I THIRST FOR YOU

 
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. . ." (Rev. 3:20)
It is true. I stand at the door of your heart,
day and night.
Even when you are not listening,
even when you doubt it could be Me, I am there.
I await even the smallest sign of your response,
even the slightest hint of invitation
that will allow Me to enter.

I want you to know that whenever you invite Me, I come always, without fail. Silent and unseen I come, but with infinite power and love, bringing the many gifts of My Father. I come with My mercy, with My desire to forgive and heal you, and with a love for you beyond your comprehension, a love every bit as great as the love I myself have received from the Father.

"Even as the Father has loved Me, have I loved you..." (Jn. 15:10). I come, longing to console you and give you strength, to lift you up and bind your wounds. I bring you My light, to dispel your darkness and all your doubts. I come with My power, that I might carry you and all of your burdens; with My grace, to touch your heart and transform your life; and My peace I give to still your soul.

I know you through and through, I know everything about you. The very hairs of your head I have numbered. Nothing in your life is unimportant to Me. I have followed you through the years, and I have always loved you, even in your wanderings. I know every one of your problems. I know your needs, your fears, your worries. I hear your every whispered prayer always, unfailingly. Even when it seems I am silent, I am ever at work in the background of your life to bless you and protect you. Every movement of your heart I follow, and your every thought. I know all your pain, your struggles and trials, your failures and heartaches.

And yes, I know all your sins. But I tell you again that I love you--not for what you have or haven't done--I love you for you, I love you because you are, I love you for the beauty and dignity My Father gave you, creating you in His own image. It is a dignity you have often forgotten, a beauty you have tarnished by ego and sin. But I love you as you are, infinitely, completely, without reserve; and I have shed My Blood to win you back. If you only ask Me with faith, My grace will touch all that needs changing in your life, and I will give you the strength to free yourself from sin and from all that binds you and takes you away from Me.

I know what is in your heart--I know your loneliness and all your hurts: the rejections, the judgments, the humiliations. I carried it all before you. And I carried it all for you, so you might share My strength and victory. I know especially your need for love--how you are thirsting to be accepted and appreciated, loved and cherished. But how often have you tarnished in vain, seeking that love outside of Me, who am its Source, striving to fill the emptiness inside you with passing pleasures--often with the even greater emptiness of sin. Do you thirst for love? "Come to Me all you who thirst..." (Jn. 7:37). I will satisfy you desire for love beyond your dreams. Do you long to be appreciated and cherished? I cherish you more than you can imagine--to the point of leaving heaven for you, and of dying on a cross to make you Mine.

I hold the answer to all you desires, to all your longing, I will be your peace, your comfort, your rest. "Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest..." (Mt. 11:28). There is no one who loves you more than I--nor can there ever be. My dream for you is greater than you can imagine--and I will never stop until you reach it. And though your indifference, your wandering and your sin pain Me deeply, I want you to know that My love for you never waivers, never changes. I love you infinitely, and always. There is no amount of good you could do to make Me love you any more than I already do at this very moment. And there is no evil you could do that could make Me love you any less. At every moment of your existence, I have loved you with the entirety of My love--and I always will.

If only you knew how precious you are to Me, you would die of joy. Of the millions of others I could have created in you place--I chose you. I have thought of you, and waited for your birth, from all eternity. Whenever you turn to Me in prayer, or return to Me in repentance, you move Me to the depths of My being. My Sacred Heart rejoices over you. "There is more rejoicing in heaven for one repentant sinner than for ninety-nine just" (Lk. 15:7); and "As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you..." (Is. 62:5). It is true. You are My joy, you are My delight. "You are My beloved son/daughter, in whom I delight..." (Mk. 1:11).

I wait for your love, day and night. No one else in My creation can love Me with your love, with your heart. No one else can console Me as you can. You are unique in My plan, and unique to My Sacred Heart--no one can ever take your place. Because I love you infinitely, I am infinitely sensitive to every movement of your heart--you can wound Me, or console Me, more easily than you can imagine.

Do not think that you don't know how to love Me, or that you are not able or worthy. Just begin--begin to love Me, exactly as you are at this moment. That is all I desire. Only begin. Love is learned by loving. You need not wait to be better to love Me. I long and yearn for you--exactly as you are right now. Nothing about you, no weakness or sin, can ever turn My love, or my longing away from you. So come, begin to love Me even as I love you. Begin to long for Me, even as I long for you.

Only in heaven will you finally know how important your love is to Me, how important you are to My Sacred Heart, how I long for you. I thirst for you... Yes, that is the only way to describe My love for you: I thirst for you. I thirst to love you, and to be loved by you. As the burning desert waits for water, so I wait for your love. As a thirsty man yearns for water, so I yearn for you. As a thirsting man seeks out the water, so do I seek for you. As a thirsty man thinks only of water, so My entire being is focused on you night and day ("the very hairs of your head are numbered..."). And as a thirsty man will give anything in exchange for water, so I have gladly given all I have and all I am, for you.

