Lenten Reflections: Our Lady’s Example

“You can never be ‘only all for Jesus,’ if your love for Our Lady is not a living reality.”

– St. Mother Teresa

Reflection:

This week, Father Langford teaches us about the unity of the thirst of the heart of Jesus, and the thirst of Mary, His dear mother.

On the cross, Jesus says to His mother, “Behold your son!”. And to His disciple, John He says, “Behold you mother!”. After this gift of self to Mary followed by the gift of Mary to the world, Jesus cries, “I thirst.”

At the foot of the cross, Mary experiences and accepts Jesus’ thirst. Mary knows that Jesus’ mission is love. He longs to quench our thirst, our deepest desire to be in union with Him.

It is because Mary shares in the thirst of Christ on the cross that she is given to John to lead him to the thirst of Christ. Likewise, none of us can experience the thirst, the longing of Christ for us to be in love with Him, without Mary’s presence and assistance since she bore Jesus’ thirst with Him in a unique and intimate way.

Mother Teresa and St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s lives were centered around quenching the thirst of Christ. Their vocations consisted in doing ordinary things with extraordinary love, knowing that Jesus’ thirst was nothing but a thirst of love.

They also wisely knew that they could not quench their own thirst of Jesus’ thirst without the help of Mary. Both Teresas relied on Mary’s assistance to know the heart of Jesus to a greater extent. As a mother can feel the pain of her son like no one else, the Teresas knew Mary was the one to bear Jesus’ thirst in a special motherly way. It is through her motherly help that we can come to love Jesus more.

Challenge: This week, let’s strive to follow Mother Teresa’s example to quench Jesus’ thirst by asking for Mary’s assistance to love generously and humbly.

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