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cross of Jesus Christ%u201d. [80] [0] Therese was able to do this because she had discovered in theheart of Christ that God is love: %u201cTo me he has granted his infinite mercy, and through it Icontemplate and adore the other divine perfections%u201d. [81] [1] That is why a popular prayer, directedlike an arrow towards the heart of Christ, says simply: %u201cJesus, I trust in you%u201d. [82] No other wordsare needed.91. In the following chapters, we will emphasize two essential aspects that contemporary devotionto the Sacred Heart needs to combine, so that it can continue to nourish us and bring us closer tothe Gospel: personal spiritual experience and communal missionary commitment.CHAPTER FOURA LOVE THAT GIVES ITSELF AS DRINK92. Let us now return to the Scriptures, the inspired texts where, above all, we encounter God%u2019srevelation. There, and in the Church%u2019s living Tradition, we hear what the Lord has wished to tell usin the course of history. By reading several texts from the Old and the New Testaments, we willgain insight into the word of God that has guided the great spiritual pilgrimage of his people downthe ages.A GOD WHO THIRSTS FOR LOVE93. The Bible shows that the people that journeyed through the desert and yearned for freedomreceived the promise of an abundance of life-giving water: %u201cWith joy you will draw water from thewells of salvation%u201d (Is 12:3). The messianic prophecies gradually coalesced around the imagery ofpurifying water: %u201cI will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean%u2026 a new spirit I will putwithin you%u201d (Ezek 36:25-26). This water would bestow on God%u2019s people the fullness of life, like afountain flowing from the Temple and bringing a wealth of life and salvation in its wake. %u201cI saw onthe bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other%u2026 and wherever thatriver goes, every living creature will live%u2026 and when that river enters the sea, its waters willbecome fresh; everything will live where the river goes%u201d (Ezek 47:7-9).94. The Jewish festival of Booths ( Sukkot), which recalls the forty-year sojourn of Israel in thedesert, gradually adopted the symbolism of water as a central element. It included a rite of offeringwater each morning, which became most solemn on the final day of the festival, when a greatprocession took place towards the Temple, the altar was circled seven times and the water wasoffered to God amid loud cries of joy. [83]95. The dawn of the messianic era was described as a fountain springing up for the people: %u201cI willpour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants ofJerusalem, and they shall look on him whom they have pierced%u2026 On that day, a fountain shall be21