I weep because you do not weep.

Wow it's been 3 months since my last post! Found myself a free morning and I had just heard a wonderful homily at Mass this morning. Our new priest Father Lobsinger spoke on Colossians 1:24 - 2:3. He spoke of Saint John Vianney, who was known to spend hours hearing confessions and was commonly seen weeping as he listened to confessants. When asked why he wept, he gave this answer which became a famous quote: “I weep because you do not weep.”

I found this article "The Secrets of His Holiness - A Lesson in Sanctity for All of Us" about this saint:
"In confessing people, this holy man, who had a fundamental knowledge of sin, strove after one thing only—to save souls. This was his ardent desire, and for the sake of it he suffered all the tortures of his daylong confinement in the confessional. This great saint heard confessions from 13 to 17 hours a day, and could tell a penitent’s sins even when they were withheld. In order to save souls, one must be possessed of that holy love of men which consumed the priest of Ars. He would often weep in the confessional and when he was asked why he wept, he would reply: “My friend, I weep because you do not weep.”"

This story in some way fits today's Bible verse in Colossians 1:24 "I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.".

This verse is problematic for many people, especially the evangelicals. Christ's suffering (and death on the cross) is sufficient to make atonement for our sins. What is still lacking, and Christ cannot do it for us, is our reparation for our sins. Reparation is necessary to prepare us to one day meet the perfect and holy God, as we shall see Him as He is.

"Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)

And we purify ourselves by suffering - it's a gift from God to prepare us for that Blessed day...

"...You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see." (Revelation 3:17b-18)

"You do not realize"... Yes even when I confess my sin to a priest, do I have perfect contrition? Do I make a firm commitment to never to sin again? I try to do an "Examination of Conscience" every day. It often does not produce the kind of contrition I should have. A holy priest like St. John Vianney would easily pick this up and would cry for me... Oh pray for me St. John Vianney!

The other famous verse in today's reading is Colossians 1:27 which is "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." This verse was the conference theme of Camp Trent (I think it was in 1977 at Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario), which was "Christ in You, the Hope of Glory". I remember my faith took a giant step forward at this conference. But it still took many more years before I truly understood what this verse really meant. What is "Christ in You, the Hope of Glory"?

Now I understand that it is referring to the Holy Eucharist! The mystery of the transubstantiation which is Jesus' gift to His Church, His body. "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53).

It is not easily understood...that's why "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”" (John 6:60)

Contrition... confession... consecration... consumption of His Body and Blood... all found in the Mass this morning. That's why the Holy Mass is "the source and summit of the Christian life" and I was there this morning! Bless the Lord!