Father Ferdinando Colombo: Giving Drink to the Thirsty

Eight hundred million people do not have a tap at home, and according to WHO (World Health Organization) estimates, more than 200 million children die every year as a result of consuming unsafe water and the poor sanitary conditions that follow.

Overall, it is estimated that 80% of diseases in Southern countries are due to poor water quality. Worldwide, 1.4 billion people on the planet lack access to safe drinking water.

A North American citizen uses 1,700 cubic meters of water per year; the average in Africa is 250 cubic meters per year.

The World Water Commission identifies 40 liters per person per day as the minimum quantity to meet essential needs. With about 40 liters, Italians take a shower; for others, this represents water for whole weeks.

Italy ranks first in Europe for water consumption and third in the world with 1,200 cubic meters per capita per year. Only the United States and Canada consume more.

Compared to European standards, Italians can only be viewed as wasteful: they consume almost eight times the water used in Great Britain, ten times that used by the Danes, and three times what is consumed in Ireland or Sweden.

Water has become blue gold

While the water crisis is connected to multiple factors (global population growth, increased water requirements for industrial, civil, and agricultural uses, pollution of waterways and aquifers, climate changes…), it demands policies inspired by cultural and human values of solidarity, not merely economic criteria. The transition of water from a fundamental right to a commodity is one of the primary drivers of injustice.

Pope Francis

«A particularly serious problem is the quality of water available to the poor, which causes many deaths every day. Water-related illnesses are frequent among the poor, including those caused by microorganisms and chemical substances. Dysentery and cholera, resulting from inadequate sanitation and water supplies, are a significant factor in suffering and infant mortality» (Laudato si’, 29)

«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». (Laudato si’, 30)

«It is foreseeable that the control of water by large global businesses will emerge as one of the main sources of conflict in this century». (Laudato si’, 31)

Drink is life. Just as every form of plant life requires water, human beings need it even more. Dying of thirst is more terrible than dying of hunger! From the first moment of existence, every creature requires nourishment.

The newborn child immediately seeks the maternal breast; but even prior to childbirth, the mother nourishes the baby so the fetus can grow and develop until reaching a degree of autonomy. In human life, eating and drinking are indispensable: not merely occasionally, but every single day, from birth to death!

Back in 1994, John Paul II, on World Food Day, stressed the necessity to «consider the importance of water for the life and sustenance of individuals and communities. Since everyone must have access to uncontaminated water supplies, the international community is called to cooperate to protect this precious resource from inappropriate uses and senseless waste. Without inspiration rooted in moral principles deeply ingrained in human hearts and consciences, the international agreements and harmony needed to preserve and manage this essential resource will prove difficult to maintain and carry forward».

All this must prompt an awakening to the gravity of the problem, leading to decisive political action that answers the desperate plea of those asking for drink. Otherwise, the words «I was thirsty and you gave me no drink» (Mt 25:42) will stand as a judgment and a surprise for us as well.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her: «Give me a drink». Thus begins a dialogue in which the woman draws no water and Jesus drinks none; yet both demonstrate that the true water that satisfies is encounter, and that authentic thirst is the desire for communion.

In promising the water of the Spirit and revelation, Jesus promises the water that satisfies unto eternal life. Jesus answered her: «Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life» (Jn 4:13-14).

There is a statement by Jesus recorded only by John: «If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, whoever believes in me; as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”. Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive» (Jn 7:37-39).

Jesus says: «And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward» (Mt 10:42).

Let us not forget the agonizing cry of Jesus on the Cross: «I thirst!», which encompasses every need of suffering humanity, but first and foremost God’s sorrow for those who are lost. Yes, as the Saints affirm, Jesus thirsts for us; He thirsts for those at risk of being lost, and His cry from the Cross seeks companions who will help Him quench this thirst by becoming His disciples and drawing as many souls to Him as possible (Luciano Manicardi).

Prayer

Thanks be to You, O God our Father,

who in our Sister Water, Your creature, opened for us the womb of life;

thanks be to You for the wave that irrigates, the bath that cleanses,

the drink that quenches thirst, and Christ Your Son, the fountain of our rebirth.

Grant, O Lord, that every human being may always partake in this refreshment

and, by keeping the work of creation pure and unblemished,

behold in it the reflection of Your goodness

and a steadfast invitation to purity of body and soul.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Illustration by Sister Marie-Anastasia Carré (Communauté des Béatitudes)