In today’s reading from Ezekiel, there’s an incredibly detailed and hope-filled description of the water flowing from the Temple and the abundant life that results. Those of us who have grown up in cities with running water can’t fathom what it’s like to collect rainwater in containers like Father Fred described at our Lenten evening last Saturday.
We just turn the faucet on, and the water flows out. But the people in the time of Ezekiel would have understood both the importance of water for life and the symbolism of it flowing from the Temple.
As I thought about this, an old Billy Joel song called “The River of Dreams” popped into my head with its upbeat piano and other instrumentals. The lyrics begin, “In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep … From the mountains of faith … To the river so deep … I must be looking for something … Something sacred I lost …”
The passage prior to today's reading from Ezekiel speaks of the judgment of God against the people of Israel and other nations during the time of exile. Now Ezekiel tells of God’s plan to restore His people, which includes a new Temple … something sacred they had lost.
The water flowing from the Temple connects God and His care for His people. The water starts as a trickle and progressively builds in depth from ankle-high to over your head. Its effect is to bring trees that bear fruit each month, a bounty of living creatures, including fish, and the leaves of plants that serve as medicine. (God is providing for the people’s physical needs.)
This reading is also a great metaphor for the grace of God nourishing our spiritual lives. For it’s through the waters of Baptism that we are cleansed of original sin and enter into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; and it is through the Church of Jesus Christ that the grace of the sacraments flow like water, slaking our thirst for God, cleansing and reviving our souls.
Toward the end of Billy Joel’s song, he says, “I don’t know why I’m walking at night … But now I’m tired, and I don’t want to walk anymore … I hope it doesn’t take the rest of my life … Until I find what I’ve been looking for …”
Is there something that your soul is searching for … maybe something you’ve lost? If so, may this reading from Ezekiel revive our hope in God’s grace flowing into the lives of our family members and ourselves, reviving our parched souls, healing the broken, and nourishing us—if only we can respond to Jesus' question, “Do you want to be made well?” with a heartfelt “yes.”
Reverend David S. Marcham is the Vice Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Patrick Peyton, and Director of the Father Peyton Guild, whose members pray for Father Peyton’s beatification and spread his message of the importance of Family Prayer. Prior to becoming a seminarian, Father David was a physical therapist and clinical instructor, serving hospital inpatients and outpatients throughout the greater Boston area for eleven years. In 1998 he heard the call to priesthood and was ordained in the Archdiocese of Boston in 2005. Father David grew up in Quincy, MA, and has fond memories of playing soccer, tennis and running track. You’re never without a friend when Father David is around, as he welcomes everyone into his circle with a smile on his face!
