Are you thirsty? Unfortunately, I let myself get thirsty all too often. Not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. I search for things other than God to satisfy me. Guilty pleasures, distractions, TV, social media, escapes from everyday life. Sometimes these things can be good, relaxing activities, however, much like fire, they are good servants, but bad masters. When we start to thirst for any of them, they have gone from servant to master. It’s all too easy of a transition for most of us, and it happens without us even realizing it. We slip from wanting to do something to needing to do it, it becomes our temporary thirst quencher. But like Jesus says in our gospel reading, if we drink this water we will thirst again. We are trying to satisfy a longing with something that will not really satisfy us. This reminds me of an interview I saw with Tom Brady many years ago. The interviewer, who very obviously wished he was Tom Brady, was asking him about various aspects of his life, his Brazilian model wife, his Super Bowl wins, his millions of dollars in the bank, sponsorships, adoration from millions of fans, etc, pretty much every guy’s dream. He tells Tom Brady; you are one lucky guy to have everything you want. To which Tom Brady responds, yeah, I am pretty lucky, I have everything a guy could want, but there’s something missing. SOMETHING MISSING?? The interviewer, visibly taken aback, asks what could possibly be missing, to which Tom Brady responds, God, I wish I knew. The interviewer at this point appeared almost distraught, he is looking at a guy who has everything the interviewer could possibly dream of having, but he is saying there is something missing. His whole ideal world just went down in flames. He was thirsty. The part that really caught me was Tom Brady’s response – “God, I wish I knew.” That is like someone asking you “What is 2 + 2” and you responding “4, I wish I knew.” God is what is missing, He is the answer. He is what’s missing from anyone who thirsts. So, like me at times, do you also get thirsty? Do you get unsettled and long for something, trying to quench a thirst that will not go away? As we progress through this Lenten season and prepare for Easter, I challenge you to look honestly at your life and see what you are thirsting for. What has gone from want to need, from servant to master. It’s ok, it happens to all of us, but it’s not about the falling down, it’s about the getting up. It’s not about the dehydration, it’s about the thirst-quenching peace when we return to God. As we approach the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, let us all realize we don’t have to thirst, the living water is already inside us, let us sit and enjoy the refreshing spirit God has given us and thirst no more.

Pax Christi,
John Mihalko