reflections

Only still water reflects a perfect image.

The holy water font in a beautiful chapel in Georgetown is reminiscent of the large brazen laver that graced the entrance of the ancient tabernacle recorded in the Old Testament book of Exodus. The original one was much larger and made from mirrors that were plundered from the Egyptians by the Hebrews-- “departing gifts”, you might say, as they fled for their lives into the desert to escape Pharaoh’s wrath.

In this “sea” the priests would wash away the desert sands, and because it was made of reflective, highly polished pieces of metal, as they looked into the waters, their great need for external cleansing was brought forth right before their very eyes. These external ablutions were meant to be a reminder of the internal cleansing that was also needed in order to make them clean and acceptable before a holy and perfect God. Those waters were only a foretaste of the Eternal Cleansing Spring that was to come, the One we wait for now with holy expectation.

Each time I enter this holy place, in which the presence of God dwells, in the beautifully still water, I see reflected the corpus hanging on the wall above it. There He is: the mirror of my soul..the One who shows me the need for my own cleansing, washing away of sin, and at the same time, the One who is also the Cleansing Agent --the only One who can give me the purification that I long for.

As the old Hymn states:

“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow.

No other Font I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

As we enter into Advent, my prayer is that we can stop for a bit in the midst of the hustle and bustle and just be still; that we can look into the Font of Him, the True Source of Love and see the areas in our lives in need of cleansing and filling. But also, that we can, with great hope and expectation, know that He will happily provide all we need to be made new, if only we ask.

Then--just like the ancients of old...after our encounter with Divine Love, we too will be a more perfect reflection of Him.

And all of us, with our unveiled faces like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Dear Lord,

As I enter into Advent, let there be nothing that keeps me from You. I want to come to You with the great expectation that You will cleanse me and fill me and do the work in my soul that will make me a more perfect reflection of Yourself. Please give me the grace to slow down, be still and sit with You. And as I gaze at You, transform me into a more perfect image of Yourself, for only You and all You have done for me on the cross can accomplish that. Help me cooperate with the work You long to do in me.

I ask this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.