water

We live in a thirsty world. There are few things more basic, more ordinary, or more natural than our need for water. We can’t live without it. And yet, we share other thirsts in life, like the need for safety, love and meaning. It’s hard to live without these essentials as well. In a sense, our common thirsts bind us together. When we don’t have them or sense they are running out, we humans can get anxious, suspicious, possessive and downright testy about what we lack. Our thirsts can separate us and isolate us.

Water is also a sign of faith. During Lent we hear familiar stories of people dealing with their thirsts. One place that came to symbolize this thirsty state of affairs is called Massah and Meribah. It is said, “The Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord in our midst or not?’” (Ex. 17:7). What they didn’t know or couldn’t see was that water was beneath them. They needed to be led deeper to find the water that God was offering them.

more grateful than ever to be an American Catholic.

To be sure, as American Catholics, we face our own unique set of challenges. Our polarized and hyperpartisan politics tend to bleed into the Church, unnecessarily bifurcating the Gospel into rival camps pitted against each other: pro-life vs. social justice, God’s mercy vs. God’s truth — pick your own false binary. American tendencies toward individualism, autonomy and material comfort can also pose obstacles to the kind of community and selflessness called for by the Gospel.

But in light of what I saw in Germany, there is so much good in American Catholicism that we might be prone to take for granted: our creative and dynamic lay movements and apostolates; our widespread efforts to deepen catechesis and love and understanding of the faith; and our clergy, who by and large are committed to helping us grow in holiness and fidelity to the Lord.

These are qualities that set the American Catholic experience apart. In fact, many of the positive fruits of American Catholicism are playing an important role in Germany. Minnesota’s own, Father Mike Schmitz and Bishop Robert Barron, are hugely important catechetical resources for German Catholics desperate to know what the Church actually teaches. German priests who come to the U.S. to study or on temporary assignment return to their homeland invigorated for mission. And FOCUS missionaries like the ones who serve at campuses such as Winona State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth are evangelizing through relationships on college campuses in Passau and Cologne.

As American Catholics, we have much to be grateful for. But, therefore, we also have a great responsibility. Many around the world look to the Church in the U.S. as a source of creative fidelity. Let’s ensure that we continue to be a blessing for them, by in turn renewing our fidelity to Christ and his Church.

Searching for water is a daily necessity for many people in the world, including in our sister Diocese of Kitui, Kenya. Kitui is a very thirsty place. Severe droughts are a fact of life and climate changes have only made things drier. Usually, women and girls fulfill this task by walking for miles carrying water jugs to dry riverbeds. Sometimes the search for water interrupts girls’ ability to go to school or delays growing food. And yet, what looks exhausted on the surface does not mean water isn’t there. They know how to go deeper. They have learned how to dig into dry riverbeds to find water that still flows beneath them. The daily search for water binds them together. When I have met people in Kitui, they greet me with the words, “God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.” Their physical thirsts are not as deep as their faith in the goodness and providence of God. In Kitui, they say water is life, but it is more than that. Water is education. Water is work and food. Water connects people by searching and sharing together. And sharing a drink of water is a sign of God’s presence.

Jesus asked for a drink from the Samaritan woman at the well. He wanted to share the water she was thirsty for. At first, this request seemed inappropriate in a world where Jews and Samaritans didn’t mix. Old wounds and memories of great divides kept them apart. Jesus acknowledged the thirst of this reality but offered a deeper water — a living water. He offered water that satisfied a deeper thirst we all share. This is the kind of water that can heal the wounds of sin and division. He spoke about a fountain of life in the Spirit that can bubble up inside anyone drinking this water.

As we enter Easter, we are invited to make or renew our baptismal promises — to be immersed in the life of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are plunged into the water of life that makes us brothers and sisters. It is deeper than our thirst and our hurt. It transcends the many borders that separate us. We are called to go deeper, to live deeper and drink deeper water than this world can satisfy. Jesus sends disciples forth with the call: “Put out into the deep water” (Luke 5:4).

Today, we continue to build bridges of faith with the Diocese of Kitui through the gift and resource of water. We share water projects to help those who are thirsty. We also share the water of faith that makes us one. Water connects us, inspires our faith and calls us to go deeper. May we drink deeply of the living water of Christ. He satisfies our deepest thirsts and hungry hearts. And may that water heal our thirsty world.

Deacon Friesen is director of the Center for Mission, which supports missionary outreach of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He can be reached at friesenm@archspm org

TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI