Forecasting Water

Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent, Year A
There has been much to-do recently about the ability of weather forecasters to accurately predict the weather. It’s true that weather forecasting is as much art as it is science, and it is always better to err on the side of caution. Sometimes, the forecast is right on – especially when it’s simple, say a forecast calling for mostly cloudy skies. Other times, a predicted winter storm with 8 inches of snow and ice on top of that turns into only a dusting of snow with no ice – or even nothing at all, because at the last minute, the storm went in an unexpected direction. But one thing is certain – we do not control when and how water comes from the sky.

But this water can change lives. Water turned to ice on the roads or sidewalks can easily cause accidents; water channeled through the power of a hurricane or a tsunami can wipe whole towns off the map. On the other hand, a drink of water can be life-giving to someone wandering in a desert, like Moses and the Israelites in today’s reading from Exodus. A conversation around a well certainly changed the life of a Samaritan woman in today’s gospel. And a simple pouring of water on the heads of seven people at this year’s Easter Vigil will change their lives forever through the sacrament of baptism. After an encounter with water, some people’s lives are never the same.

Which brings us back to the weather. Being washed in the waters of baptism is the most important thing that will ever happen in the life of a Christian. Once we are baptized, we are children of God, now and forever. But no one can predict what will happen to that baptized Christian – no one can predict how well that baptism will be received and lived out. For some, baptism becomes the beginning of a lifelong journey with the God who gives us water, a lifelong journey to satisfy our thirst for holiness and truth. But for others, the water of baptism dries up so quickly that the promise of new life, the forecast of holiness, fizzles out or goes in a completely different direction, sometimes for a short time, sometimes for much longer. As much as we try, we cannot predict the future of baptismal holiness. But there is one guaranteed forecast when it comes to the waters of baptism: the living water that Christ offers us will never run dry, no matter how often we move away, the water that Christ gives us will always be there. How do you live out your baptism?