{"id":14497,"date":"2014-04-01T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T06:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=14497"},"modified":"2017-04-17T22:00:12","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T02:00:12","slug":"the-river-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-river-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The River of Life","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<div align=\"center\">\n<p align=\"CENTER\">THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS<br \/><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">for April 1st, 2014<br \/><\/span>Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">\n<div align=\"center\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"LEFT\">Liturgical texts <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/readings\/040114.cfm\"><em>here<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Elia-Locardi-Along-The-Meguro-River-Tokyo-Japan-900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"470\" height=\"484\" \/><em><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><br \/>Photo by Elia Locardi <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"fb-root\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n(function(d, s, id) {\n  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\n  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n  js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\";\n  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n\/\/ ]]><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><strong>I <\/strong>had been debating lately with an atheist (she finally gave up). At the beginning of our conversations, I explained to her that my belief in Jesus Christ had little do with the scientifically verifiable miracles of physical healings, apparitions, and incorruptible saints, and more so to do with the fact that I<em> know <\/em>Jesus (insofar as He has revealed Himself to me). But she insisted this was not good enough, that I was irrational, duped by a myth, oppressed by a patriarchal Church&#8230; you know, the usual diatribe. She wanted me to reproduce God in a petri dish, and well, I just don&#8217;t think He was up to it.<\/p>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">As I read her words, it was as if she was trying to tell a man who&#8217;d just come out of the rain that he isn&#8217;t wet. And the water I speak of here is the<em> River of Life. <\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><em><!--more--><\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; font-size: small;\">Jesus stood up and exclaimed, \u201cLet anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: \u2018Rivers of living water will flow from within him.\u2019 He said this in reference to the Spirit&#8230; (Jn 7:38-39)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">This is the definitive proof of Jesus Christ for the believer. It is the proof that moved thousands to willingly give up their lives for Him in the first century alone. It is the proof that led countless others to leave everything and proclaim Him to the ends of the earth. It is the proof that has led scientists, physicists, mathematicians, and some of the greatest intellects in history to bend their knee at the name of Jesus. <em>Because rivers of living water were flowing in their souls. <\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: courier new,courier; font-size: small;\">Now the unspiritual person does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it is discerned spiritually. (1 Cor 2:14)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">The great fountainhead of this River, the wellspring of delight, is from the <em>pierced side of Christ<\/em>, prefigured in the vision of the temple:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; font-size: small;\">&#8230;the fa\u00e7ade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the right side of the temple&#8230; (First reading)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">It is a river that was unleashed at the foot of the Cross when a soldier pierced His side, and blood and water gushed forth. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_14497_1('footnote_plugin_reference_14497_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_14497_1('footnote_plugin_reference_14497_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_14497_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_14497_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">cf. Jn 19:34<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_14497_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_14497_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> This mighty River was not the end, but the beginning of the life of the Church, the &#8220;city of God.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; font-size: small;\">There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High. (Today&#8217;s Psalm)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">This River is real and life-giving in the Christian, because he who has opened his heart to it can &#8220;taste and see the goodness of the Lord&#8221; in the <em>fruit of the Holy Spirit.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; font-size: small;\">Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail&#8230; the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. (Gal 5:22-23)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">And as we witness in the Gospel today, &#8220;their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.&#8221; Today, many in the world have turned to science alone as the solution to all man&#8217;s problems, just as people in Christ&#8217;s day turned to the pool of Bethesda, which at most, could heal the body, but not the soul.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><strong>&#8230; those who followed in the intellectual current of modernity that [Francis Bacon] inspired were wrong to believe that man would be redeemed through science. Such an expectation asks too much of science; this kind of hope is deceptive. Science can contribute greatly to making the world and mankind more human. Yet it can also destroy mankind and the world unless it is steered by forces that lie outside it. <\/strong>\u2014BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter,<em> Spe Salvi<\/em>, n. 25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">The River of Life does not destroy, but heal. Hence Jesus says to the formerly lame man: &#8220;Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.&#8221; That is to say, the real healing Jesus came to bring is of the heart, and once healed&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; font-size: small;\">It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard&#8230; (Acts 4:20) <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><strong>Indeed, the purest joy lies in the relationship with Christ, encountered, followed, known, and loved, thanks to the constant effort of mind and heart. To be a disciple of Christ: for a Christian this suffices<\/strong>. \u2014BENEDICT XVI, Angelus Address, January 15th, 2006<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-river-of-life\" data-layout=\"standard\" data-action=\"recommend\" data-show-faces=\"true\" data-share=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-share-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-river-of-life\" data-via=\"MarkMallett2\">Tweet<\/a><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n\/\/ < ![CDATA[\n!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=\/^http:\/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+':\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');\n\/\/ ]]><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\">To receive <strong><em>The <\/em><\/strong><em><strong>Now Word,<\/strong> <\/em><em><br \/><\/em>click on the banner below to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/subscribe\/\">subscribe<\/a>. <br \/> Your email will not be shared with anyone.<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/subscribe\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12200 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/NowWord-Banner.png\" alt=\"NowWord Banner\" width=\"463\" height=\"148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/NowWord-Banner.png 798w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/NowWord-Banner-300x97.png 300w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/NowWord-Banner-768x247.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Spiritual Food for Thought is a full-time apostolate.<br \/>Thanks for your support!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"CENTER\"><a href=\"http:\/\/store.markmallett.com\/donate\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Donateovalbtnonbeige.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"112\" height=\"48\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Join Mark on Facebook and Twitter!<\/span><br \/><\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Mark-Mallett\/479309778804431\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Facebooklogo.png\" alt=\"Facebooklogo\" width=\"98\" height=\"98\" \/><\/a><\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkMallett2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Twitterlogo.png\" alt=\"Twitterlogo\" width=\"98\" height=\"98\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_14497_1();\"><h5>Footnotes<\/h5><\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_14497_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_14497_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_14497_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\"><h5>Footnotes<\/h5><\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_14497_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_14497_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_14497_1_1');\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_plugin_link\" ><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">cf. Jn 19:34<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_14497_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_14497_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_14497_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_14497_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_14497_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_14497_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_14497_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_14497_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_14497_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_14497_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_14497_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_14497_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_14497_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_14497_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor April 1st, 2014Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent Liturgical texts here Photo by Elia Locardi &nbsp; \u00a0 I had been debating lately with an atheist (she finally gave up). At the beginning of our conversations, I explained to her that my belief in Jesus Christ had little do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-journal","category-faith-and-morals"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The River of Life - The Now Word<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-river-of-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The River of Life - The Now Word\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor April 1st, 2014Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent Liturgical texts here Photo by Elia Locardi &nbsp; \u00a0 I had been debating lately with an atheist (she finally gave up). 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