Sunday, December 16, 2007
Jn 4, 11-15 Sir, give me this water
(Jn 4, 11-15) Sir, give me this water
[11] (The woman) said to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? [12] Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?" [13] Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; [14] but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." [15] The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
(CCC 1218) Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as "oveshadowed" by the Spirit of God (Cf. Gen 1:2): At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed on the waters, making them the wellspring of all holiness (Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 42: Blessing of Water). (CCC 354) Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality. (CCC 1210) Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: (Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 65, 1): they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life. (CCC 1277) Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism.
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