I thirst

I've just read in Brant Pitre's book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, how the cup that Christ received in the Gospel of John immediately prior to his death was nothing less than the 4th cup of the Passover meal. It was the same cup he pleaded might pass. Yet, he gave over to the Father's will, and in doing so, completed what he began at the Last Supper.

So imagine my awe when I prayed the Chaplet before the monstrance today, and over the tabernacle behind the altar were inscribed the words, "I thirst." These were the words that Jesus spoke to request the 4th cup, the final act of His Passover. With the wine of this cup on his lips, he would breathe his last. Then and only then would his mission be fulfilled. Then and only then would he die, and a sword would pierce his side, and the Blood and Water issue forth as a fount of Divine Mercy for the whole world.

Just as that last cup completed the events from the Last Supper the night before, so too this new feast given to us by Blessed John Paul the Great, this Sunday of the Blood and Water, completes the octave of Easter. What was begun for us in the Triduum- the supper, the passion, the death- is now fully understood with the Resurrection and the outpouring of Mercy.

Christ rose from the dead so that death might be overcome. The Blood and Water gushing forth bathe us in this glorious triumph. People say that the late Pope's feast day conflicts with the message of the Resurrection. No, it is all united into one eloquence: communion is meaningless without reconciliation, paschal meal is meaningless without paschal sacrifice, and resurrection is meaningless without merciful atonement. They all conspire to bring about our own transformation into Christ.

We can now follow the example of our late Holy Father in surrendering ourselves fully and generously to the Divine Will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

Ioannes Paulus Magnus, ora pro nobis!