Encounter the thirst of Jesus 1

“The purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men ... Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ....”(Pope Benedict XVI Homily on Sunday, April 24, 2005)

The Samaritan woman experienced the beauty and power of that encounter with Christ. What began as seemingly a chance encounter while drawing water, became for her the revelation of the God-man: "I know there is a Messiah coming," the woman says, and Christ responds: "I who speak to you am he." She receives a gift: "the water I give shall become a fountain within...welling up to eternal life." Will we be like this simple woman, whose simplicity enables her to encounter, without prejudice, the revelation of Almighty God? Will each one of us accept God as He lovingly and wisely reveals Himself, or will we, tragically, reject Him because He does not appear according to our preconceived notions?

Jesus’ words "I Thirst" are a living invitation to YOU through the gospel story of the woman at the well (Jn.4:1-30). We know what the Samaritan woman was, and we know what she became. “The liturgy for the Third Sunday of Lent presents a splendid commentary on the Johannine episode when it says in the preface that Jesus “so deeply thirsted” for the salvation of the Samaritan women that “he set on fire in her the flame of God’s love.”(Homily of John Paul II, 3 March 2002)

Allow Jesus to do the some for you as you go prayerfully over this scripture passages:

♦God desires to draw near to YOU in Christ

♦Prayer to be prayed every day:

Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, .....

Text © Mother Teresa Center of the Missionaries of Charity