Theology on Tap?

I happened to see a Dos Equis beer truck as I was driving out of the church parking lot one day. On the truck's side was the beer company's ad slogan: "Stay thirsty, my friends."

Perhaps because I was just leaving from Mass, I had my mind less on beer and more on spiritual things. When I read "Stay thirsty, my friends," I took it as an unconventional yet personal invitation from God, a reference to the deep longing we all have, a thirst, that only He can satisfy.

In the Old Testament, Psalm 63 poetically refers to this ancient thirst:

"O God, you are my God, for You I long;

for You my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for You

like a dry, weary land without water."

And Jesus spoke of our thirst to the Samaritan woman at the well, a story recorded in chapter 4 of John's Gospel.

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: “If you knew the gift of God and Who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”

He further tells her: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Elsewhere in John's Gospel, chapter 7, Jesus says: “Let anyone who thirsts come to Me and drink."

He refreshes us and sustains us with the gift of Living Water, the Holy Spirit. Yet Jesus has a deep yearning, too. For you and me.

"I thirst," He said on the cross.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta understood Christ's words to have a deeper meaning than physical thirst, that He thirsts for souls to save and that we should thirst for these souls, too. As a reminder, Mother Teresa's religious order, the Missionaries of Charity, have placed the words "I thirst" on the walls of all of their chapels.

The Missionaries of Charity Fathers have a prayer on their Web site called "I Thirst for You." Jesus speaks to us in the prayer. The following is a portion of it:

"I Thirst for You. Yes, that is the only way to even begin to describe My love for you. I THIRST FOR YOU. I Thirst to love you and to be loved by you -- that is how precious you are to Me. I THIRST FOR YOU. Come to Me, and I will fill your heart and heal your wounds. I will make you a new creation, and give you peace, even in all your trials. I THIRST FOR YOU. You must never doubt My mercy, My acceptance of you, My desire to forgive, My longing to bless you and live My life in you. I THIRST FOR YOU. If you feel unimportant in the eyes of the world, that matters not at all. For Me, there is no one any more important in the entire world than you. I THIRST FOR YOU. Open to Me, come to Me, thirst for Me, give Me your life -- and I will prove to you how important you are to My Heart."

If your heart feels heavy, restless or unsatified with the world, try a sip of the Living Water that Jesus offers. Go deeper in prayer with God, especially this Advent. You will keep quenching your thirst by bringing others to Him, a natural part of living your faith.

Interestingly, as I pulled up behind that beer truck, it had another irresistible invitation from God: "Follow closely. Interesting things will happen."

Amen to that.

Stay thirsty, my friends!

Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this about exporing and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays.