June 2021
Salvation history is the unraveling of God’s love
for man, the greatest of which is the Incarnation
of the second person of the Trinity, who became
man to seek the heart of man with His own
heart. Jesus told St. Gertrude, “Nothing gives me
greater joy than the human heart, yet how much
I am denied the love of the human heart”.
The manifestation of the love of God for men reached its climax on the Cross and the cry of Jesus, ‘I
thirst’ epitomizes it. As a ‘missionary,’ we often understand this as a call to satisfy Jesus’ thirst for
other souls. But in contemplation, we must hear from Jesus’ mouth that it is for my soul that He
thirsts foremost. As St. Teresa of Calcutta said, ‘I thirst’ is something much deeper than Jesus just
saying, ‘I love you.’ Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you — you cannot begin to know
who He wants to be for you. Or who He wants you to be for Him”. Unless this truth penetrates our
souls, we may try to do many things for Him instead of letting Him complete the good work He
started in our soul (Phil. 1:6). It is with Him and in Him and through Him that one can reach out to
other souls. “He who does not gather with me scatters” (Mt. 12:30). The Master himself said, “If any
one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of
his heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (Jn. 7:37-38). “Blessed is he, who drinking from this
fountain of love, sees how his thirst grows in the same instant in which it is satiated” (Cardinal
Etchegaray).