12 April 2015 - water and blood

This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and blood.
The Spirit is the one that testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.

This is the heart of Jesus. Let us draw near to his Sacred Heart. We want to drink the living water of his Holy Spirit that he pours out upon us. This is the spring from which we are called to draw water joyfully. This is the water which, if we drink, we shall not thirst again.

To receive this water we must realize that it does not come alone. The living water of the Spirit is poured out only together with the precious blood of Jesus. Only by this great mercy do we have access to the grace that makes us alive. We like the idea of living water but we have a hard time asking Jesus for his precious blood. But we need both. He wants to give us both. Living water is a nice image. But blood is a little too real. It is a little to in our faces. It makes the truth at the core of the mercy of Jesus real. It prevents us from receiving his blessings cheaply. It forces us to realize the true depth of the gift. And this is why Jesus insists on it.

When we receive the blood as well as the water we do not take the commandments to be burdensome. The one who pours out even his own blood does not have the heart of a tyrant. He shares all that he is with us. The commandments protect our relationship as the children of God. Jesus sheds his precious blood for the sake of this obedience. And only as we receive it do we share in that obedience. But as we share in his obedience through the mercy of his blood we also share in his victory! These commandments make us world conquerors!

My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just

Jesus helps to make his mercy this real for Thomas when he doubts.

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

It is not just words any more. No longer is it the mere promise of water. Here Thomas comes to share in the gift of the precious blood. If we hear people around us saying "We have seen the Lord" but haven't experienced that ourselves Jesus wants to meet us where we are this morning. He wants to share the reality of his mercy with us. He wants to give us his own precious blood to drink.

There is a place where we can encounter his mercy in a special way.

“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Let us go to those on whom the LORD bestows both water and Spirit. Let us go to those who make the merciful heart of Jesus available to us. We need to avail ourselves of the great price which Jesus pays for our salvation.

There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,

This is not how most of our communities actually are. But it shows how Jesus wants us to be. His mercy can guide us until our communities are like those of the early Church.

Let us drink deeply from his mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we see why it is poured out and at what cost we realize that we largely squander it. But this Sacrament is given even as a part of that mercy in order to renew us in it. Then let us drink from this mercy in the most perfect way, unencumbered by sin, in the Eucharistic chalice.