Ordinary Time 
Pause
Stop for a moment. Take a deep breath. God’s Spirit is closer than you imagine, moving in your life even now. Open your heart to listen.
Listen
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted,
“All who are thirsty should come to me! All who believe in me should drink! As the scriptures said concerning me, Rivers of living water will flow out from within him.”
Jesus said this concerning the Spirit. Those who believed in him would soon receive the Spirit, but they hadn’t experienced the Spirit yet since Jesus hadn’t yet been glorified.
John 7:37-39
Think
We all know the feeling of being thirsty. Not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. A thirst to belong, to be heard, a thirst to find meaning. Jesus speaks of this thirst and offers something unexpected: living water. Not something fleeting, but a fountain that continues to flow. The Spirit of God is like that water. It does not run out easily. It does not depend on circumstances. It can fill even the emptiest spaces in our lives.
Sometimes we seek to quench our thirst in places that do not sustain us: we seek approval and success, or we have many distractions. But the Spirit invites us to return to the true source. And the amazing thing is this: we don’t just receive. We also give. Jesus says that water flows from within us to other people. Being filled with the Spirit is not just for us. It is so that the life we receive also reaches those around us.
Jhanderys Dotel-Vellenga
Question to Ponder:
What things do you try to use to satisfy your inner “thirst”?
Pray
Spirit of life, come to fill what is empty in me. Help me to seek you as a true source. Make my life a place where others find inspiration. Amen.
Go
Go out into the world with care and courage. God’s Spirit goes with you, guiding your steps and working through your life to bring love, justice, and hope.
