Water From the Rock 2026

Welcome to our daily rosary meditation. Yesterday we were in the book of Leviticus and today we travel through a scene from the next book, the book of Numbers. Let's begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's call to mind all those we've promised to pray for. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Our first meditation. One very interesting set of episodes from the Israelites wandering in the desert has to do with the rock from which God, on two different occasions, brought life-giving water. The first of those occurred in Exodus 17, when the Israelites became upset that there was no water. So God commanded Moses to take his staff and strike the rock that stood before them, so that the water would come out of it, that the people might drink. So far, so good. But then years later, in the book of Numbers, chapter 20, after the people had refused to enter the promised land and were now wandering aimlessly in the desert, they end up right back at the same spot and again no water. But this time the Lord commanded Moses not to strike the rock, but instead to tell the rock to yield its water. Moses only needed to speak the word and the water would flow again. But Moses didn't follow the Lord's instructions. Instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it twice. Now, we don't know why he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. Maybe he was frustrated. Maybe he figured that no matter what God said, he should just repeat what worked the first time. Fortunately for the people, water did come out of the rock, and the people were saved from thirst. But God was greatly displeased with Moses, and God decreed right there and then that Moses would never enter the promised land because of his disobedience at the rock. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us to stay our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her in this now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her in this now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our needs now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our needs now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hell, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Preys for us and earns now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hell, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Preys for us and earns now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our second mystery. God's punishment to Moses seems pretty severe, until you think about what Moses actually did. Because what Moses actually did was needlessly place the lives of every single man, woman, and child at risk. After all, without water, in the desert, the entire race of Israelites would have been exterminated in just a few days. They would have all died of thirst. And God, who alone had the power to save them, gave Moses a clear instruction on how to bring the people the water they needed. And then Moses, what does he do? He disregards the instructions, as though he has the power to produce a life stream out of a chunk of rock Moses played around with the lives of all God people that day and that was a serious sin And it's also a serious sin when mere human beings play around with the instructions for God's sacraments, the very signs from which the living water of the Holy Spirit flows. on which the spiritual lives of God's people depends. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us enter us now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us enter us now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed 11 a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed 11 a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, in our sin now, at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, in our sin now, at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our midst now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and never shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our third mystery. The story of the water from the rock is really important for an understanding of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. When the Israelites were thirsty a second time, they need water from the rock again, but the rock doesn't need to be struck again. Rather, God's minister, Moses, he only needs to speak the word in the presence of the rock, in the presence of the sign, and the water will flow. And that's an amazing prefigurement of how the sacraments work. The sacraments, which are God's chosen mechanism for the distribution of the living water, the grace of the Holy Spirit won by Christ. Christ is the rock, and when he was struck at Calvary, all the graces of salvation flowed like a river from his pierced heart. And even though we weren't there for that event, we still need those graces. So the Lord has ordained that his chosen ministers, the priests, will speak the word in the presence of the sign and the saving graces that first flowed from Christ on the cross will flow again to us through the sacraments. In fact, the Catechism teaches that the saving events from the past will be made present for us so that we can be kept spiritually alive and those saving events are made present through the sacramental sign and the prayer spoken in the presence of that sign. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Hauptsbury, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, mission, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, Pray for our sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for our sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for our sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our dej努力 now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our dejum力 now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary mother of God pray for us in our ends now and at the hour of our death Amen glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning as now and ever shall be world without end Amen oh my Jesus Forgive us our sins save us from the fires of hell Lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy Our fourth mystery. Every sacrament consists of two things. The matter, which is the physical sign, and the form, the words or the prayers spoken. For example, in