Hungry?

I always feel sad when the short form of readings is chosen at parish Liturgies, especially when the readings are as beautiful and rich with meaning as today’s Gospel (John 4:5-42).

Of the many gems within this passage, two in particular leap out for me today:

"Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again;
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."

You and I feel many earthly needs: not only the need for water, but also the need for food, the need to feel good, even the need to be loved.

Sometimes these needs and these feelings may get out of hand, pushing us to excess or to do things and tolerate things that are harmful and wrong.

We may eat and drink until we're full, but we will be hungry and thirsty again. We may experience great pleasure, but the cravings return. We may think we’ve found love, but feelings of loneliness and insecurity still lurk within us.

What we really need (and need to pray for) is the living water of Christ.

The love of God “welling up” within us is what we really need and if we don’t have that, no comfort food, no relationship, nor any other earthly thing can make up for that emptiness.

How do we obtain this infinitely satisfying and lasting sustenance from Christ?

We obtain it from the wonders of his grace by asking for it in prayer and by doing God's will

"I have food to eat
of which you do not know....
My food
is to do the will of the one who sent me
and to finish his work."

Come and get it.