"I thirst."

Yesterday, after I posted my understanding of Hauerwas's reflections on Jesus' "I thirst," I came across this engraving in the latest issue of The Catholic Worker (March-April, 2006; 73.2). As I looked at this startling image, much of what Hauerwas said in Chapter Five came home to me. Now I ask myself: is it possible that in the "I thirst" of Our Lord, the cross-shattered Christ is offering up himself with all the Israel and all of us (whom He became in Mary's belly, as Hauerwas puts it) and presents Himself as the Son of God even as He give himself within the Holy Trinity to the Father and to us. If you have a copy of Hauerwas' The Cross-Shattered Christ, take a look at the woodcarving that illustrates Chapter Five and see if you too understand that image as a kindred iconic commentary on "I thirst" and Hauerwas's reflections.