"I thirst."

Today, as I am hoping you all know, is Good Friday. It is the day on which Jesus died for our sins and ultimately fulfilled the redemption. For all Christians it should be a very important day, one that commemorates the very moment the promise made to man in the Garden of Eden was fulfilled. There is one book in particular I read today that gives some very interesting insight into the meanings of the last seven words Jesus spoke from the Cross. The one that particularly stuck with me reading it this time was the explanation for Christ's words "I thirst." There is so much more contained there then just a desire to drink . . . I thought I would share this with you today. 




". . . 'I thirst!' The sufferings of the Lord and his anguish could easily cause a natural thirst. But for Him this was not a time to complain of this thirst or to quench it; and therefore Jesus would not have spoken of it so near to its expiration, unless in order to give expression to a most exalted mystery. He was thirsting to see the captive children of Adam make use of the liberty, which He merited for them and offered to them, and which so many were abusing. He was athirst with the anxious desire that all should correspond with Him in the faith and love due to Him, that they profit by his merits and sufferings, accept his friendship and grace now acquired for them, and that they should not lose the eternal happiness which He was to leave as an inheritance to those that wished to merit and accept it. This was the thirst of our Savior and Master [ . . . ] But the perfidious Jews and the executioners, evidencing their unhappy hard-heartedness, fastened a sponge soaked in gall and vinegar to a reed and mockingly raised it to his mouth, in order that He might drink of it. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of David: 'In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink' (John 16, 28; Ps. 68, 22)." [Taken from The Mystical City of God by Mary of Agreda.]




I love how this explains that Jesus' thirst was not so much for physical drink as it was for the spiritual souls of men. It was a cry to us all saying, "Come! Take the fruits of My redemption! Use them to gain the eternal happiness that I have destined you to be a part of since the beginning of time! Do not squander such a precious gift!" In His infinite wisdom He knew, at that very moment, just how many would accept His grace . . . And how many would refuse. He saw all the souls He would save . . . And those He would not. And He mourned the souls that in their hardness of heart would refuse to follow Him in His teachings . . . 


Today was a day of anguish for our God when He saw all those that would not merit from His sacrifice. It was a day of joy, too, when He saw all the souls He would save, but the sorrow was also there. And knowing the infinite sadness (for the sadness of an infinite God can only be infinite) that Christ withstood on the Cross . . . I feel all the more strongly that as a Christian I must do more to show my love for Him. To live my life in accordance with His teachings, to become a better reflection of Him Who is infinite Love and Goodness . . . To not waste the fruits of His redemption. And I pray that He will grant me the grace to succeed in this endeavor . . . That one day I will be able to look back on my life and say with St. Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Gal. 2, 20)   

The "And" or "Or" Mentality

For those of you who don't know, I am Catholic. Over the course of this last school year, I have been reading a very good book series on how to explain and defend the faith to others. It's covered a lot of topics, but one of the most interesting things I came across recently was an explanation from a former Presbyterian minister on one of the fundamental differences in mentality between the beliefs of Catholics and the beliefs of other Christians. This is the difference of "and" or "or."  

What this man pointed out is that Christians tend to divide what Catholics unite. It's the Bible or tradition; faith or works; prayer to God or prayer to Mary and the saints; and all this just led me to think . . . Why? Why is it that most Christians insist on dividing these things? All are gifts of God and therefore complement each other, yet many people hold them as a dichotomy. I don't understand why Christians would always want to pit these things against each other. Christ commanded us to accept all of His teachings, but in so many cases people pick and choose when it comes to what they want to believe. Christ didn't teach that. He taught one Church, one Faith, one way to believe and no other. Yet so many people (yes, even Catholics) pick what they want to believe and only that. That's not being a true Christian . . . That's not living the life Jesus asked us to live.


As a Catholic, I believe in following the Bible and tradition; in practicing faith and works; in praying to God and Mary and the saints. I see no reason to divide these practices, all of which were taught by Christ. I am striving to live a life that is the most accurate I can see in following the teachings of Jesus; my conscience will not let me do otherwise. So as a Christian and Catholic I challenge all of you to think and let your conscience guide you when striving to follow the teachings of Christ. And tell me . . . Why do you believe what you believe?




Thank you for reading.




Material borrowed sometimes word for word from Beginning Apologetics 6.