Homily for Tuesday
4th Week of Lent
April 1, 2025
Ezek 47: 1-9, 12
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence,
N.R.
“Wherever this water comes, the sea shall be made fresh” (Ezek 47: 9).
Ezekiel’s image of fresh water flowing out
of God’s house in such abundance that it freshens even the Dead Sea is
awesome. Naturally, the image suggests
Baptism in this season when catechumens are looking toward the Easter Vigil and
the rest of us are preparing to renew or refresh our baptismal commitment.
Baptism refreshes souls no matter how dead
they’ve been in sin. “Wherever the river
flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live” (47:9), and
every virtue shall flourish in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus uses water as an image of the Spirit: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, … ‘Rivers of living
water will flow from within him.’” St.
John explains, “He said this in reference to the Spirit what whose who came to
believe in him were to receive” (7:37-39).
As we know well, Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again of
water and the Spirit (John 3:5).
Ezekiel’s image speaks of fresh fruit
coming forth every month, thanks to “the flow from the sanctuary” (47:12). That suggests our need for constant freshness,
constant renewal—the ongoing conversion to Christ that’s essential for our
spiritual lives. We always need a new
infusion of the Holy Spirit.
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