MAY 22, 2010- VIGIL OF PENTECOST: EZECHIEL 47:1-12; JOHN 7:37-39
JESUS CRIED OUT SAYING: “IF ANYONE IS THIRSTY, LET HIM COME TO ME
AND DRINK, HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME. AS SCRIPTURE SAYS: “RIVERS OF LIVING WATER
WILL FROM OUT FROM HIS BELLY.” Saint John Chrysostom explains that
the Greek word, koilias, here is more correctly
translated ‘heart’ rather than ‘belly.’ Jesus, of course, was referring to
Hebrew scripture where the word (1)v) beten can mean either belly, womb, or heart. We find
this usage in a text where 1)v is used in reference
to men so it can hardly mean ‘womb’ but rather, has the significance ‘the
interior man”, ‘the heart’ as in Proverbs 22:17-18: Incline your ears and hear
my words . . . for it will be pleasant
if you keep them within you or in your heart. The Syriac, which is a dialect of the Aramaic that was Jesus’
native language, well captures his meaning. It translates John’ Greek with a
phrase that means “from within.” In any case, Jesus on this occasion proclaims
that he is the source of life. The living waters he speaks of are a symbol of
the true life that he brings, as John had earlier reported when the Lord spoke
with the Samaritan woman at the well. This living water is, as the Lord told
Nicodemus, suggestive of the Holy Spirit who will be given after Jesus ascends
to the Father. The Rabbis understood
very well that living water is a natural symbol of the Holy Spirit of God. The
prophet also understood the breath of God as imparting life. As we heard in the first reading today, Ezechiel had spoken of God as imparting life by breathing
on the dried bones of faithless
The Evangelist tells
us at the end of his Gospel that: JESUS BREATHED ON THEM (the apostles) AND
SAID: “RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT.” Earlier, on the night before he went to his
passion and death, Jesus had declared to Thomas “I am the way, the truth, and
the life.” Now, just before he leaves the earth to ascend to the right hand of
his Father, he imparts the Spirit who is the bearer of the life and truth that
Jesus embodies. In this act of breathing and by the words accompanying this act
he bestows a share in the powers that he enjoys by his very nature. This gift
specifies a special power, which consisted in the forgiving and the retaining
sins. On this occasion, he defines the Spirit's function in explicit detail,
and the gift is imparted only to designated persons among his followers, the
chosen group of apostles. In another situation, however, he promised this same
Spirit to his disciples in much broader terms, speaking of Him as the companion
whose active presence is at once consoling and strengthening so as to impart an
altogether new sense of confidence.
As we celebrate this
Vigil of Pentecost we are invited by our Lord’s words and by his coming to us
in this Eucharist to enter into our own hearts so as the more attentively and
fully to open our self by trusting faith that he fulfills his promise to pour
out upon us the admirable gift of the Holy Spirit. May we have the faith and
courage to believe that God so loves us as to send into the depths of our heart
his own Spirit who unites the Father with the Son in love. In receiving this
promised gift with ardent desire we enter upon that new life that Jesus invites
us to thirst for, the undying life of the Blessed Trinity.&
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