This past winter, I fell victim to the dreaded cold and flu season. I was bombarded with the usual symptoms – cough, sore throat, fever – all the classic indications cold-medicine commercials list off in their jingles and slogans. But this time around, one symptom in particular really took me through the ringer. The culprit: dehydration.

Throughout the day, I’d have to redirect my path to make sure I’d pass a water fountain, and at home I made sure to have a water bottle by my side at all times. In one instance I woke up in the middle of the night, my throat burning, desperate for the one thing that could quench my thirst – one big glass of water.

“I Thirst” (John 19:28)

So why am I rambling on about my cold symptoms?

Well, as I was experiencing this profound and uncomfortable thirst, I was reminded of a letter that (almost saint!) Mother Teresa wrote to her fellow sisters in the Missionaries of Charity about some of the last words Jesus said as he died on the Cross – words that hadn’t had much meaning to me before this insight.

“Why does Jesus say ‘I Thirst’? What does it mean?… ‘I Thirst’ is so much more 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.”

Bam! Drop the mic!

As a person who has 9 years of Catholic school under my belt and who has watched the passion played out in the Stations of the Cross over and over again, I had NEVER caught this. I had only taken this phrase, “I Thirst” at face value: that Jesus had suffered for hours and was craving for a drink of water like any normal human being.

But Mother Teresa adds a whole new dimension to this phrase. She reveals to us that Jesus was actually thirsting for us on that cross 2,000 years ago and He continues to thirst for us every minute of every day.

Think about that for a second. He thirsts for you.

As Mother Teresa says in her letter, this is so much deeper than our general comprehension of the word love. Just think of all the times we throw out the word without a second thought: we love that great Chinese restaurant, we love that song, we love that viral video of puppies swimming in a pool. Jesus doesn’t love us like a new pair of jeans, he thirsts for us.

Just recall, for a moment, any time that you have been really thirsty. You can’t think, can’t focus on anything else until you get that glorious cup of water. You’d die for just an ounce of the precious substance. Now multiply that on an infinite scale, and you can get a general idea (no, not even close) of how much Jesus wants to develop a relationship with you. – how much He craves for you to draw close to Him. He knows you better than anyone in the world, sin and all, and yet his desire for you to love Him is so profound, it escapes reason.

Answering the Call

So how do we quench this thirst?

Mother Teresa gives us insight into this as well:

Don’t let anything disturb you. Hear your own name and “I Thirst.” I thirst for purity, I thirst for poverty, I thirst for obedience, I thirst for that wholehearted love, I thirst for that total surrender. Are we living a deeply contemplative life? He thirsts for that total surrender.

It all boils down to something we’ve been told to engage in our whole lives – prayer. We’ve got to develop a relationship with Christ, and just like any earthly relationship, it starts with a conversation – in this case with a person who is available any time and who would like nothing more than for us to encounter him.

And it all starts with recognizing His thirst for us.

In each Missionaries of Charity house (the order which Mother Teresa founded) the words “I Thirst” are written on every wall next to the crucifix as a daily reminder of this profound love of Christ. Take time now to write these words somewhere – in your agenda, on your wall, in your heart – anywhere you’ll see it daily so you too can be reminded of these powerful words. Make it a priority to recognize and quench the thirst of Jesus.