And wherever the river goes, every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh.

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary.

-Ezekiel 47: 9,12

As the deacon read the reading for today's Mass (Ezk. 47:1-9, 12) my mind went back to the time when those very lines meant so much. Those indeed were the lines Queenie and me had chosen to print on our wedding card 10 years ago.

The words renewed us immensely as we stood in attention to hear the Word of God - on YouTube. We were in the comfort of our home in Porvorim, standing in front of the television screen. The Mass was a recorded one. It had been said at 9 a.m. at Don Bosco, Panjim, Goa. The link at Don Bosco TV is Holy Eucharist Live 24/3/20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CogtTAgrrCk

Due to the prevailing conditions and the advisory of the Archbishop of Goa we were advised not to attend Sunday Mass, but watch it on TV.  We continued the practice on Monday, Tuesday and today Wednesday. Today being 24th, we were given the special blessing of Mary Help of Christians.

Somehow during these times, daily Mass at midday is just the thing to bolster our spirits. We were watching it at 11.30 a.m. This was also the time we had set aside for prayer when I was between jobs in Delhi. We were just married, Dwayne was on the way, and here I was with a ridiculously high rent and no job. But God saw us through. He always has.

Rather than keeping the inside face of the front of the wedding invitation bare we chose to print Ezekiel 47: 9, 12 on it. This would be the verse that would sustain our marriage, I thought.

I did not know what the future would be. I was working in Delhi, Queenie was from Bombay and my family was in Goa.

Faith has always been our bedrock. It seemed that God was reminding us today that He is with us no matter what. He is the Alpha and the Omega.

As the waters of the river keep rising in the reading of Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel just keeps trusting and moving forward. He is finally led to a land of Providence watered by the river to a land which is plentiful.

The concluding words of the Mass were from 'The Lord is my Shepherd.' After the Mass we all broke into song and sang the hymn. As soon as Mass was over I rushed to the keyboard and tried to play the hymn. It was also the hymn I used to sing when I first met Queenie.
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