+JMJ
He Thirsts For Love
As I meditated on our Lord brought before Pontius Pilate, I began to think about how He was abandoned there. All of His friends had deserted Him. He did not even have a lawyer to represent Him, and He was completely innocent of all they accused Him.
Even through all this abandonment, desertion, and rejection our Lord reaches out to us. He ever calls us to Him, and longs to draw us close to Him. He thirsts for our love…. Our devotion… a turn of our hearts towards Him… a tiny act of love…
He shows me this thirst in the following meditation.
Jesus Brought Before Pilate
And the whole multitude of them rising up, led Him to Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying: “We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the king.”
And Pilate asked Him, saying: “Art thou the king of the Jews?”
But He answering, said: “Thou sayest it.”
And Pilate said to the chief priests and to the multitudes: “I find no cause in this man.”
But they were more earnest, saying: “He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.”
My Contemplation
I am in the court of Pilate, a woman of noble and wealthy birth. I hear shouting and a clamorous group of men pour into the court dragging along a man bound with ropes.
They force Him before Pilate, where I catch a glimpse of Him. His clothes are dirty and tattered. His face already bruised and they have put a crown of thorns upon His head. His hands are bound in front of Him so tightly His wrists bleed. He is a pitiful sight.
His demeanor catches my attention. He is the first “criminal” I have seen brought to Pilate who did not make a sound against His accusers. He does not argue His innocence. His countenance, though bruised and bloodied, remained beautiful in a way that could not be put into words. No fight, no anger, no argument, no pleas either. He does not beg for any pity or mercy from Pilate, which seems so strange to me.
I feel the desire to move closer to Him, to get a better look at Him. As I move through the crowd of soldiers, senators, jews, and counselors, I feel a supernatural power drawing me to Him. I finally come to a stop behind Pilate who is asking this Jesus questions. Jesus looks past Pilate directly at me and in that instant my heart is pierced with a sorrow which seems to bleed throughout my entire body. My heart moved to love Him more deeply than I have ever loved anyone before. I am overwhelmed by a single glance from Him, and I sway on my feet absorbing this into my very soul.
As Pilate gives the order for Jesus to be taken to Herod, my heart cries out in dismay. I know I must do something, or regret it forever. There is a table of refreshments in the court, where I take a cup of water. I move quickly through the crowd, spilling some water all over my hand. I am able to catch them at the door. I don’t know why they stop for me, but I step forward and offer Him a drink. There isn’t much left in the cup after spilling it, maybe one swallow, and I am a little ashamed. But He waits for me to tip the cup to His lips and He drinks all of that little swallow of water.
“Thank you,” He says, “I thirst.” And the words pierce me through. As they drag Him away I fall to my knees realizing that He wasn’t just thirsty for that tiny sip of water. He was thirsty for the love I had just shown Him thirsty for my heart.
Saint Mother Teresa spoke of this particular thirst. She said, “He thirsts for you. He loves you always, even when you don’t feel worthy.”
Our Lord longs so deeply for our hearts. He desires for us to give our hearts completely to Him. To love Him with all that we have, to give ourselves to Him in order to console His wounded heart. During this lent, make Him a special offering of your heart. Ask Him to take it into His care to provide for you all that your heart needs. Maybe it needs to be comforted… maybe it needs to be protected… maybe it needs to be strengthened… maybe it needs to be healed. If you give your heart over to Him, He will take care of it exactly the way it needs to be.
Thrive in Jesus, my Friends!
Are there any special ways you offer your love to the Lord? Leave me a comment and let me know!
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