the Way of the Cross and living our faith. We should exude joy as children of God; still, this is our time of trial and testing.
Each time we enter a Catholic church, we dip our fingers into the holy water and make the sign of the cross. This symbolizes our Baptism, which resulted in our incorporation into the Church. Now, in the church where we worship, we join with other baptized Catholic Christians, who can help us through our trials, who can be our “pacers.” These pacers are especially true during the season of Lent, a unique time which passes all too quickly. While no one is perfect, we each may have received certain virtues that others might find edifying or inspiring. For a period of time, someone might try to imitate the patience that someone else in the congregation always exhibits, or someone’s charity or prayerfulness. The saints are also pacers for us, goading us on to stay the course on our challenging journey and celebrate with them at the ultimate, glorious finish line.
We are now about half way through Lent. This is a good time to recall our Lenten resolutions. Have we been faithful to them? If we found that one or two have dropped off, could we reinstate them or substitute others? Let’s arrive at Easter having united our sufferings with Christ’s passion, and with gratitude for His giving us living waters which can bring us to eternal life.
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