Note to readers: Sometimes as I prayer scripture I jot down words or phrases that pop off the page to me and spend more time reflecting on these phrases. This is one of those times.

Originally written Wednesday April 28, 2010

"My heart is ready” “You shall be called ‘My delight’” “Come” “What are you waiting for.”

I think I was wrong about the Liturgy of the Hours. I thought I wasn’t getting anything out of it. Actually, the truth is, I wasn’t putting all that much into it.

In the past few days, because I have not simply been reading the office but seeking God by praying it I’ve discovered or rediscovered that the well will not run dry. Yesterday I wrote about all the different ways and times Jesus said “Come” and that word “comes” to me again today.

“Come to the water and drink – without money, without price. I recall the Samaritan woman at the well and Christ’s invitation to us through that conversation to her. “Come to me, simply ask and I will give you life giving water and you will never thirst again.”

Of course he wasn’t talking about physical thirsting; he was speaking of the thirst for God. “My soul thirsts for you Lord, like a dry parched land without water.” Christ’s own thirsting on the cross was not something that wine mixed with vinegar was going to quench. It was the thirsting of the psalms; it was the thirsting for union with his Father. It is my thirsting and the real thirst of all humanity.

This is the thirsting that brings me back to the well of the Hours and to all prayer. Like the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” It seems I got to the water but sometimes I just don’t drink – how foolish.

I call to the Lord, “my heart is ready.”

The Lord responds “Come! What are you waiting for?”