“I Thirst”Bishop Giaquinta
Crucified Lord,
from Your parched mouth
a humble request for water
is addressed to those who are present.
Your “I thirst”
expresses a nameless suffering
that pervades Your gaunt body.
The soldier heard Your plea,
and wanting to help You,
offered the fire of vinegar
to Your bleeding lips.
Mary listened to Your lament
which penetrated
the depths of her broken heart.
How she longed to come closer to the wood
and quench Your thirst
with her sorrowful tears.
I, too, listen to Your lament
“I thirst.”
I, sick as I am,
understand more than some
the dryness of Your mouth,
the suffering of Your thirst.
What can I do to alleviate Your pangs
except offer You my little suffering?
Lord, I do know that Your thirst
was not only a physical need,
but a need for souls.
Just as at the Well of Sicar,
You ask again for water.
You address Yourself to us
who are far from You,
inviting us to come back to You
to quench our thirst.
You thirst for us who do not thirst for You,
the only Source of living water.
Lord, I could not alleviate
Your physical suffering,
but I wish to quench
Your keen thirst for souls.
Feeble and sick as I am,
neither exhausting travels
nor lengthy discourses or discussions
are for me.
O Lord, I do offer You in response
to Your thirst
all my love,
my suffering,
my sickness,
my weakness.
May our sorrowful Mother,
the co-redeemer Virgin,
unite my small offering
to the immense torment of her soul.
May she obtain for me and all my brothers and sisters
ardent thirst for Your love
and humble acceptance
of the adorable will of God.
Amen.
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