“Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.” (Angel of Peace at Fatima).
I have been meditating on the Gospel Passage that describes Christ’s tears for Jerusalem when the people of Jerusalem rejected Him (Luke 19:41-44).
“And when He drew near and saw the city He wept over it, saying, ‘Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44).
Christ is not described as crying very often in the Bible. In fact, there are only three times that we are explicitly told that Christ wept.
The first time was when he came upon the sisters of Lazarus – Martha and Mary – and He saw that Lazarus was already dead, “Jesus wept.” prior to raising His friend from the dead (John 11:35).
The second time is as recounted in this Gospel according to Saint Luke (19:41-44).
And the third time is when we hear in the Letters to the Hebrews that Christ cried in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.” (Hebrews 5:7-9).
And I have been thinking about these Holy tears of God ever since…
You see, it is often that I cry to my Beloved… “Help me!” I cry. “Hear me!” I cry. “Save me!” I cry. “Strengthen me!” I cry… For truly – without Him – I am nothing.
And yet, now – after reading these few short words and reflecting on the three documented instances of Christ’s tears in the Bible – I wonder who it is who is consoling Christ?
Who is consoling my Lord?
When He wept, what comfort was He offered? Where was I then? Where am I now? Do I run to Him?
When one of my children falls over, I run to them to comfort them. When they are upset or hurt or worried, I run to them and comfort them. That is my job – I am their mother after all – and I love them with all my heart. But if I am willing to do such a thing for these little (and imperfect) ones, what more should I be willing to do for magnanimous infinite divine GOD HIMSELF?
Now I weep such tears of anguish to see what little I do…
When the Angel of Peace appeared to the three visionaries of Fatima, he gave them Holy Communion and said to them, “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.”
Saint Francisco heard those words, “Console your God” and he responded by saying, “How beautiful God is, how beautiful!... But He is sad because of the sins of men. I want to console Him, I want to suffer for love of Him.”
Saint Francisco was ten years old when he died – having suffered greatly to CONSOLE HIS GOD... I am four times that age.
What have I done in all my years to console my God?
What have I done?
And seeing my own unworthiness for what it is, and feeling the immense weight of my disappointment to God, I turn to my Lord and my God, crying tears of terrible anguish, and I pray… “My Lord and my God, teach me how to console You. Teach me how. For I cannot put into the words the terrible grief that I suffer knowing that One such as You suffer should suffer one more tear for love of one such as me…”
For I wonder, who is consoling my Lord? Who?
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.