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 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 are 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 Sacred Heart. I have made you for Me, you exist to love Me and be loved by Me, and your soul cannot rest until you reset in Me. Nothing else will satisfy you or give you peace, no one else can fill the emptiness inside you. When you turn your scattered desires towards Me, when you begin to thirst for Me as I thirst for you, whenever your thirst and mine meet--you will begin to experience miracles, miracles of resurrection and new life!

Don't you realize that My Father already has a perfect plan to transform your life, beginning from this moment? TRUST IN ME. ASK ME EVERYDAY TO ENTER AND TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE--AND I WILL. I promise you before My Father in heaven that I will work abundant miracles in your life. Why would I do this? Because I thirst for you. All I ask is that you entrust yourself to Me completely, I will do all the rest.

Even now I behold the place My Father has prepared for you in My Kingdom. Remember that you a pilgrim in this life, on a journey home. I tell you again, the things of this world can never satisfy you, or bring the peace you seek. All that you sought outside of Me has only left you more empty, so do not cling to material things. Above all do not run from Me when you fall. Come to Me without delay. When you give Me your sins, you give Me the joy of being your Savior. There is nothing I cannot forgive and heal: so come now, and unburden your soul.
 
No matter how far you may wonder, no matter how often you forget Me, no matter how many crosses you may bear in this life; there is one thing I want you to always remember, one thing that will never change: I thirst for you as you are. You don't need to change to believe in My love, for it will be your belief in My Love that will change you. You forget Me, and yet I am seeking you every moment of the day--standing at the door of your heart, and knocking.

Do you find this hard to believe? Then look at the Cross, look at My Sacred Heart that was pierced for you. Have you not understood My Cross? Then listen again to the words I spoke there--for they tell you clearly why I endured all this for you. "I thirst..." (Jn. 19:28).

As the rest of the Psalm Verse I was reciting says of Me: " I looked for love, and I found none..." (Ps. 69:20). All your life I have been looking for your love--I have never stopped seeking to love you and be loved by you. You have tried many other things in your search for happiness, why not try opening your heart to Me, right now, more than you ever have before.

Whenever you open the door of your heart, whenever you come close enough, you will hear Me say to you again and again, not in mere human words but in spirit: "No matter what you have done, I love you for your own sake. Come to Me with your misery and your sins, with your troubles and needs, and with all your longing to be loved. I stand at the door of your heart and knock... Open to Me, for I thirst for you..."

"Jesus is God, therefore His love,
His thirst, is infinite.
He the Creator of the universe,
asked for the love of His creatures.
He thirsts for our love...
These words: "I thirst"
Do they echo in our souls?"

-Mother Teresa-

MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY FATHERS

SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR: PRAYING FOR OTHERS

On 29 September 2006, I sought the counsel of my Catholic priest friend regarding my persistent dilemma. I'm currently in the thick of pressing financial difficulties that need to be resolved in the shortest possible time. The only logical recourse of a solution is for me to be able to sell a real estate property to be able to liquidate all my financial obligations and start on a new slate free from any existing liabilities.

The only major problem is that I have difficulty trying to find the right buyer for the property. Needless to say, in the past three years or so, I've arduously done just about anything possible to make a potential sale. From extensive major classified advertising to hiring expert property brokers, but with no positive results at all.

I even tried fervent and repeated prayers. The funny thing about prayers is that it is my experience, that when I would pray for someone else's petitions, they are immediately granted; whereas my own petitions are most often unanswered.

And this is where I sought the advice of a Catholic priest friend, Father Felipe Santos. For enlightenment, I was asking him to explain to me the spiritual logic behind selective prayers, why my prayers for others get answered immediately while those for my self remain unanswered?

This wasn't about a wavering of faith in God. It was more like I felt that God was being selective in answering prayers. Then in the middle of the conversation, he suddenly said that I should go and visit the Sisters of the Congregation of Mother Theresa. As he wondered why he said this, he hastened to add saying that it was God who was speaking through him and telling me to do so.

Of course, I countered by asking Father Felipe, what is so special about them and why I need to go there when I can pray to God directly here at the Church; which already was the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.

His curt reply shut me up as he said, "You can ask the Sisters to pray for your urgent needs. Perhaps God listens to them and grants the prayers of the poor." As I was to find out later, these Sisters are carrying out the mission of helping and serving the poorest of the poor, under the name of Missionaries of Charity as started by the Congregation of Mother Theresa herself when she was still alive.

Hesitantly, I made up an excuse by saying I didn't have the financial means to visit such place since this was located at Tayuman Street in Tondo, Metro Manila popularly known as slum or squatter's area. Father Felipe knew I didn't want to go, so he offered to give me transportation money and reiterated his desire for me to do so.

Naturally, he offered me gas money to make me honor my commitment to visit. Next day Saturday afternoon, I asked a friend to go with me as we drove my car to the city to our destination. Though the exact whereabouts was unknown to me, I was quite familiar with the street name given by Tess, his secretary as I trusted on my driving instincts to get there.

