Living Water

“Oh, how many times have I remembered the living water that Christ told the Samaritan woman about! I have always been very fond of the Gospel passage. From the time I was a little girl, I often begged the Lord to give me that living water, long before I understood how good the water is. I kept a picture with me of the Lord coming to that well with these words inscribed beneath it: ‘Sir, give me this water.’” Teresa of Avila, The Book of My Life (1562)

For the last two weeks I have been keeping an unusual schedule—summertime brings its own unique challenges—and the number of times I’ve been able to accomplish morning prayer has greatly been diminished. (If you want proof, check my prayer reports.)

What a difference morning prayer makes! I certainly can tell my life is not as centered without centering prayer. I’m someone who needs lots of sleep, but it’s getting to the point where I may need to begin getting up extra early to get my prayer time in because I need that time with the Holy Presence to live my life the way it’s meant to be lived.

Teresa knew the value of regular prayer, and she also knew it was the living water which quenches thirst forever, the water Jesus spoke of in the Bible. In John’s gospel,the Samaritan woman asked Jesus for that water; in The Book of My Life, Teresa tells us she longed for it, too. May I be the third to request it, and may your request be added to mine...All of us who know the value of this living water can call upon Christ to come to the well and help us draw it day after day after day.

Praise be to Christ and the mystery of the living water.