There’s a hole in your bucket, dear Liza.
This line from a children’s song published in Germany circa 1700 is a great analogy for our spiritual life. While our faith is often strong, we hold it in a fragile vessel that leaks. And if we don’t routinely seek to replenish our faith, our bucket can run dry.
This points to the genius of the sacraments. Our physical encounters with the grace of God refill our buckets, to the point that it overflow out onto others. God pours out that grace into us, and we channel that grace on to others.
Listen to Saint Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians,
For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of [Jesus] Christ. But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
Let’s pray – Father of grace and mercy. You gave us the sacraments as strength for our journey, and a way to tap into the grace you want to pour into our hearts and through our actions. Help us to recognize the hole in our bucket and plant within us the desire to seek you frequently through your sacraments. Amen.