33 Days to Morning Glory: Day 15

"... the burning thirst of Jesus for love and for souls ... "

These words and the spiritual darkness that plagued Mother Teresa of Calcutta were what struck me in today's readings.

1. I knew Jesus thirsted for souls, to save souls.  But I never really thought about His burning thirst for love. Surely, millions of people love Him, plus the amazingly selfless love from priests and religious must, more or less, compensate for those who choose to turn away from Him.  And then it hit me.  Of course, he is thirsting for love!  He is connected to each of us and feels our every suffering.  That He is burning for love means that there are many people going through life alone and unloved; that, despite the many advances in technology which promise to keep us all connected, we are all still grossly unconnected.  Technology can never replace actual human warmth and presence. "Likes" do not change anything.
2. Mother Teresa experienced years of "such terrible darkness" in her soul "as if everything was dead". She later on understood, with the help of a priest, that she was in fact experiencing a small part of Christ's sufferings.  This must be why she so feverishly worked on easing the pain and suffering of the most marginalized and forgotten population of Calcutta.  She was working to assuage "the burning thirst of Jesus for love and for souls".
3. And what about us? Don't we all experience bouts or waves of unexplained loneliness and darkness (outside of the usual hormonal shifts for women), too, at some point in our lives?  This is because we are all connected;  thus, in some remote corner of our hearts, is also that "burning thirst for love" which cries out to be satiated.  One day SOON we will have to get out there and do something proactively; else, the emptiness will gnaw at us from the inside.