Lent 3 - The Thirst of Jesus

 

Homily for Lent 3

March 12, 2023

The Thirst of Jesus

 

            Mother Teresa’s nuns, the Missionaries of Charity, run hundreds of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters throughout the world. In every facility, they have a chapel which has a unique feature. Right next to the giant crucifix, there are two words written on the wall of the chapel: “I Thirst”.

            Those two words were uttered by Jesus on the Cross – “I Thirst”. Yes, He was thirsting for water after the brutality of His passion. But is that all He is thirsting for?

            Listen to Mother Teresa’s explanation of why she had a devotion to the Thirst of Jesus:  "I thirst" is something much deeper than Jesus just saying "I love you." Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you - you can't begin to know who He wants to be for you. Or who He wants you to be for Him. And St. Faustina, the Polish nun who had the visions of Jesus’ Divine Mercy, said this: During Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus nailed upon the cross amidst great torments. A soft moan issued from His Heart. After some time, He said: I thirst. I thirst for the salvation of souls. Help Me, My daughter, to save souls.

            So when Jesus says to the woman at the well, “Give Me something to drink,” He’s not just thirsty for water. He is thirsting for her love, for her faith. Jesus could create water from nothing, but He is utterly unable to create love, since love must be free – she alone must satisfy Jesus’ deeper thirst for love.

            And we see her progression toward love in the Gospel. First, she calls Him “Sir” – respectful, but detached. But as the conversation goes on, she calls Him “a prophet” – beginning to see who He truly is. Finally, she recognizes Him as “the Messiah, the Christ” and is so convicted of this truth that she rushes into town, bringing others to Christ. He loves her and thirsts for her love in return, even while she is still a sinner (clearly a loose woman who sleeps around) – truly living out what St. Paul says in the second reading, that “God showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” He thirsted for her love, and by loving Him, she was transformed from a sinner into a believer.

            But why does Jesus thirst for our love? He certainly doesn’t need us. Last week, I spoke about how our Catholic Faith is full of both/ands – both Scripture and Tradition, both faith and good works…and here we see that Jesus is both human and divine. As God, He needs nothing to be happy. But God has taken on a human heart in Jesus, and that human heart has desires, sorrows, joys, loneliness. The Heart of God, then, yearns and thirsts for our love. And how little His thirst is quenched!

            In 1917 in Fatima, Our Lady appeared several times to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. In the apparitions, Mary seemed sad, explaining that Our Lord’s Heart was wounded and sorrowful because of the sinfulness of humanity, their ingratitude and coldness toward the Lord. One of the young visionaries, St. Francisco Marta, took it to heart. He began spending long hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament in his parish church, seeking to console the Lord. One day, his cousin Lucia who had also seen Our Lady, asked him, “Francisco, which do you like better—to console Our Lord, or to convert sinners?’ He responded, ‘I would rather console Our Lord. Didn’t you notice how sad Our Lady was that last month, when she said that people must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already much forgotten?” He made this his life’s mission – to quench the thirst of Jesus by consoling His lonely, forgotten Heart. Towards the end of his short life (he died at the age of 11 from tuberculosis), his cousin Lucia was complaining about some suffering they had to endure, but he responded, “Don’t mind these trials! If we can console Jesus by these sufferings, how happy we shall be!”

            Indeed, the thirst that Jesus has for our love can only be quenched with three things. First, by repentance. Repent of our coldness toward the Lord, the ways we have ignored Him and disbelieved Him and done our own will instead of His. Second, by prayer – spending time with the Lord is like giving a cold glass of water to quench His thirst. Don’t give Him just a sip of your love, but a gallon, as we spend serious amounts of time in prayer every day. Third, by offering our suffering to Him – whatever suffering we endure throughout the day, we can say, “Lord, I offer this suffering to become an act of love to You. Use it to quench Your burning thirst for souls and for love.”

            Many years ago at a different parish, there was a young boy named Christopher who had an incredibly rich spiritual life, even as a first-grader. He impressed me so much that I let him receive Communion a year early, so deeply did he desire to be united to Him. One day his mother told me an amazing story. She had been telling Christopher the story of St. John Vianney, who was so profoundly holy that one day the devil appeared to him and told him that if there were three people as holy as Fr. Vianney on earth, the devil’s kingdom would be broken. When his mom was telling Christopher this story, the boy began to cry. His mother asked what was wrong, and he said, “I’m just sad that there’s only been one saint that holy. I want to be the second.” What a heart to quench the burning desire of Jesus for souls and for love!

            I can’t help but think that Jesus grows thirstier by the day as our world becomes more and more indifferent to Him. Will you quench His thirst with repentance, prayer, suffering, and love?