From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
September 4, 2025
For many of us, the life and death of Mother Teresa is a strong memory, cherished in our hearts. Therefore, it may surprise some of us to realize that September 5, 2025, is the 28th anniversary of her death (in 1997). We could safely say that no one under 30 has a living memory of her. Thanks be to God, in addition to her life itself, she left a witness in the form of the religious communities (of men and women) she founded, the Missionaries of Charity, which continue to give selfless service to the poorest of the poor throughout the world. And since her canonization in 2016, she is commemorated liturgically each year, on September 5. It would also behoove us to continue to study her life, share knowledge about it with others, especially children and young people, and imitate her example of service to the poor.
Anyone who has visited a chapel of the Missionaries of Charity has seen the words “I thirst” next to the crucifix behind the altar. They are a reminder not only of the Lord's words on Good Friday see John 19:28), but also of Mother Teresa's spiritual experience in 1946 in which she heard those same words from the Lord himself, and which led to the establishment of her way of life and the communities she founded. She understood them to mean that the Lord was asking her to bring souls, especially of the poor, to Jesus, who thirsted and died for them.
At his general audience on September 3, 2025, Pope Leo XIV also reflected on the same words found in John’s Gospel. Though without reference to Saint Mother Teresa, the Holy Father contributed to our understanding of the significance of these two words that are given to us by the Lord himself. At that audience, he said:
“The thirst of the Crucified Lord is not only the physiological need of a tortured body. It is also, and above all, the expression of a profound desire: that of love, of relationship, of communion. It is the silent cry of a God who, having wished to share everything of our human condition, also lets himself be overcome by this thirst. A God who is not ashamed to beg for a sip, because in that gesture he tells us that love, in order to be true, must also learn to ask and not only to give. I thirst, says Jesus, and in this way he manifests his humanity and also ours. None of us can be self-sufficient. No-one can save themselves. Life is “fulfilled” not when we are strong, but when we learn how to receive.”
Complete text of the address of Pope Leo XIV at the General Audience of September 3, 2025:
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/audiences/2025/documents/20250903-udienza-generale.html
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