Lesson from Fr. Paulus | The Eucharist Is the Thirst of God

I visited the chapel of the Missionaries of Charity several times. I saw there are two words over the crucifix: "I Thirst". As we know, Jesus spoke these words from the Cross, as he was about to die.

The words we speak at the hour of death have a special importance. There's a line in Shakespeare's play Richard II where one of the characters, John of Gaunt, says "He breathes truth, who breathes his words in pain."

Now of course everything Jesus ever said was the truth – He is the Truth – but his words from the Cross have a special meaning, since they're spoken in pain, since they reveal the depths of his heart.

And here, is it ok if I bring just one Latin expression into the reflection? It's a good one – actually it's vitally important. It's called the Communicatio Idiomatum: in English that means a linguistic interchange.

Maybe that sounds really abstract and unimportant. But it actually means that since in Jesus man and God are united in one person, whatever we say about Jesus in his humanity, we can also say about the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

This is life-changing! This is why we can say that God has loved with a human heart. This is why we can say that God died. And this why we can say that God thirsts for us.

We can ask ourselves, how is this thirst made manifest in my life? And the answer is the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the real presence of God who wants to be with us so much that he transforms bread and wine into himself. The Eucharist is the thirst of God made visible.

We like to visit people we love. And they're glad to see us too. What if we could visit God in the same way? The good news is that we can. The Blessed Sacrament is always here in the tabernacle. We believe that GOD is present here, waiting for us!

This has a profound impact on our lives. If we come to visit the Eucharist, we become filled with the conviction that God is near us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it like this: "In his Eucharistic presence [Christ] remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love (1380).

It doesn't take much – half an hour a week is a good place to start. Especially in our parish, we have daily adoration. You can join at least once a week.

The Eucharist is the thirst of God made visible. As we come forward to receive this gift of gifts, let's thank Christ and ask him to help us to love him more.