—We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.—

There are two kinds of rock, igneous and sedimentary — no wait, wrong lesson.

There are two kinds of rock mentioned in today’s readings.

The first is the sort of rock the represents hardness of heart. The Jewish people had seen God’s power. They saw Moses strike the sea – and it parted. They saw the cloud and the fire that protected them from the Egyptians. They saw the exercise of God’s might. Not too long after they said: ‘God, what god…’

I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, I can’t see God, God’s not entertaining me. Their hardness of heart was a chronic condition, a condition all of us share. I want, why doesn’t God provide?

The psalmist captures that hardness if heart when he sings:

—Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,—¨Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.——¨

That hardness of heart, those stony hearts, were confronted by the Rock of Ages. God showed that the rock in Horeb could bring forth water. Even a rock could bring forth life. Did the rock do it alone? No.

The rock that brought forth water needed two things. It needed God’s power and a faithful servant – Moses.

I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it

There is an important lesson for us in this.

We are human – and our hearts are hard, dissatisfied, filled with doubt. Regardless, our hard hearts can bring forth springs of life. To do so we need God’s power. We need to acknowledge that power. We have to take that all important step and recognize that God is the center of our lives, of the world, of the universe, of all that exists. Once we have recognized God’s proper place in our lives we must make every effort to fashion ourselves into faithful servants.

Of course we are blessed because we have the Holy Church, as guide and support in proclaiming our faith in God and in fashioning ourselves into His faithful servants. With our commitment, and the Church’s guidance and help, we too will bring forth springs of life giving water.

The Letter to the Romans clearly shows that our hearts will be changed in our acceptance of God:

And hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Because of God’s love, because of a love so great that God Himself would die for us, we have been saved.

God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Brothers and sisters,

We have hearts of stone. Those stone hearts will be ground to powder, worn down by a love so great that we cannot help but be changed. God promises us that He Himself will give us hearts made for love. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us that God promised:

I will give them an undivided heart and will put a new spirit in them;—¨
I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.—¨
Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
They will be—¨my people, and I will be their God.

Friends,

Jesus came to give us hearts of flesh. He came and He fulfilled all that was promised. He gives us His word, His power to forgive, and His body and blood. All this so that we will recognize this simple truth:

—whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.——¨

We need to drink of Christ – who will destroy our hard hearts. We need to drink of Christ, so that we may: worship the Father in Spirit and truth.

When our hearts are changed, when our hearts yield God’s message, when they proclaim God’s word, we can be sure that those who hear us will say:

—We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.—

That will be the ultimate victory. Let us begin on the path today. Accept the Rock of Ages, the Christ who gives us living water. Then go out, as faithful servants, proclaiming His Gospel. Let our hearts bring living water to all we meet.

Amen.