By Henry Stuhr
Seminarian of the Diocese of Lincoln, Propaedeutic Stage at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward
“I Thirst.”
Next to every crucifix in the Missionaries of Charity convents or shelters, there are two words, “I thirst.” These two words, first uttered by Jesus on His cross, became the most important words of Mother Teresa, now St. Teresa of Calcutta, during her many years of Ministry to the poorest of the poor. These words continue to serve as the framework for the thousands of Missionaries of Charity sisters throughout the world.
I encountered these words for the first time in February when I was sent to the south side of the Bronx, in New York City to spend three weeks with the Missionaries of Charity. During these three weeks, we undertake our Poverty Immersion, a formative element of the first-year Propaedeutic Stage at Saint Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward. We are sent in groups of two, three, or four, learning what our assignment will be the day before our departure. All we bring is a backpack, bus, train or plane ticket, no phones, and $50 to use for the entire three weeks. I spent those next three weeks serving the homeless, those addicted to drugs, and single moms and dads. It was through interactions with these people, as well as the MCs, that I came to realize what Jesus’s words on the cross meant, not only for me but for each and every one of His beloved sons and daughters.
I encountered these for the first time when we went with two Missionary of Charity Sisters to hand out food, drink, and clothes to the homeless on the streets of the Bronx. I was very nervous, especially amid the chaos of New York—surrounded by rundown buildings, trash-strewn streets, and bitter winter winds. I encountered people in the most “distressing disguise of the poor,” as St. Teresa of Calcutta describes them. In the midst of my discomfort and anxiety, I could feel Jesus saying to me, “Henry, You did it to me.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me… Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:35-36,40) These words, in that moment on the street, echoed in my mind and heart the entire time I was on Immersion. From handing out a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich to distributing socks, each act of service was offered not only to the person in front of me, but to Jesus Himself.
Mother Teresa once said, “He has told us that He is the hungry one. He is the naked one. He is the thirsty one. Each one is Jesus in His distressing disguise.” Jesus wants us to encounter His pierced heart, His pierced hands, and feet, but most importantly, He wants us to know what He meant when He cried out, “I thirst.” That is exactly what Jesus revealed to me through the lens of Mother Teresa during the Poverty Immersion. Jesus thirsts for our love and our whole heart. He not only thirsts for the love of the people that look good or that have everything going for them, but also for the poorest of the poor and the sorrowful of heart.
I was being called to see His pierced heart, His pierced hands and feet, and to thirst after Him more and more. I am not the only one called to encounter Him in this way; in some capacity, we all are. Coming back to rural Nebraska, I thought I might find it hard to see Jesus as I did in New York, but that is not the case. Here at the seminary, I can encounter Him in my brother seminarians, and in my family and friends at home. Not everyone will have the opportunity to spend three weeks in a poverty immersion experience in one of the poorest areas of the United States, but each of us is called to encounter Him in the people we meet every day. We are invited to share in His hunger and thirst, just as He desires to share in ours.
