I Thirst

Different mystics have used different ways of expressing their experience of the impossible-to-fully-express magnitude of God’s love for us. For Mother Teresa, a central image was that of thirst, occasioned by her hearing Jesus say to her the words he uttered from the cross: “I thirst.”

In her Varanasi Letter of Marcy 25, 1993, she wrote,

Not only He loves you, even more – He longs for you. He misses you when you don’t come close. He thirsts for you….How great is God’s love for us in choosing [us] to satiate the thirst of Jesus….

Why does Jesus say “I Thirst?” What does it mean? Something so hard to explain in words – if you remember anything from Mother’s letter, remember this – “I Thirst” is something much deeper than just Jesus 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.

She emphasizes in her letter that Jesus words “are not from the past only, but alive here and now, spoken to you. And she encourages us to stand before the cross and hear Jesus say the words to us personally, emphasizing that “Jesus Himself must be the one to say to you ‘I Thirst.’ Hear your own name. Not just once. Every day. If you listen with your heart, you will hear, you will understand.”

So important did Mother Teresa believe it was for us each to hear these words that a sign or plaque reading, “I Thirst” was placed in every one of her chapels around the world.

Two simple words. “I Thirst.” Try hearing Jesus say the words to you and see what difference it makes in your life.