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Wherever there is water
Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Wherever there is water. Water is such a powerful element. It is essential and necessary for life. It can deal death. It can clean. It can sweep away. It can refresh. It can hold us up, and it can cause us to drown. It is a mysterious thing that we know much about. And because of these multifaceted traits and actions, by his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus chose to make it the holy stuff of new life in our own baptism.
In the description of the water flowing out of the temple, and its increasing size and power, it is easy to see just how the water of baptism is the comparison being made. For wherever it flows there is the life that we read about in this first reading. For in baptism, we are made whole. The brokenness of the sinful condition is healed by the grace of our baptism.
And as this grace flows all throughout us, just like the water from the temple, we are made beloved sons and daughters of God. God heals. God makes whole. We are fulfilled.
But not by our own efforts, but by the grace of God. Just as the angel lead Ezekiel, so too Jesus leads us. The image from this first reading is all about showing us where it is that Jesus wishes to lead us. The flowing life along the river is lush. And the spiritual life is the most life when we allow God to make us holy.
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