God's Watering of Hungry and Thirsty Souls

 The very same power that sets the mountains on their bases, upholds the believer. The same word that stills the stormy ocean, and tells the winds to be calm, silences our fears and anxieties. The same rain and snow that makes the ground fertile prepares the seed-ground of faith that nourishes our souls. He who enriches the earth and brings forth a bountiful harvest feeds our souls and makes us children of the Kingdom. Those who inhabit the earth are made citizens of heaven where Christ “will change our lowly bodies to conform with His glorified body by the power that enables Him to bring all things into subjection to Himself” (Phil. 3:21). The rising of the Sun of righteousness, and the pouring forth of the influences of the Holy Spirit, that river of God, full of the waters of life and salvation, render the hard, barren, worthless hearts of sinners fruitful in every good work, and change the face of nations more than the sun and rain change the face of nature.

Through His holy prophet, God calls out to all hungry and thirsty souls. The prophet reminds us that we are encountering a living word, a Word that will do God's will and will achieve God’s purposes. No matter how we hear the words, they are the Word of the Lord. It is His voice that echoes within us as He speaks to us heart-to-heart. It is God who calls out to the parched and penniless soul. It is God who provides for our gnawing hunger and burning thirst. All that we need can be found in Christ Who is the Father's love made tangible. Through faith we seek Him who first sought us. True life of the soul lies in hearing the voice of the Beloved and yielding to His embrace. Having known the love of God, it is our duty to draw others into the communion of divine love. The journey to our heavenly harvest begins with the regenerating waters that bring us to newness of life in Christ. We have only to recall the words of Jesus that are recorded in the Gospel of John: “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples” (Jn. 15:8).

God has a plan and God’s Word is the instrument whereby He intends to accomplish it. We must be attentive to the living Word of God and respond to it wholeheartedly. Because God has first called us, we have become members of the Body of Christ. As we lovingly respond to His Word, we stand in a communion of faith and love with one another. As guests of the Bridegroom, we partake of the Banquet of the Lamb and know ourselves to be heirs of the Heavenly Kingdom. Having been partakers of the Bread of Life, we must learn to walk as children of the Light. The transformation is to be so complete that we can say with Saint Paul, "I live no longer I but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20). The sense of hearing cannot be better employed than when hearing God's word. Each of us should assess ourselves so as to discover what sort of hearers we are.

The human heart without God's Word is very much like the earth without rain -- barren and fruitless. In his poetic way, Isaiah reminds us of the power of the Word to do what it says: comfort, heal, challenge, encourage, guide and surprise us. He calls us to love beyond ourselves into the great expanses of the universe. Even though the heavens are lofty and beyond our reach God uses them to produce rain and snow. The moisture that falls from the heavens provides seed for the sower and bread for the eater. As the rain softens the earth and allows it to bring forth a rich harvest, so the Word softens the human soul and allows it to live an abundant life. The Word of The Lord softens the human heart and makes it capable of receiving the seed of the Word, whereby it becomes fruitful. When all is said and done, the bountiful love of the human heart must be ascribed to God, Whose blessing causes the implanted seed to put forth its shoot. Something to think about: when speaking about the good soil, Jesus never said there were Christ does not say that were no stones or no thorns in it. He only said that nothing could hinder its fruitfulness. As we acknowledge God's bounteous grace to us, the greatest act of gratitude we can offer Him is to hunger and thirst for more.

Prayer of World Youth Day 2016

“God, merciful Father, in your Son, Jesus Christ, you have revealed your love and poured it out upon us in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, We entrust to you today the destiny of the world and of every man and woman”.

We entrust to you in a special way young people of every language, people and nation: guide and protect them as they walk the complex paths of the world today and give them the grace to reap abundant fruits from their experience of the Krakow World Youth Day.

Heavenly Father, grant that we may bear witness to your mercy. Teach us how to convey the faith to those in doubt, hope to those who are discouraged, love to those who feel indifferent, forgiveness to those who have done wrong and joy to those who are unhappy.

Allow the spark of merciful love that you have enkindled within us become a fire that can transform hearts and renew the face of the earth. Amen.

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO