NOVENA TO ST. TERESA OF KOLKATA

DAY 3 - AUGUST 29

HEAR HIM SAY TO YOU “I THIRST”

“In His agony, in His pain, in His loneliness, He said very clearly, ‘Why have You forsaken Me?'"

"He was so terribly lonely and forsaken and suffering on the Cross.…At this most difficult time He proclaimed: ‘I thirst.'…And the people thought He was thirsty in an ordinary way and they gave Him vinegar straightaway; but it was not that He thirsted for—it was for our love, our affection, that intimate attachment to Him, and that sharing of His passion. And it is strange that He used such a word. He used ‘I thirst' instead of ‘Give Me your love.'…

The thirst of Jesus on the Cross is not imagination. It was a word: ‘I thirst.' Let us hear Him saying it to me and saying it to you. …It is really a gift of God.”

“If you listen with your heart, you will hear, you will understand. …Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you, you can't begin to know who He wants to be for you. Or who He wants you to be for Him.”

“Follow His footsteps in search of souls. Carry Him and His light into the homes of the poor, especially to the souls most in need. Spread the charity of His Heart wherever you go and so satiate His thirst for souls.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "Just think! God is thirsting for you and me to come forward to satiate His thirst."

Ask for the grace to understand Jesus' cry of thirst.

(State your intentions here...)

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...

PRAYER TO ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA: Saint Teresa of Calcutta, longing to love Jesus as He had never been loved before, you gave yourself entirely to Him, refusing Him nothing. In union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, you accepted His call to satiate His infinite thirst for love and souls and become a carrier of His love to the poorest of the poor. With loving trust and total surrender you fulfilled His will, witnessing to the joy of belonging totally to Him. You became so intimately united to Jesus your crucified Spouse that He deigned to share with you the agony of His Heart as He hung upon the Cross.

Saint Teresa, you promised to continuously bring the light of love to those on earth; pray for us that we also may long to satiate the burning thirst of Jesus by loving Him ardently, sharing in His sufferings joyfully, and serving Him wholeheartedly in our brothers and sisters, especially those most unloved and unwanted. Amen.