The Pelican
Where are we?
“The Holy Sepulchre, Golgotha lays within”
And now?
“It’s Bethlehem. This is where the Holy family stayed”
“Look here….This is the rock that Jesus ascended into heaven from. You can see his footprint”
“Look there… This is the cell where they kept Christ before His trial”
The Holy Land. A myriad of places, sights, stories and images. Some seemed legit (others not so much), but all centred around one person - Christ.
However among the vast experiences and sights, one memory remains.
A group of 15 hungry boys, all chatting away, pile into an empty old room. A room which looks like every other room that we saw today on our 35-stop agenda.
“And this is the room of the Last Supper”.
We looked around. The room was empty. It had four cream-coloured plaster walls supported by four decaying poles. There were broken timber floors. And… nothing else. So we, as any group of hungry spiritual boys would, looked around… for the exit. Nothing to see here.
But as I began to leave, a detail in one of the poles caught my eye. Carved into the top of one pole was some sort of bird with two little birds on either side. But the little birds were there, with bent necks, resting on the body of the big bird.
I thought to myself: “Nice”
And then I followed the boys outside. Next site.
Today on the third Sunday of the Holy 50 days we read an all too familiar passage from John 4 about the Samaritan Woman. And the Lord says to her “Give me a drink”. (John 4:7)
After some discussion, Jesus then says to the woman:
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you Living Water… whoever drinks of the water I will give him will never thirst” (John 4:10, 14)
But I just don’t understand. How can You say to this woman, and to us today, that You have the water that makes us never thirst, when You Yourself said on the Cross: “I thirst”.
Did you run out Lord?
How can You give us something that You Yourself seemed to lack?
A few months ago, I was walking along the streets of London when I stumbled across a church. As I entered, beautiful paintings were on every inch of wall or ceiling. At the front of the church were three altars, separated by a gate with a central door. And as I walked past, something caught my eye. Above the gate that l invited people into the altar, was a bronze bird with two little birds. The same bird. But thankfully there was an explanation…
The bird is a pelican. And in times of severe famine the ‘mother’ pelican has only one thing on her mind: to feed its young. But the land is barren and nothing is there for them to feed on, and so, in order to save them, the mother pelican pierces its own body with its long beak and gives of her flesh to the young. Emptying herself to fill her child whom she loves. Even if the child is starved to the point of death, it was said that if the mother plucks her flesh and the blood from her pierced body drops onto her child then the child will be brought back to life.
The church wants us to understand this today. Maybe I have become barren again. Barren of Joy, barren of Hope, barren of Love. But as it said in the Psalm before the Gospel “The Lord has been mindful of us”. (Psalm 115:12).
He knows that without Him we are in severe famine and all that occupies His mind is how He can satisfy our need. And so, He CHOSE to be thirsty on the cross, so that He could give us the living water. “He thirsted to quench our thirst” (Liturgical Fraction to the Son).
May we see the depth of His love and His self-emptying. How He chose to be hungry to feed us, and thirsty to quench our thirst. And no matter how thirsty we are today; whether thirsty because of loss, or guilt, or tribulation, or sin, may we accept His invitation. To come to Him as His children, to find safety under His wings, to feed on His body, drink of His blood and to enjoy the Living Water that comes from a life with Him. Even if we are thirsty to the point of death. Dead in our sin, in our struggle, in addiction, in despair, then we come to Him and by His life-giving Eucharist we will be Resurrected to life once more.
“The Holy Sepulchre, Golgotha lays within”
And now?
“It’s Bethlehem. This is where the Holy family stayed”
“Look here….This is the rock that Jesus ascended into heaven from. You can see his footprint”
“Look there… This is the cell where they kept Christ before His trial”
The Holy Land. A myriad of places, sights, stories and images. Some seemed legit (others not so much), but all centred around one person - Christ.
However among the vast experiences and sights, one memory remains.
A group of 15 hungry boys, all chatting away, pile into an empty old room. A room which looks like every other room that we saw today on our 35-stop agenda.
“And this is the room of the Last Supper”.
We looked around. The room was empty. It had four cream-coloured plaster walls supported by four decaying poles. There were broken timber floors. And… nothing else. So we, as any group of hungry spiritual boys would, looked around… for the exit. Nothing to see here.
But as I began to leave, a detail in one of the poles caught my eye. Carved into the top of one pole was some sort of bird with two little birds on either side. But the little birds were there, with bent necks, resting on the body of the big bird.
I thought to myself: “Nice”
And then I followed the boys outside. Next site.
Today on the third Sunday of the Holy 50 days we read an all too familiar passage from John 4 about the Samaritan Woman. And the Lord says to her “Give me a drink”. (John 4:7)
After some discussion, Jesus then says to the woman:
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you Living Water… whoever drinks of the water I will give him will never thirst” (John 4:10, 14)
But I just don’t understand. How can You say to this woman, and to us today, that You have the water that makes us never thirst, when You Yourself said on the Cross: “I thirst”.
Did you run out Lord?
How can You give us something that You Yourself seemed to lack?
A few months ago, I was walking along the streets of London when I stumbled across a church. As I entered, beautiful paintings were on every inch of wall or ceiling. At the front of the church were three altars, separated by a gate with a central door. And as I walked past, something caught my eye. Above the gate that l invited people into the altar, was a bronze bird with two little birds. The same bird. But thankfully there was an explanation…
The bird is a pelican. And in times of severe famine the ‘mother’ pelican has only one thing on her mind: to feed its young. But the land is barren and nothing is there for them to feed on, and so, in order to save them, the mother pelican pierces its own body with its long beak and gives of her flesh to the young. Emptying herself to fill her child whom she loves. Even if the child is starved to the point of death, it was said that if the mother plucks her flesh and the blood from her pierced body drops onto her child then the child will be brought back to life.
The church wants us to understand this today. Maybe I have become barren again. Barren of Joy, barren of Hope, barren of Love. But as it said in the Psalm before the Gospel “The Lord has been mindful of us”. (Psalm 115:12).
He knows that without Him we are in severe famine and all that occupies His mind is how He can satisfy our need. And so, He CHOSE to be thirsty on the cross, so that He could give us the living water. “He thirsted to quench our thirst” (Liturgical Fraction to the Son).
May we see the depth of His love and His self-emptying. How He chose to be hungry to feed us, and thirsty to quench our thirst. And no matter how thirsty we are today; whether thirsty because of loss, or guilt, or tribulation, or sin, may we accept His invitation. To come to Him as His children, to find safety under His wings, to feed on His body, drink of His blood and to enjoy the Living Water that comes from a life with Him. Even if we are thirsty to the point of death. Dead in our sin, in our struggle, in addiction, in despair, then we come to Him and by His life-giving Eucharist we will be Resurrected to life once more.