Reflection on the Gospel for the Vigil Mass of Pentecost

STREAMS OF LIVING WATER.
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'On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. As Scripture says, Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me." He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified." 

- John 7: 37-39

Water is one of the most basic needs of men. A person can live without food for a long period of time as long as he has water to drink. This site can give you important information why the body needs water one of which is the fact that the only thing that water can truly cure is dehydration but since dehydration may be an underlying cause of many chronic conditions such allergies, asthma, hypertension, Type II Diabetes, and chronic pain [to name a few] then water truly has a very significant use for the body.

There are instances when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks about the importance of water. But, of course, He is more concerned about what He calls living water [John 4:10], and that we believe, is not ordinary water, but water which is essential in achieving eternal life. In His discussion with the Samaritan woman, the Lord Jesus Christ tells the woman that whoever drinks the water that comes from the well that the Patriarch Jacob had provided his family and cattle will thirst again but the water that He will provide, will become a spring of water within, welling up to eternal life [John 4:14].

According to the Prophet Zechariah, time will come when living water shall flow out from Jerusalem [see Zechariah 14:8]. This is because God will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground together with His Spirit upon the offspring and descendants of Israel [see Isaiah 44:3]. And everyone who is thirsty can come to the water and can buy wine and milk even without money [see Isaiah 55:1].

While hanging upon the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke, "I am thirsty" [John 19:38]. Jesus speaks of spiritual thirst: the thirst which only living waters can quench. In His discussion with the Samaritan woman, He told her also that time will come when true worshipers of the Father will worship Him in spirit and truth [John 4: 23-24]. God thirsts for true worship; man needs living water to be able to perform that kind of worship. And it is the Holy Spirit who can provide that living water and He himself will lead mankind to worship God in Spirit and truth.

We are journeying in a world of aridity which is caused by sinfulness and separation from God. Since we are in a desert, we are continually tempted and easily succumbs to temptations and fall into sin. We therefore also thirst for God, for His salvation. So God has promised and sent His only-begotten Son so that we may be redeemed first from the bondage to sin in order for us to be ready to receive the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, who shall provide us with living water which shall quench our thirst and help us to avoid sin and so worship God in spirit and truth. 

This living water is the divine life in us, called grace, which through His Spirit, produces within us a spring which produces more living water and we thirst no more. As long as we are connected to the Father by keeping ourselves free from sin, we shall never be out of supply of this living water, this grace, this divine life in us. And we shall know the complete truth and be reminded of the Lord's teachings and we shall never have to be slaves of sin anymore for within dwells the One who has brought us the fullness of grace and truth [John 1:14].

The Lord Jesus Christ gained for us this divine life by saving us from our bondage to sin and the Holy Spirit came to infuse in us that divine life which the Lord Jesus Christ has gained. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ has to go, to give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to fulfill His own mission as the Lord Jesus Christ had accomplished His [see John 16: 7-15].

That is why our bodies are now the temples of the Holy Spirit. He made His dwelling in us when we were baptized because by that time, we became sharers of the divine life, that sanctifying grace, which made us into children of the Father. Let us therefore act like true children of the Father [1 John 3: 1, 9-10] and live in holiness [Matthew 5:48] and not like children of evil, who was a murderer from the beginning [John 8:44].

Let us never sadden the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 4:30].