The Dual Nature of Water

(The following is a homily given at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, Enid OK on the 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 6-19-16)

Reading 1 Zec 12:10-11; 13:1

Responsorial Psalm Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

Reading 2 Gal 3:26-29

Gospel Lk 9:18-24

The readings today made me think of water… and made me thirsty. 

Water is an important element to our existence.  Water cleans us; hydrates us.  It makes up the majority of our bodies; it covers approximately 71% of the earth’s surface.  And yet we can have too much of a good thing.  Although nearly every lifeform needs water, they can also be killed by it.  Fresh-water fish cannot survive in salt water, and vice versa.  We ourselves can only survive underwater without an air supply for around 5 minutes before suffocating.  We have also experienced natural disasters where the main culprit is water, such as floods or tsunamis.  Water – by its nature, can bring life and death.

In a way, our readings discuss this dual nature of water.  Our first reading, for instance, is a prophesy of the death of Christ, the one “whom they have pierced” who will act as a catalyst for God’s purification.  Through him, God will “pour out” upon the house of David his Spirit of grace and petition, and he will act as a cleansing fountain of repentance (see 1st reading).  We know as Christians that Jesus was pierced on the Cross, and that blood and water flowed from his side, showing us – even in his death – that God wishes to cleanse us and bring us to new life.

Then we have our responsorial psalm.  This psalm speaks of the deep-seated yearning of our spirits for the only thing that can truly satisfy our longings.  Our God who blesses us, keeps us in existence, nourishes and protects us.  And we seek to know him more and more.  This thirst for God reminds us that without him, our souls are arid deserts, “parched, lifeless and without water”, unable to sustain life (see RP).

Our second reading gives the idea of water a particularly Christian twist.  Here, we learn that we are “all children of God in Christ Jesus,” no longer identified by our previous way of living or our backgrounds, but instead by the saving and purifying waters of baptism, which clothe us in Christ by making us a part of his body the Church (see 2nd Reading).  Here we come to understand on a spiritual level the dual nature of water, where here we die in the waters of baptism to our old selves and rise from them as new creatures, living not simply for ourselves but for Christ who lives within us.

Finally, our Gospel.  Interestingly, it doesn’t speak about water much.  At all really. But the message it speaks to us is linked to our previous readings.  Here we learn about Jesus’ identity as the “Christ of God” and the “Son of Man.”  Coming from God, He has within himself life unending.  He is life.  But by becoming man, he gives himself the ability to die.  Not a pointless death, but a death that will bring that limitless life to those who believe in him.  Like water, then, Jesus shows us that he has taken upon himself dual natures – both of which are essential to our existence, and yet also capable of killing us. 

The question for us, brothers and sisters, is whether or not we are willing to live by dying.  Are we ready to take up the saving and life-giving crosses we have been asked to bear by our baptisms so that we can kill the sin in us and rise up new.  Will we allow the cleansing waters that gush forth from the pierced side of Christ envelope us, cleanse us, kill us, and bring us back to life?  It’s a risk, and may even sound crazy.  But the world is thirsty, and the only way it can take a drink is if we have emptied ourselves of our sin and – as Baptized Children of God – been filled with God’s waters of mercy.