I Thirst

From In His Own Words, Fr. John Cioppa Maryknoller in Hong Kong.

Two small words . Simple and plain. But we remember them as two of the last words spoken by Jesus just before the end. Like all religious people we have a deep interest in reflecting and examining the last words of a person before he dies.We do that with our parents, we do it with our friends.We value those words and we wonder what they mean. For Jesus these two words become a key to knowing him and understanding His heart. We look at them not just as an indication of His physical need for water, but as a gateway through which we begin to understand who He is and who we are.

Long before Jesus spoke them and the Gospel writers recorded them, we find these words in the Psalms as a cry of anguish and distress poured out by the Jewish people to their God:

O God you are my God whom I seek;
For you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts,
Like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. (Ps63:1)

Jesus knew these words and understood their deeper meaning. True, His body needed water, but even more His soul needed the consolation and peace of His Father. Those two words spoken by Jesus reflect the thirst that exists in all of us as we struggle to find the true fountain of life and peace and true meaning. These two words reflect the deepest desire of our hearts. Knowingly or unknowingly we thirst for the Father just like Jesus. We look everywhere and try everything to find water that can slake our thirst. Then we drink only to find that the water is bitter and poisoned and our thirst continues.

On the first Friday of each month we honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus and reflect on the words, "I thirst" as spoken by Jesus on the Cross and experienced by each of us in our hearts. The Gospels record that after Jesus died, soldiers pierced his side, and blood and water poured out from His Sacred Heart. As we go through life and try many different waters to satisfy our thirst, hopefully one day we will try this sacred water and find that it is not only sweet, but is the only true water that can bring true meaning, peace and joy to our hearts.