“Jesus is God, therefore His love, His thirst, is infinite. He, the Creator of the universe, asked for the love of His creatures. He thirsts for our love. These words — ‘I thirst’ — do they echo in our souls?” (St. Teresa of Calcutta).

“I Thirst”: Using Our Gifts to Quench Christ’s Thirst

In a message by Pope St. John Paul II for Lent 1993, the great pope called the Church to reflect on Jesus’ words, “I thirst” (John 19:28) and “Give me a drink” (John 4:7). In these words, he wrote, ‘we hear a cry from the poor, especially those who did not have access to clean water’. In a subsequent letter to the Missionaries of Charity, St. Teresa of Calcutta (then simply known as Mother Teresa) elaborated on this message:

“‘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.”

This Lent, Catholic Women in Business invites you to reflect with us on how Jesus thirsts for each one of us and how we can quench His thirst — through prayer, through sacrifice, through loving His children who are most in need (and there are so many this Lent in particular!). In our content this season, we’ll be exploring how, as Catholic professionals, we can begin to understand “who He wants to be” for us, “who He wants [us] to be for Him,” and how we can share His great love for us all with everyone we encounter.

One day, my 2.5-year-old walked in my room and held up a red doily heart on my nightstand that was decorated with tons of stickers. I hadn’t noticed its presence there, as it was nestled between the books and perfume and papers. She said, “Mama, this is my heart for you. I love you.” Then, she gave me a kiss and left the room.

I picked up the heart and, with a smile, looked over the 20 stickers on it — so many of the pretty stickers from the pack she loved. Then, I turned it over to find … another 20 on the other side. I realized that these stickers made up the entire pack of puffy stickers that she had joyfully found in her stocking on Christmas morning. She had carefully placed each one on the red heart just for me, not saving even a few to decorate something else or to keep for herself to play with.

That day, my toddler taught me something that tends to escape me: the call to give generously to others and to Christ from my abundance.

Jesus’ Thirst

My most treasured devotional prayer is the “I Thirst for You” meditation based on St. Teresa of Calcutta’s spirituality and message. This little pamphlet, printed by the Missionaries of Charity Fathers, has been tucked into my Bible for years and has been part of countless adoration hours. It’s a reflection on Christ’s utterance on the cross, “I THIRST" (Jn 19: 28), a promise from Christ’s heart to the reader’s heart, telling them how He knows them through and through, and thirsts for our love. It’s an invitation that’s both personal and raw. Though the meditation is much longer, here are some of my most beloved parts:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock …  It is true. I stand at the door of your heart, day and night. Even when you are not listening, even when you doubt it could be Me, I am there. I know you through and through … Nothing in your life is unimportant to Me. I have followed you through the years, and I have always loved you — even in your wanderings … But I tell you again that I love you — not for what you have or haven’t done — I love you for you, for the beauty and dignity My Father gave you by creating you in His own image. It is a dignity you have often forgotten, a beauty you have tarnished by sin. But I love you as you are, and I have shed My Blood to win you back … I know what is in your heart — I know your loneliness and all your hurts — the rejections, the judgments, the humiliations, I carried it all before you … Don’t you realize that My Father already has a perfect plan to transform your life, beginning from this moment? Trust in Me. Ask Me every day to enter and take charge of your life — and I will. I promise you before My Father in heaven that I will work miracles in your life. Why would I do this? Because I THIRST FOR YOU. All I ask of you is that you entrust yourself to Me completely. I will do all the rest … You don’t need to change to believe in My love, for it will be your belief in My love that will change you.”

Our Thirst as a Person and as a People

This thirst that Christ has for us, this thirst that our souls have for Him, is similar to the thirst that our hearts have for each other and for community. It requires very little effort to go about our daily lives — especially our COVID lives — isolated and alone. But we need Christ, and we need each other.

We’re in an age of loneliness, disillusionment, despair, strife, stress, and confusion — to name just a few of our spiritual ailments. While everyone’s realities look slightly different, many of us now experience colleagues through a screen, neighbors through a window, and elderly family through the phone. The passing of loved ones and the birth of new family members have been robbed of their full emotional richness and sense of community. Churches are filled at less than 50%, and congregating away from the elements is forbidden.

We smile and pop our trunks, demonstrate our product needs from a phone screen held six feet away, and give or receive the evil eye when a mask slides down. We’re all operating in a fight or flight, do-what-we-must-without-being-unnecessarily-exposed sense of urgency. And meanwhile, our love is inadvertently hoarded in our houses, and our thirst for community is becoming severe.

Do you have time on your hands from the loss of a job? There’s a mother of three whom you’d turn to tears with an offer to help. Do you have extra funds from a halt to entertainment and travel? A lot of people are in despair over how they’ll ever bounce back from this time. Do you have good intuition and notice a colleague struggling and stressed? Maybe the family life that they’re quarantined into is taking a turn for the worse, and they could use a friend. Are you an exceptional baker? Perhaps the elderly couple across the road would accept a tray of cookies and a friendly note left on their doorstep.

There are a hundred ways we’re suffering but a thousand ways we can reach through the distance to offer a hand and heart. Christ will work miracles if we just give ourselves to Him; our belief in His love will change us. It will offer singularity of purpose and clarity of vision in every aspect of our lives.

Let’s not hoard our talents, treasures, and love for other times or occasions. With 2021 potentially just as full of turmoil as 2020, we need to embrace the call to give out of our abundance — not just our “extra” but what we are inherently blessed with — and to quench the thirst of both Christ and others.

Laura Pugliano is co-founder of Ciccio's Olives, an exquisitely pure, single-origin extra virgin olive oil produced by her Italian in-laws in Calabria, Italy. She is also marketing and content strategist at the digital solutions provider Candoris, an alumna of Franciscan University of Steubenville, and most importantly, a wife and mother. Join Laura on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.