"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking[a] in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church,"
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Jesus poured the sweet syrup of forgiveness from the reservoir of love that he held in his most Sacred Heart, through his bloody wounds, and into the Valley of Tears to diute its toxicity in the same way that sugar cubes dilute the bitterness of a cup of bad coffee. Dilution is God's solution to the toxicity of the Valley of Tears.
Paul rejoices in his suffering because it gives him the opportunity to imitate Christ. Paul can also pour the sweet fruits of love as Jesus did into the Valley of Tears to also dilute its toxicity.
Jesus began the process of filling the earth with the knowledge that God loves us as the waters cover the sea . He did not complete it.
He was the first drop .
The first drop was released into the Valley of Tears as the blessed byproduct of a violent collision between Jesus and the evil that we did to him on the road from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection. The violent collision took place at and about the city of Jerusalem in a region of our planet known as the Middle East more than two thousand years ago. The location is the boondocks of time and space - the backside of the desert . In the boondocks, his audience was limited. Too few saw the face of forgiveness that emerged from the violent collision. Therefore, to turn the drop into a flood that inundates the Valley of Tears, we need to put on the face of God so more of the children of Adam and Eve can see God for themselves face to face. We need to distribute the knowledge that God loves us across time and space. It is up to us to expand the range of the good news of great joy. It is up to us to make up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. However, the mission of filling the earth with the knowledge that God loves us as the waters cover the sea is easier said than done. It cannot be completed just with words. Words will not do it. Only love begets love.
