"I Thirst!"

"I thirst."

"There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her: Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered, and said to her: If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." (John 4:7-10)

"The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being.  It is He who first seeks us and asks for a drink.  Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God's desire for us.  Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God's thirst with ours.  God thirsts that we may thirst for Him." (CCC 2560)

"If you knew the gift of God!" (John 4:10)

"Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God." (from CCC 2561)

"During Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus nailed upon the Cross amidst great torments.  A soft moan issued from His Heart.  After some time, He said: I thirst.  I thirst for the salvation of souls.  Help Me, My daughter, to save souls.  Join your suffering to My Passion and offer them to the heavenly Father for sinners.  (Diary of St., Faustina, 1032)

“He has so much need of love and He is so thirsty, that He expects from us the drop of water that must refresh Him! Ah! Let us give without counting the cost.”  ~St. Thérèse of Lisieux

The Crown of Thorns

From the St. Benedict Center: 

Traditionally, each Friday in Lent is dedicated in a special way to some aspect of the Passion. This first friday in Lent is dedicated to the Crown of Thorns.

Dear Lord, I am grieved when I consider Your sad condition when You wore the Crown of Thorns upon Your Holy Head.

I desire to withdraw the thorns by offering to the Eternal Father the merits of Your Wounds for the salvation of sinners. I wish to unite my actions to the merits of Your Most Holy Crown, so that they may gain many merits, as You have promised. Amen.

I was looking though Pinterest to find an image to go with this post and there are many deep and beautiful images of Our Dear Lord crowned with thorns.  But then, some are so very realistic and striking.  But what really inspired this blog post was a related pin.  Among all of the bloody, anguished pictures of Jesus suffering, was an image of the sweet, innocent, and pure Christ Child.  Words can't describe what contemplation brings to my mind, so I'd just like to share some of my favorite beautiful images side-by-side.

 He loves you so much that he was whipped and crowned, suffered and died for love of you.  Let us try to endure our comparatively small pains and trials with love in return.  I pray you all have a blessed Lent.  Let us contemplate the love and suffering of Our Good Jesus this holy season.

God bless you!