10-DAY HOLY SPIRIT CHALLENGE: Day 4 “You will never be thirsty again”

 


Scripture text: Gospel of St. John 4.1-18

     Last summer I spent a week hiking in the Alberta Rockies with a friend.  We each had a couple of water bottles, which we filled whenever we came across a stream.  It was always a relief to hear the sound of running water.  Whenever we found a stream, I would plunge my head under the water and then cup water in my hand and rub the back of my neck – so refreshing.  There was this one time when the distance between streams seemed farther than usual; I had drunk all my water and I was parched.  My throat was dry, the sun was beating down on us, and my lips began to crack as I stumbled forward, feeling the weight of my pack drag my shoulders down.  Fortunately, we came across some folks who were driving ATVs.  They had water to spare and kindly shared some with me.  Every time I got the chance to drink during that hike, I felt like my very life had been renewed, that I had been reinvigorated.

     The woman in this story was thirsty for love.  Just like she had to grudgingly make the daily trek to the well and then haul the water back to her home, because her thirst would return each day, so she had been frustrated again and again looking for a man who would truly love her.  She was thirsty and unsatisfied.  Jesus offers her the living water of the Spirit and promises that the Spirit will eternally quench her thirst, her deepest thirst – her longing to be loved completely and unconditionally.  It’s what we all want.  We all desire above all else to be loved as we are, and not as we should be, because none of us are as we should be.  The Holy Spirit pours God’s love into our hearts (Rm. 5.5).  The “raging, reckless fury” of the love of God (as one songwriter put it) does not leave us unchanged.  This woman’s encounter with the love of God incarnate (Jesus) transformed her forever.  Are you tired of drinking without being able to slake your thirst?  Jesus offers you a spring of water, gushing up to eternal life.  Plunge your head in and drink!

Prayer of St. Anthony of Padua:

Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone,

To have a deep soul relationship with another, To be loved thoroughly and exclusively.

But God, to a Christian, says,

“No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content With being loved by Me alone,

With giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me,

With having an intensely personal and unique relationship With Me alone.

Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found,

Will you be capable of the perfect human relationship That I have planned for you.

You will never be united with another until you are united With Me alone,

Exclusive of anyone or anything else,

Exclusive of any other desires or longings…

“Lord Jesus, help me to trust that you are willing and able to satisfy my longing to be loved. Please pour out your Spirit into my heart. Amen.”

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