"I Thirst"

This fifth word of Jesus from the cross comes after having nothing to eat or drink since the Last Supper, the night before, after enduring the scourging and crowning, carrying his cross, being nailed to it and after hanging there for six hours of agony and dehydration. His cry has a double meaning. Besides a need for actual water, in spite of refusing the wine soaked with a drug at the beginning of his crucifixion, Jesus is thirsting for something more. First of all, he had previously expressed his cry to the Father: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" His thirst was for the Father's love. He knew the Father loved him as the Beloved Son. But he cried for a sense of the Father's love once more. Secondly, Jesus' cry was for us. As he thirsts for the Father's love, so he thirsts for our love. He has shown his great love for us by taking upon himself our sins, giving his life for our life. The Father will answer his cry by raising him up. How will we answer his cry? The only response we can rightly give to his deep cry is the response of intense love in return.