Quench His Thirst With Your Love

In John 19:28, Jesus hung on the cross and cried out, "I thirst" and the soldiers gave Him sour wine to drink. But He was really thirsting for souls. It was the sole reason He hung on the cross. Imagine all the angry people who surrounded Him, taunted Him, mocked Him. All He wanted was their love and to show them His love for them.

Today is no different except it is you and I who are alive and living our lives in the shadow of the cross. Our Lord still thirsts for our love and that is why I'd like to focus on the responsorial psalm for today, which is, "If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts" (Psalm 95:8).

A priest once told me that if we were to act on every inspiration the Holy Spirit sent us each day, there is no question we would be saints. But in order to act on even a few of them, we've got to be able to hear those inspirations. Our first point of reflection then is:

• How attentive are we to what God is trying to tell us? Do we live our faith by merely going through the motions, or are we really listening to the Holy Spirit's promptings?

If Jesus is truly thirsting for our souls, then He's got to be speaking to us. He uses all kinds of instruments to get through to us such as nature, our own circumstances, and other people. But there might be times when God tells us something we don't want to hear. It's uncomfortable because it means He wants us to change a habit we're comfortable in keeping. So our second point of reflection is simply to acknowledge how we respond to God:

• How do I respond to God? Do I reject what I know He is asking me to do?

Resolution:  Let's make it a point to be more responsive to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.

As someone who struggles daily to be good and love God, I'm grateful I have you and the rest of my brothers and sisters in Christ to walk this path with me. I look forward to our next reflection and until then, count on my prayers for you. Thank you for your prayers in return and feel free to send me your comments and questions at asklisa@catholicmatch.com.