“I Thirst!

”
A Reflection on the Fifth Word of Christ on the Cross
~br. ericson pendoy, ofmcap~

Readings
After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So, they put a sponge soaked in wine
on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. [Jn 19:28-29]
***

Reflection

What does it mean to be thirsty?

Back in 2016, I attended a Franciscan Dialogue Program in Sta. Ana, Cagayan. After various
talks and activities, one of the highlights that I found engaging was the actual immersion program with
our fellow brothers and sisters in the Agta community. By God’s grace, the organizers assigned me to
immerse with them in Palaui Island. Knowing the beauty of the island, all I can say was ‘Thank you,
Lord! Wow!’ But it was on that island that I felt one of the many experiences of great physical thirst.
Since the community primarily live their day in fishing, one time, I went with them to catch fish at early
dawn when all was still pitch-dark. Out of excitement, I forgot to bring drinking water. After haggling
with the big waves, we found the perfect place to catch fish, quite distant from the shore. Out of fear,
knowing that the sea is already part of the open ocean, some unpleasant thoughts, and the effort we
exerted to reach the place, I felt so thirsty. I could not drink any water. Out of necessity, I drank a small
amount of the seawater. I could not ask them because all were underwater, and it took time for them to
come out. The thirst that I had contributed to the inconvenience I had at that time.

Human as we are, we experience the sensation of thirst. That is why, today, when we express our
thirstiness, it is a common joke to say: coffee, tea, or me? We already have various options to satisfy that
craving we have, for sure, not the seawater. We do not want to be thirsty. We know how painful it is to
experience physical thirst. The reason is that the whole structure of our bodies is almost 70% water. A
loss of water in the body can cause dehydration and can lead to death. Isn't it amazing that when we lose
the required amount of water in our bodies, we feel thirsty? To thirst is a physical reminder of our basic
needs.

As we gather today before the Crucified Lord, we hear his deep agonizing cry, which continues to
reverberate in the inmost recesses of our hearts: I thirst. These two simple words – only a word dipso in
Greek – express the most human sentiment uttered by the All-Good Lord Jesus on the Cross. Aside from
hunger, thirst is the greatest need of humanity. Being in dire thirst is great human suffering. It is a reality
that one can last for longer days being hungry than being thirsty.

I thirst. These words - uttered by our All-Good Lord, points to the ultimate reality that, though He
is fully divine, is also fully human. No wonder, after so much suffering, from the early dawn of His arrest,
being beaten, crowned with thorns and bore the cross and nailed to it, he was thirsty. And so, he cried: I
thirst. But what does the All-Good Lord thirst for? As an essential need of human life, we know that He
desired water. But His thirst goes beyond the physical. Venerable Fulton Sheen wonderfully reflected on
Jesus’ thirst: indeed, [it is] true that the loss of blood through the sufferings, the unnatural position of the
body with the extreme tension on hands and feet, the overstretched muscles, the wounds exposed to air,
the headache from the crowning of thorns, the swelling of the blood vessels, the increasing inflammation
– all would have produced a physical thirst. And it was not surprising that He thirsted; what was
surprising was that He said so.” He who made the seas and rivers...He who said to the Samaritan

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woman: “The man who drinks the water I give him will not know thirst any more” … He who performed
miracles … now said the words, “I thirst,” spoken not solely because of a physical need, though great as
it must have been.

Among the many biblical ironies, I find this very interesting. Jesus, who is the water of life, who
offered the Samaritan woman the water welling up to eternal life, now dies of thirst. He never complained
about His physical condition throughout His sufferings, and yet, in the last moments of His earthly life,
He cried out: I thirst. However, though physically thirsty, His thirst goes beyond. John the Evangelist
attested to this: After this, aware that everything was now finished so that the scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.” In other words, Jesus, knowing that His mission on earth was now fulfilled, said
that He was thirsty. He even perfected the scripture, particularly as what the psalmist prophetically
lamented in Ps 22:15: “my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws” and in Ps
69:21: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

Jesus’ agonizing cry of his thirst is one final plea in the cross, a reminder for all of us to recognize
what His mission is all about. He wants us in one last way to accept the reality that we need a Savior, that
we are also all thirsty. We are so self-assured and confident in our abilities, which often leads us to the
illusion that we do not have any needs or do not need help at all. Jesus thirsts, above all, for love. He
thirsts to give us the living waters of His love, but also to receive our love. St. Francis of Assisi, in some
accounts, was upset with the fact that Love is not loved. Humanity becomes so ungrateful to abandoned
love, as what Pope Francis said, the tragedy of the withered heart, of love not requited, a tragedy that
unfolds again in the Gospel when in response to Jesus’ thirst man offers him vinegar, spoiled wine. This
tragedy is what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called our repeated response to God’s bountiful love with
vinegar – with a sour heart that is unable to perceive God’s love.

