The words “I thirst” uttered from the cross are echoed in the cries of those who go without adequate supplies or access to clean drinking water. These words also evoke the teaching of Jesus found at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, when the Lord says to his followers that it is when they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give something to drink to the thirsty that they are in fact serving him. How is it that we can quench the thirst of the Lord on the cross in the lives of those who are dying from lack of water today? What does the cry “I thirst” from the cross mean for us in terms of the ecological crises of our own day?

Jesus continues to thirst in the lives of those hanging on the crosses of poverty and oppression. What is it that we have done or have failed to do to serve the least among us? Do we work to alleviate the suffering of our sisters and brothers, helping to fight against systems of injustice that allow for nearly half the human race to go without basic sanitation and clean water? Or do we flush our resources down the toilet and water our lawns with what could sustain the least among us without a second thought?

Jesus said, “I thirst.” What do you say in response?