“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Mattew10,42).
The command to give drink to the thirsty is reported constantly in the biblical texts (to the thirsty bring water Isaiah 21:14; you have given no water to the weary to drink Job 22:7), as a duty to the needy and a sign of brotherhood among strangers: "Give me a drink" (Jn.4:7) Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well. That is where a dialogue between the two arises that leads to a mutual confidence and understanding.
It is synonymous with hospitality to the stranger, the tired and thirsty pilgrims who came out of Egypt, through the crossing of the Red Sea; the Jewish people, wandering in the desert, is refreshed by God with the prodigy of the source that sprang from the rock (Exodus 17:1).
It is a sign of responsibility for other people’s life, because water is life. It is one of the gifts that God placed in Creation for the sustenance of creatures who might otherwise perish of dehydration.
Everything originates in water and comes from water. To the cosmic primordial chaos God intervenes bringing some order and separating the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse (Genesis 1:7), so that life could start in the waters that swarm with sea creatures and every living creature, out of the sea, on land irrigated by the surrounding waters, where animals, plants, and finally men make their appearance, multiply themselves and find nourishment.
Without water no life can be guaranteed. The amniotic fluid in the womb is the environment in which the baby grows and develops. All nature is regenerated thanks to water, because nature contains water. Our body is composed for the most part by water.
It is no coincidence that man, has always tried to settle first on territories lapped by waters, because of his innate need to feed and wash himself, and, then, he tried to occupy the innermost territories through works for the collection of water, as wells or cisterns, and canals to irrigate desert areas.
About our history, at the beginning of the '900s there was the construction of the Apulian Aqueduct, the largest in Europe that was achieved through the efforts of men with a desire for freedom, but above all with the intention to cope with epidemics caused by lack of water. It brought drinking water to our region described by the Roman poet Horace as thirsty land and then to the city of Corato, first in the squares and eventually in homes.
Today there is drinking current water in all countries, mostly in the West!
This evolution, however, is also misleading and unaware of those countries, in the south of the world, which still have not reached certain privileges, as some of them, due to their geographical location, suffer a hot climate, and also because they lack concrete initiatives for an equitable distribution of this resource, and these people are forced to live in conditions of extreme poverty and in the inevitability of disease and death.
“..Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights”. (Encyclical Letter Laudato SI’ n.30)
The command to "give drink to the thirsty" is, therefore, today more relevant than ever, it should be considered in social terms and taken with responsibility, because it is not to satisfy the thirst of a single individual, but of a very large number of people, our brothers, to whom this right is denied by denying them the right to life.
A right denied that meets, on the contrary, the wastefulness by other people. “….water continues to be wasted…. This shows that the problem of water is partly an educational and cultural issue (Encyclical Letter Laudato SI’ n.30.)
Therefore we may engage in this work of mercy with a few key tips respecting others' poverty, being careful of making proper use of water, for example not staying in the shower too long, by closing the taps to avoid unnecessary wastage, and when it possible, recycle it.
Avoid wastage of water is above all a gesture of attention to all creation and of thanksgiving and praise to God, the giver of all good. We have the task to share them.
A sharing that has its foundation in the spirit. The practical and material action of "giving drink to the thirsty" is full of spiritual meanings, symbolizing the first thirst of the soul, which is divine thirst: "as a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. my soul thirsts for God, for the living God "(Ps 42:2-3).
In the Scriptures "thirst" is a manifestation of an inner need, a hole that can’t be filled with matter. Those who are in sorrow thirst for being comforted "Your brother will rise again" (Jn 11: 23); " Do not let your hearts be troubled... if I go ... I will come back and take you to be with me" (Jn.14: 1-3); Those who are in anguish thirst for being relieved " Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"(Mk 4: 40); those who are in doubt thirst for truth" "I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. "..."I, the one speaking to you—I am he."(Jn 4.25- 26).
So while consolation and peace symbolize the water to distribute as required, Jesus presents himself as a source of living water, one that quenches thirst and makes creatures become many sources for supplying one other, “amphora-people” (Evangelii Gaudium 86).
Water for the Christian is the Word of God, the Incarnate Word, His Son, Jesus. “The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life" ... " Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty " (Jn. 4: 14-15), the Divine Will.
The person who experienced every day this water was our Luisa. Jesus distributed it to her constantly so that she could become a new source for mankind. Luisa, for her part, unstintingly asked it for herself and for others, drawing it directly from the body of Christ, in the form of milk, available to everyone, but with small number of participants.
It is symbolized by water. While water appears abundant in seas, in rivers, in wells, it seems as if there is no water on the rest of the earth. Yet, there is not one point of the earth which is not soaked with water; there is no food in which water does not hold its primary place; otherwise it would be dry food, which man could not even swallow.
The Divine Will is more than water!
There is nothing, from the biggest to the smallest thing, in which the Divine Will does not run and hold Its primary place, though hidden just as the water is hidden in the earth, which, although it does not appear, is the one that makes plants vegetate and gives life to their roots.
God receives a great pain from those who do not feel his presence or ignore it, so He pours it in the souls who are always ready to drink for all to quench His same thirst " I am thirsty! "(Jn 19:28).
Jesus, with this cry, shows his thirst for our souls, for those at risk of getting lost and for those souls who, through their own witness of life, will bring as many souls as possible to Him. " If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones… that person will certainly not lose their reward."
Holy Virgin give a sip of Divine Will to my soul
FIAT!