All along driving the one-hour trip, I knew that Divine Intervention was somehow leading us to the exact address with hardly any obstacle at all. We safely arrived at the compound named Missionaries of Charity and as I parked my car, Sister John of Korea came outside to meet us.

Immediately, I told her of my main purpose of visiting the place; to ask for their help for my urgent prayer request while I handed out a small paper with my written prayer request to her.

With such a naturally warm friendly reception, she offered to accompany us with a tour of their special care facility for the abandoned and unwanted sectors of society.

In the building where I parked was a lot formerly owned and donated by the Philippine National Railways Authority to the Congregation; which was developed into a daycare facility for abandoned children.

The sight of a mini playground with a revolving carousel full of special needs children innocently having fun; instantly melted my heart when Sister John told me that these were unwanted children usually babies abandoned by their parents at birth. The healthy ones are usually taken cared of and after reaching a certain age are put up for regular adoption with the Social Welfare Agency.

After touring the compact children's facility, Sister John offered to take us to another building across the street where the special care facility of the neglected elderly was situated. She explained that the elderly patients are those unwanted by their relatives or those who had no surviving relatives at all.

On the way, I intently asked who funded both places and her reply astounded me, "Divine Providence, God provides for all our needs to carry out our work." I had taken this to mean that financial support was coming in the form of financial contributions from well-meaning individuals and organizations.

The life-size image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with open arms greets one upon entering the main gate constantly reminding visitors of the compound that Jesus is spiritually present to watch over and care for all their needs.

Upon entering the elderly facility, the elderly courteous patients eagerly greeted Sister John and cheerfully acknowledged our presence. Inside the wide building was a small chapel for the patients for their prayer and worship services.

The large lying-in room was neatly arranged with two rows of neatly covered beds on each side with most of the elderly patients lying down on their clean respective beds. Impressively neat and arranged, it had an adjoining clean kitchen where the Sisters were carefully preparing the meals for their patients.

It was obvious that these elderly patients abandoned by their own relatives; are in their ages of sixties or seventies and needed constant supervised medical and personal care. Some were senile, incapacitated and were wet in bed due to urination difficulty and this has caused the air to be permeated with the pungent odor of urine.

It was a place that needed special care and it was taken cared of in a special and tender loving way by these special sisters of Mother Theresa. I was so humbled by the very sight of seeing acts of charity and works of mercy being performed by these good and kind Missionaries Sisters who didn't expect anything in return.

The only thing common among them was a smiling face radiating of genuine happiness and inner contentment in being able to help out other people who are incapable of taking care of themselves.

Honestly, it was my first time to personally visit such an extraordinary place, whereupon I was humbled as I understood what Jesus meant when He said, "Whatsoever you do to the least of My brethren, you have done it to Me".

The last part of the tour was the Congregation's main prayer hall where I knelt and joined those who were currently praying in vocalized rhythmic order. As I felt the sincerity of their prayers in their voices, I closed my teary eyes and prayed for my urgent petition and thanked God for having brought me to this special place.

For in this place of the poorest of the poor, the abandoned and the unwanted; I have witnessed how God's great love is being manifested throughout the daily works of love selflessly rendered by these kind compassionate Sisters. To personally witness and experience true acts of Charity and great works of Mercy with no expectation of any reward at all, is truly the greatest act of love that a person can do for another.

That the incomparable reward for such a supreme act of selfless service is an inner peace and divine contentment only God can give to those who willingly offer their love to the least of their brethren.

As I finished praying with tear streaming eyes, I approached Sister John who was waiting for us as her fellow Sisters assured me not to be disheartened as they will pray for my urgent needs as God surely knows of my predicament.

We thanked the Sisters for their hospitality and left with the realization that my going to that special place was not by accident but by Divine Intervention. I left the place with the full appreciation that my temporary financial difficulty is nothing at all compared to what I've witnessed in this special place, where the poorest and the neglected of society are living in a permanent state of abject poverty but was nevertheless taken cared of by God.

More importantly, I understood why their needs are more of a priority than mine. And that it was right for God to be selective in addressing the priorities of every prayer. Father Felipe was indeed right when he said, " God does listen to the prayers of the poor and grants them accordingly." For the poor in spirit are rich in God's sight and are sufficient with His Graces.

Through the fervent prayers of the Sisters of Saint Theresa, the answer to my prayer for a financial solution finally came in May 2007. An unexpected buyer who initially came to see the property immediately liked it from the very first time she visited it and offered to buy it within that month.

Constructively, this humbling experience has taught me great virtues; that faith and trust are most important in prayers, and that effective prayer is a collective effort. The selfless act of praying for other people's needs over and above my own needs is an act of sacrifice as it instills humility and patience from within while promoting charity and love for others.

Now in my prayer petitions, I continue to pray that God unceasingly send His Graces through kind-hearted Good Samaritans with the ability to be able to contribute to the financial needs of this special group, The Missionaries of Charity of the Sisters of Mother Theresa.


Edwin L. Yap
Makati City, Philippines