I thirst. This cry of Jesus is addressed to every single one of us today. It is an appeal that while
we need to acknowledge our thirstiness, we also need to perceive those who are thirsty around us. It
would be our greatest honor to offer Jesus a drink at the foot on the cross on that day just to soothe his
parched throat and lessen the pain He must have been. Yet, the thought is if only I were there at the
moment He died. If only I could have the opportunity to satiate Jesus’ thirst. But do we have no
opportunity?

It is God’s grace that we celebrate the 500th year of Christian faith in our country. The thirst of
Jesus shared by the early missionaries gifted us with the faith that reverberates in love: We are gifted to
give. And through this gift, we are constantly reminded by Jesus that we have the great opportunity to
serve Him a drink every day. His thirst is a reminder that we are also thirsty, and we have the mission to
the people to share this gift of faith, and to others who are in need. Jesus tells us that  I was hungry and
you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you
clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me...whatever you did for one of these
least brothers of mine, you did for me. So, we are gifted the opportunity every day to care for Him in the
way we care for each other. Yet, guilty as I am, we walk by people every day who are thirsty. We walk by
people every day who are hungry, and sick, naked, in prison, helpless, and hopeless. More so, we have the
opportune time in this COVID-19 pandemic to satisfy the thirst of Our Crucified Lord. Have we missed
seeing Christ in them? Have we forgotten that when what we do unto the least of these brethren, we do to
him?

I recall my apostolate with the elderly and children, under the care of the Missionaries of Charity
in Davao City. Together with my Capuchin brothers, we gave daily our time to take care of them. We
washed their clothes. We fed them and played with the children. We bottle-fed abandoned babies. We
talked to the elderly, listening to their wisdom, and even their pains of being abandoned. It was a great
opportunity to, at least, lessen their thirst for love. And it was in that community that I noticed the cut-

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outs I Thirst at the side of their chapel tabernacle and in the cross. The sisters told us that this word of
Jesus is the one that opens her vocation to the least of society. The great St. Mother Teresa reminds us
that the Lord is thirsty for our love, for our heart. He wants to give himself to us. And through us, he
wishes to give his love to others. Since then, I keep in my heart the examples of Mother Teresa and St.
Francis of Assisi, the words uttered by the Crucified Lord to serve as a reminder to remember the poor –
the least, the lost, and the last of our society. 

Lastly, allow me to share my experience with my exposure in Philippine Orthopedic Hospital. I

was afraid of hospitals and cemeteries, but as a religious, I have to face them. Back in 2016, I had my
apostolate in the hospital chaplaincy under Fr. Ulysses Cacho. The main task given to us is to distribute
holy communion to the sick and their watchers and to spend time listening to the patients.

One of the memorable experiences I had was the case of Ate Lucia. She is from Ilo-Ilo and the
watcher of her nephew. During communion - as I offered some consoling words, Ate Lucia cried and
embraced us, thanking God for us and the opportunity. Her patient was scheduled for an operation the
next day. During the ward visitation, I came to understand why she cried. She cried because of the joy
that I visited them. She shared how it is to undergo trials and sufferings despite serving the Lord. One
thing that I could remember from her words that touched me is this: Gold is scratch for a long time to see
the brightness hidden within [from her Ilonggo words, I translated]. I realized how deep her faith in God
is. She did not lose hope but instead put her great trust in Him. As a Capuchin brother, I realize how I
tend to backslide even if I only experience a little taste of suffering. How easy for me to fight back when I
am persecuted. They felt more pain than me yet, the more they held on to God and chose to be silent
amidst the trials. I saw Christ in them who is not complaining any word from the pains He underwent.
The gratitude they had, touched me to be always grateful to the All-Good Lord, both in times of health
and sickness and in prosperity and nothingness. It reminded me that I, too, was thirsty, yet I was blind to
it.

In this year of Missio ad gentes, we are reminded of the agonizing cry of Jesus -  I thirst. Until
when will we thirst? Are we willing to lessen the thirst of Jesus? Or do we neglect His thirst and become
indifferent to the needs of others? My brothers and sisters, Jesus is thirsty; what can you offer? Coffee,
tea, or me? Do we offer our hearts full of love, or our hearts which are filled with sour vinegar? We are
loved to love. We are graced to grace. We are gifted to give.

Like Mary at the foot of the Cross, the Lady of Atonement, may the All-Good Lord grant us the
grace to be united with Him, to feel His thirst and be ready to help those in need and thirst for love. May
the peace and all-goodness of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit be upon us. Amen.

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