March 24, 2025 // Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
Reflect on the Word //
“It was Holy Week, but extended to twelve months.”
“Wow!” I exclaimed in a whisper, as the words of the priest resounded powerfully through the small, but nearly packed, movie theater.
The documentary was called Radiating Joy, but tears welled up in my eyes as I continued to watch Michelle Duppong’s story of joyful suffering unfold. A newly named Servant of God, Michelle was a campus missionary whose indomitable joy and radiant witness while dying of cancer touched the life of every person she met.
More and more moved as the film rolled on, I was reminded of my own health struggles and the redemptive power I had found in uniting every procedure with the Cross of Christ. I felt like a friend had entered into the midst of my suffering as I followed the young and vibrant Michelle through a yearlong cancer battle fraught with progressively painful and intense treatments, often requiring her to go several days without food or water.
And yet, in nearly every frame, this suffering servant was smiling, full of the light of Jesus and leading all those who encountered her to hunger and thirst more for Him.
“Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?” (Psalm 42:3) The cry of the Psalmist in today’s Scripture embodies the depth of longing every human heart experiences in this valley of tears. It is a thirst that can only be satiated when it is joined with the holy thirst of our Lord on Calvary. Paradoxically, the more we quench His thirst, the more thirsty we become. For love. For souls. For the “running waters” (Psalm 42:2) of mercy pouring from His pierced Heart.
Sister, it is only at the Cross that we can drink freely, quenching our own thirst and that of others for God’s love. Michelle Duppong knew this and found joy in drinking the cup of suffering to the very dregs. The question is, are we thirsty enough to do the same?
Relate to the Lord // How’s your thirst? Ask the Lord to increase your desire for Him, for love, and for souls.
Cathy Webb is a consecrated virgin for the Diocese of Wilmington and the creator of the Sacred Heart to Heart journal. A full-time Library Assistant, she loves long books, long skirts, and, above all, long talks with her divine Spouse. She delights in prayerful encounter with the Universal Church, but holds a special place in her heart for Dublin, Ireland, where she gave Christ her “yes.” Find out more about her here.
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