“Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you - you won’t begin to know who He wants to be for you.  Or who He wants you to be for Him.”
 
The following meditation is meant as a way of sharing in Mother Teresa’s deep experience of the goodness of God. This prayer experience became the “secret fire” she carried within, her light in darkness, and her strength in times of crisis.
We may all know that we are saved by God, but few of us realize how much we are cherished. Few have experienced, as Mother Teresa did, the true dimensions of God’s heart. And so we doubt; we question; we fail to draw near. In His interior communications with Mother Teresa, Jesus would lament, “They don’t know Me, so they don’t want Me.” It would become her mission to help the world know Him — to show even the least among us how much we are treasured, just how good God is, and so to stir up our own longing for Him in return.
In the joining of His longing for us and ours for Him are the seeds of paradise. Every human heart needs to hear this message and enter into this experience.  In the timeless words of St. Augustine, “Deus sitit sitiri”: God thirsts to be thirsted for. . . .
 
How to Use a Guided Meditation
Meditation is a way of entering into a state of prayer where we can encounter God in a deeply personal way. In a Guided Meditation, you read or listen to words that help you have a realistic experience through the graced use of your imagination. In this meditation, you will be imagining Jesus with you, speaking these words directly to you. You can read them silently, but even better is to read them aloud. One way is to read them slowly into a tape recorder and then play them back. However you use it, this meditation is designed to bring you face-to-face with the mystery of God’s longing for each one of us — here, in the present moment —and to help us face whatever challenges we may encounter in these difficult times.
 

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The meditation that follows was written by Father Joseph Langford, MC, co-founder of Mother Teresa’s priests’ community. It is excerpted from his book, Secret Fire: The Encounter That Changed Her Life and How It Can Transform Your Own (© 2008, 2016, Published by Our Sunday Visitor).

Let Us Begin

Begin by getting into a comfortable position. Close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply, letting your entire body relax. Let the worries and cares you’ve been carrying fade into the background. Let your mind relax along with your body.  f you are reading the meditation, now open your eyes and begin reading slowly and carefully, pausing to close your eyes and reflect on what you have just read. If you are listening to your recording, keep your eyes closed and permit yourself to picture Jesus right next to you, saying the words directly to 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 least whispered invitation that will allow Me to enter.
And I want you to know that whenever you invite Me, I do come.
Always without fail.
Silent and unseen I come, but with infinite power and love,
And bringing the many gifts of My Spirit.
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 have received from the Father.
As much as the Father has loved me, I have loved you (Jn.15:10).
I come — longing to console you and give you strength,
to lift you up and bind all 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.
 
Pause here and reflect upon the words Jesus has just spoken to you. Allow yourself to rest in His presence, knowing that He loves and accepts you just as you are right now.
 
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 and your worries.
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,
For the beauty and dignity My Father gave you by creating you in His own image.
It is a dignity you have often forgotten,
a beauty you have tarnished by sin.
But I love you as you are,
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 all its destructive power.

Pause to open your heart to Jesus and let yourself pour out your needs and desires, knowing He is with you, listening and ready to answer.
 
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 loved and cherished.
But how often have you thirsted in vain,
by seeking that love selfishly,
striving to fill the emptiness inside you with passing pleasures —
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 and fill you.
Do you thirst to be cherished?
I cherish you more than you can imagine —
To the point of dying on a cross for you.
 
Pause to allow yourself to feel your thirst, your desire to be loved, your desire for God to fill your very being.
 
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 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.
 
Pause to think about what you want most from God, right now, in this time and space.
 
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 every day to enter and take charge of your life —and I will.
I promise you before My Father in heaven that I will work miracles in your life.
Why would I do this?
Because I THIRST FOR YOU.
All I ask of you 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 are a pilgrim in this life, on a journey home.
Sin can never satisfy you or bring the peace you seek.
All that you have sought outside of Me has only left you more empty,
so do not cling to the things of this life.
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 wander,
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—
just 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.

Pause and ask yourself: Do you ever doubt God’s love for you? Listen to Jesus . . . and believe.
 
Do you find this hard to believe?
Then look at the cross,
look at My 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).
Yes, I thirst for you —
as the rest of the psalm-verse I was praying 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 do 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 . . .”
 
When you are ready, come back to this present moment. Feel the presence of God surrounding you, sustaining you. End your meditation by praying aloud the Our Father.
 

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Permission to reprint required from publisher. Inventory No. P903
Nihil Obstat: Rev. Michael Heintz, Ph.D. • Censor Librorum • Imprimatur: @ John M. D’Arcy
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend March 7, 2009
 
The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat or Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
 
Meditation copyright © 1986 Missionary of Charity Fathers.