Fr. Sostenes Vieira is learning English at Canção Nova in Brazil. Here is a homily from his second mass he celebrated in English. He talks about water, the pool at Bethsaida and the water that Ezequiel saw flow out of the Temple.
The Plentiful Water
by Father Sostenes Vieira, New Song Community.
Anyone knows that water is important to us and even though someone doesn’t know it as well, or hadn’t thought about it in its mind, surely he’ll feel thirsty, when he has no water to drink. Unfortunately, maybe you are living this lack… are you thirsty? …why are you like this? For what reason? Or For Whom are you feeling this thirst? I have good news for you… There’s an existing God that said:”whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never be thirsty”. And He´ll do this tonight, I hope it happens to every one here, may all of us drink, be purified and quenched through this Plentiful Water: … let it rain, open the floodgates of heaven
In Ezequiel 47, through the prophet, God shows his strength, and his grace toward us. The place where the Jews had their temple was a tough and rough place, they lived a huge drought. But our God was making a promise through Ezequiel 47, in other words, from the temple of God a plentiful water shall pour out to bear life. Yes, truly our God is a God of promise, It is “our stronghold” (Psalm 46), truly He´s faithful. From his temple will flow out a Plentiful Water able to quench any thirst in our lives.
Thus Jesus could show it with that crippled man on his mat or better, He could pour it in him. That man had three thirsts: love, cure and a right place.
Love: He couldn’t arrive there alone, he needed some people to carry him there, but it´s sad that they hadn’t capacity to wait for the water being stirred to help him fully, surely he didn’t need only a “magic” water, but what he needed more was Love, so he said “I have no one”. Surely many people, unfortunately are living the same thing… are alone. We can´t put anyone down, exactly because nobody can’t survive alone.
Cure:, At that, the man guessed that a god from greek mythology could cure him, he is called Aesculapius, god of health, because the pool of Bethesda is a pagan place dedicated, to believe in lies and mythos… sons and daugthers, Only Jesus could cure him and us truly.
Right place: while that man was in the wrong place he couldn´t know Jesus deeply, he “did not know who He was!” Because I must be in a right place if I really want to know who is Jesus. It was in the temple he could receive a deeper cure: “Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.” Now he´s cured fully out and in, it´s called “holiness” . Now that man met Jesus in a right place: in the temple, the temple out of which flows the Plentiful Water: Jesus.
Therefore, we must long always for this Plentiful Water, that gives me love, cure and guides us to the right place, the only place that we can quenche our thirst.
let’s ask Jesus: “Let it rain, open the floodgates of heaven upon us” Amen.