“O blood and water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in you!”
This is the opening prayer, as you may well know, of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. In it is contained the image of the merciful Jesus as seen by St. Faustina, a mystic of the twentieth century. From the side of Jesus she saw two radiant streams of liquid pouring out that had power to eliminate all the evils of society, if we choose to access them.
Today’s first reading is from a prophecy of an Old Testament mystic named Ezekiel. He also saw a vision of gushing water (Ezekiel 47:1-9,12).
“I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east.”
At first the water trickled from the side of the temple; but as Ezekiel followed the stream of water, it became deeper and deeper until it became a mighty river.
“…the water had risen so high it had become a river that could not be crossed except by swimming.”
As Ezekiel sat down along the bank of this mysterious river, the Lord explained to him the power inside this river.
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow…Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for that shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Imagine the life-giving power of this river. Dead water became instantly fresh; it produced life of all kinds in abundance. Even the trees on its bank bore fresh fruit monthly and their leaves had healing power. Who wouldn’t want to jump into that river or even fish from its banks?
What was this river that God showed Ezekiel?
The writer of Psalm 46 also had a vision of this river (Ps 46:5).
“There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.”
This mysterious water brought joy to those who lived in God’s city. What is this stream that the Psalmist is talking about?
We move then to the gospel selection and hear more about life-giving water (John 5:1-16).
“Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.”
It seems that on occasion the water of the pool stirred, and at that moment the first to jump in were healed. For thirty-eight years a man lay in one of the porticoes hoping someone would dip him in at the right time. Sadly that time never came.
Then Jesus emerged on the scene, saw the man lying on the side of the water, and said to him,
“Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” “Immediately the man became well, took up his mat and walked.”
Ezekiel’s river was inside Jesus. Healing water gushed forth from the heart of Jesus, and it was so powerful that it healed the crippled man on the spot. This was an indication that the real water of life was not in the Bethesda pool but inside Jesus himself. He was the new temple of God through which the waters of resurrection, nourishment, healing, and abundance of life flowed out to the needy of the world. Ezekiel’s prophecy was being fulfilled at that moment.
After Jesus died, the river of water did not stop flowing. From his side, as St. Faustina teaches us, it became an unending river of mercy that continues to flow till the end of time. The Church came to know this living water as the Holy Spirit.
Do we realize as the great mystics did, that we have access to this water anytime we want it? Do we realize that this fount of mercy flows abundantly at every Eucharist and every time we engage the Sacrament of Reconciliation? During Lent we have the privilege of walking with Ezekiel to the banks of the river of life and being touched, cleansed, and healed by the water and blood that gushes forth from the Heart of Jesus.
“Near restful waters he leads me” (Ps 23:2).
