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Office Of Readings | Week 25, Saturday, Ordinary Time | From The Discourses Of Saint Hilary On The Psalms | The Water Of The River Gives Joy To God’s City
‘The river whose streams gladden the city of God.’
Saint Hilary reflects on the image of the river that gladdens the city of God, drawing together scriptural references to show that the river signifies the Holy Spirit. From the psalmist’s imagery of abundant waters, through Christ’s words in John’s Gospel, the Spirit is described as a source of life flowing from God into believers. The fullness of the river expresses the superabundance of divine gifts: the Spirit is not given sparingly but floods the Church with grace.
The passage then turns to the food that God provides, which Hilary identifies with the body of Christ in the Eucharist. This food nourishes the faithful both now and in preparation for eternal life. By partaking of Christ’s body, believers are incorporated into the communion of the Church and prepared for life with God. Thus, the river and the food together represent the Spirit and the sacrament — the inner life and the outward sign — through which God prepares his people.
Baptism is highlighted as the beginning of this new life. Through the rebirth of water and the Spirit, Christians experience the first movements of divine life within them. Hilary describes the effects of the Spirit: wisdom, prophecy, hope, healing, and authority over evil. These are not immediate in their fullness but begin as a gentle rain that gradually brings forth fruit. The Christian life, therefore, unfolds as the Spirit’s gifts grow within, nourishing and equipping the believer for perseverance and holiness.
From The Discourses Of Saint Hilary On The Psalms | The Water Of The River Gives Joy To God’s City
The river of God is brimming with water. You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them. There can be no doubt about the river referred to, for the prophet says: There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God; and in the gospel the Lord himself says: Streams of living water welling up to eternal life will flow from the heart of anyone who drinks the water I shall give him. He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. The river of God is brimming with water; that is to say, we are inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and from that fountain of life the river of God pours into us in a full flood.
We also have food prepared for us. And who is this food? It is he in whom we are prepared for life with God, for by receiving his holy body we receive a place in the communion of his holy body. This is what is meant by the words of the psalm: You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them. For as well as refreshing us now, that food also prepares us for the life to come.
We who have been reborn through the sacrament of baptism experience intense joy when we feel within us the first stirrings of the Holy Spirit. We begin to have an insight into the mysteries of faith, we are able to prophesy and to speak with wisdom. We become steadfast in hope and receive the gift of healing. Demons are made subject to our authority. These gifts enter us like a gentle rain, and once having done so, little by little, they bring forth fruit in abundance.
Christian Prayer With Jesus Christ
Holy God,
you gladden your city with the living waters of your Spirit,
and you feed your people with the body of your Son.
Grant that, reborn in baptism and strengthened by the Eucharist,
we may grow in wisdom, hope, and love.
May the Spirit’s gifts bear fruit in us
until we are brought into the fullness of life with you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Glossary Of Christian Terms
River of God – A biblical image (Ps 46:4) for the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Streams of living water – Christ’s promise (Jn 7:38–39) of the Spirit flowing from the believer’s heart.
Food prepared – Refers to the Eucharist, Christ’s body given as sustenance and preparation for eternal life.
Baptism – The sacrament of rebirth, in which the believer receives the Spirit and enters the Church.
Gifts of the Spirit – Spiritual graces such as wisdom, prophecy, healing, and authority over evil, which begin like rain and mature into fruit.
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