The inspired writers of our Genesis story which we heard yesterday and today made everything orderly for us to understand. For instance, yesterday we heard about God using the first 4 days to prepare an environment. Thus, light was created on Day One, the sky on Day Two to separate the earth and the ocean, which were created on Day Three. The sun and moon lit all this on Day 4. Today we hear of the last set of creation days, which populated that environment: birds in the sky, creatures in the sea, animals on the earth, and finally, a man and woman to oversee it all, which Pope Francis calls ‘our common home’.
The important element in this creation account which keeps all creation alive and thriving is water. It is precious and essential for all our lives to this day. Without water, we know we would die, and all vegetation life around us. There is absolutely no substitute for this precious resource, yet we take it for granted, waste and pollute it…even in our very rivers not far from here.
Spiritually, there’s a beautiful font of water right outside those doors. When we bless ourselves with it, we are reminded of the life giving, sanctifying waters of our own baptism. This holy water is Jesus’ invitation to us to drink daily of the living water of His Spirit so that we may live eternally.
As we travel our own spiritual journeys, God gives us reminders of God’s presence with us along the way which renew our hearts. This small container of water that I treasure is one of those reminders for me. I collected it from the miraculous spring of water at the Shrine in Lourdes in France where Our Lady appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous on this feast day, Feb. 11, 1858.
Bernadette was a sickly child whose family was very poor and scarcely practiced their Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother appeared to her in a grotto and identified herself to Bernadette as the “Immaculate Conception”, a doctrine that was declared just 3 years earlier by Pope Pius IX. Mary asked for penance and prayer for the conversion of sinners and instructed Bernadette to dig in the dry ground near the grotto where she stood. From that ground a spring of water flowed forth that, to this day, is still flowing and used for the healing baths by the pilgrims to Lourdes.
St. Bernadette, who suffered most of her life not only from physical pain but from people who ridiculed and questioned her visions of Mary, died at age 35. Through her witness and the intercession of the Blessed Mother, Lourdes has become a powerful place of prayer, healing and renewal of faith for all who visit there.
Water…the source of our physical well-being and spiritual nourishment. May we commit ourselves to value and care for this treasured gift of water, use it wisely and protect its purity. In our prayers, let us ask God to look with mercy on people in our world living in dry terrains or flooded lands, and who struggle to survive each day without safe drinking water.
Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette, pray for us.