baptism, the sign or the matter is water. And the form or the prayer is, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the Eucharist, the matter or the sign is bread and wine. The form is Christ's words of consecration. In holy orders, the matter or the sign is the laying on of hands by a bishop, laying on the hands of a baptized man. And the form is the consecratory prayer. That's a hard word to say. Now, the sign is significant. the sign must signify what the sacrament does you can't baptize with motor oil it has to be water because water cleanses the eucharist has to be bread and wine because that nourishes and only a man can signify christ the bridegroom who gives himself to his bride the church in the Eucharist. As St. John Paul taught, the Eucharist is the sacrament of the bridegroom and the bride. A woman cannot sacramentally represent the bridegroom. The sign would be inaccurate and the sacrament invalid. So, faithfulness to Christ's design for the sacraments safeguards the sacrament's power. Therefore, fidelity to the sign, the matter, and the form instituted by Christ, it's essential. Because the sacraments are not human creations. They are physical signs and words instituted by Jesus. When Moses deviated from God's design, his command about the rock, it placed the people at grave risk. How much more serious would it be for some human to alter the signs and words Christ himself entrusted to the church in the sacraments? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in his head. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in his head. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in his head. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our midst now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our midst now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fifth mystery. Finally, if the water from the rock is a sign of the sacraments, then it teaches us how to live in the desert of Lent and in the greater desert of our life. The sacraments are not merely symbols. They are the true source of living water in a dry and thirsty world. for through them Christ sustains our souls. So we should go frequently to the Eucharist and to confession and return again and again to the place where grace flows. But it's not enough to merely stand at the river. It's not enough to reach the well. Oh, the river of grace flows from the pierced heart of Jesus through the sacraments. But if we want to live, we must drink. And we drink by prayer, by daily meditation, by opening the soul to receive what the sacraments pour out. The sacraments bring us to the river. Daily meditation enables us to drink deeply, and the two belong together. In the desert of Lent, in the desert of life, This is how we remain spiritually alive. We go to the river and we drink. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our домeks, know and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ancient moments, know and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, we pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, we pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Well, what caught your attention with that meditation, Teresa? I was thinking about this. This command is so interesting, that it's not just to strike it almost gives someone the impression that striking it is the thing that makes the water flow. It's kind of like when you shake something because it's not working or you hit it because it's not working. And then when it does work, you don't think it's a random chance you're like i made that work because i shook it i hit it uh but there's something in the command that is more than just i told you so or do it because i said so it's do it this way and you understand in no way are you doing it it is just because i told you to do it this way it is purely through a power beyond you, when you're just asking the rock, when you're just telling the rock. Yes. And I think there's many levels to that that reflect back to what you said about the sacraments. That's my only thought. I have no other expansion on that. What always strikes me about this is that, Well, it really harkens back to a passage in the Catechism. Listen to this. This is paragraph 1128 of the Catechism. It says, The sacraments act ex opere operato. Oh, well, that makes more sense now. which literally means by the very fact of the actions being performed that means that by virtue of the saving work of christ accomplished once for all meaning his death and resurrection on the cross it follows that the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient but by the power of god so from the moment that the sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the church, the power of God and his spirit acts in and through it independently of the personal holiness of the minister. That's powerful. You may have a holy priest. You may love your priest. You may not like your priest. It doesn't matter. If he does what the church intends to do, the sacrament works. Because it's not our power. It's not the power of the priest. It's the power of God. Yeah. But then here, listen to this last line of this paragraph. And whenever the catechism does this, it's basically saying, pay attention. Whenever the catechism says, nevertheless, pay attention. the fruit of the sacrament also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them, which means two things. If we're in the state of grave sin, mortal sin, then going to the sacrament is actually a blast. It's blasphemous. It's sacrilege. most people aren't going in that state especially our people praying with us second meaning of that last line is this there is an infinite amount of grace in every Eucharist that doesn't mean you're going to receive an infinite amount we only receive in proportion that we are open that we are disposed and we open our soul, we dispose our soul by meditation. So the sacraments and daily meditation go together. The sacraments are the wellspring of living in water. Daily meditation is the way that we open up a drink. The two always have to go together. well said well that's the catechism well recalled or well cited well thanks for the conversation thank you let's be apostles of friendship good conversation and the rosary share this with others