THIRST FOR GOD…

FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD

18 MAY 2024   SATURDAY 7 OF EASTER

VIGIL OF PENTECOST

WORD of the DAY 
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water^* will flow from within him.’”  He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet,^* because Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7: 37-39)

How shall I live this Word?   

This gospel is a cry, an urgent appeal of Jesus. Many confess that they feel like “an extinct volcano”. We too often find ourselves in a desert; we feel dry. Jesus wants to irrigate our whole life with the Holy Spirit. God’s plan for us is the Spirit; and the Spirit is within us. The gift of the Spirit is very particular because it is not separable from the giver, from Jesus, who is within us. The purpose of our journey is to learn to listen to the voice of Jesus within us. This is why prayer in silence before Jesus is important. We too must do something; we must talk to Him. Truth is born precisely from this dialogue between Jesus who speaks to us and we who speak to Him. Jesus says that “rivers of living water” will flow. From the side of Jesus crucified and pierced by the lance blood and water come out: these are the rivers of living water. It is very important that these rivers of living water get out of a wound. We are afraid of wounds, of being wounded, but these sufferings are the window through which love passes and therefore we must not fear the wounds of life. Love comes from this man who gives life, from His wound. Let us also learn to draw love out of our wounds. Jesus says that there is only one condition for all this to happen, “WHOEVER IS THIRSTY”. For all this to happen, one very simple thing must be done; be thirsty. St. Augustine said that faith is desire. Love is always hungry and thirsty. It would be very lovely if we were always hungry and thirsty for God; then it would always be Pentecost.

Lord, we pray that our thirst for holiness may be transformed into a concrete commitment in the world in which we are called to live as Christians and to bear witness to Your love.

The voice of St. Colomban, Monk

Listen attentively! I will speak to you of an inexhaustible divine source. However paradoxical it may seem; I tell you that it will not slake your thirst. Thus, you can continue to drink at the source of life without stopping to desire it. It is the very source, the fountain of living water that calls you to itself and says to you, “Those who thirst, come to me and drink.” (Jn 7:37)

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