There are so many wonderful feast days in October. Almost every day has me inspired anew by an example
of holy love and hunger and thirst for righteousness. The saints call me to discover for myself what
it means to possess and satisfy this hunger and thirst.
The saints show me that to hunger and thirst for holiness is to want
what God wants, to love what He loves, to thirst as He thirsts. It is to conform my will to His, to become a ‘living
sacrifice,’ a ‘host’ in His hands, and to give my life for the salvation of
souls. To thirst for holiness is to
thirst for love, to be purified by God’s love, and to be love. It is not only to accept the sufferings and
trials that come, but to rejoice in them.
This is what the saints did, for the glory of God, their own joy, and
the salvation of souls.
St. Therese, whose feast we celebrated on the 1st, said, “So
it is in the world of souls, the living garden of the Lord. It pleases Him to
create great saints, who may be compared with lilies or the rose; but He has
also created little ones, who must be content to be daisies or violets nestling
at His feet to delight His eyes when He should choose to look at them. The
happier they are to be as He wills, the more perfect they are” (Story of a
Soul).
St. Francis, whose feast was on October 4th, said, “Above
all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to His friends
is that of conquering oneself and willingly enduring sufferings, insults,
humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ. For we cannot glory in all
those other marvelous gifts of God, as they are not ours but God's, as the
Apostle says: 'What have you that you have not received?' But we can glory in
the cross of tribulations and afflictions, because that is ours, and so the
Apostle says: 'I will not glory save in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus
Christ.'" (From the Little Flowers of St. Francis)
St. Faustina, whose feast is October 5th, said, ‘I accept
joy or suffering, praise or humiliation with the same disposition. I remember
that one and the other are passing. What does it matter to me what people say
about me: I have long ago given up everything that concerns my person. My name
is host — or sacrifice, not in words but in deeds, in the emptying of myself
and in becoming like You on the Cross, O good Jesus, my Master!’ (Diary 485)
Hungering and thirsting for holiness is hungering and thirsting to
satisfy Jesus’ hunger and thirst. He is hungering and thirsting for your heart, for
my heart, and for the hearts of all souls. May Jesus increase our own hunger and thirst
for holiness, that we may satisfy His.
And may He satisfy all our hungers and thirsts with Himself, for His “flesh
is true food,” and His “blood is true drink” (John 6:55).
Written by Kristen
