Wanting of the Sufferings of Christ

Colossians 1:24.
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church:


Ver. 24. And fill up those things....in my flesh for his body, which is the church.[5]
Nothing was wanting in the sufferings or merits of Christ, for a sufficient and
superabundant redemption of mankind, and therefore he adds, for his body, which is the
church, that his sufferings were wanting, and are to be endured by the example of Christ
by the faithful, who are members of a crucified head. See St. John Chrysostom and St.
Augustine. (Witham) --- Wanting. There is no want in the sufferings of Christ himself as
head; but many sufferings are still wanting, or are still to come in his body, the Church,
and his members, the faithful. (Challoner) --- St. John Chrysostom here observes that
Jesus Christ loves us so much, that he is not content merely to suffer in his own person,
but he wishes also to suffer in his members; and thus we fill up what is wanting of the sufferings of Christ. (St. John Chrysostom) --- The wisdom, the will, the justice of Jesus
Christ, requires and ordains that his body and members should be companions of
his sufferings, as they expect to be companions of his glory; that so suffering with him,
and after his example, they may apply to their own wants and to the necessities of others
the merits and satisfaction of Jesus Christ, which application is what is wanting, and
what we are permitted to supply by the sacraments and sacrifice of the new law.

Jesus Stilling the Storm

Jesus Stilling the Storm

8:23. And when he entered into the boat, his disciples
followed him:

8:24. And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that
the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep.

8:25. And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord,
save us, we perish.

8:26. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of
little faith? Then rising up, he commanded the winds, and
the sea, and there came a great calm.

8:27. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is
this, for the winds and the sea obey him?
Ver. 23. This bark is the Catholic Church. The sea denotes the world, the winds and
tempests shew the attempts of the wicked spirits to overturn the Church. The Lord
seems to sleep, when he permits his Church to suffer persecution and other trials,
which he permits, that he may prove her faith, and reward her virtue and merits. (St.
John Chrysostom, hom. xxiii. in Mat. viii.) The apostles had followed their divine
Master. They were with him, and executing his orders, and it is under these
circumstances they are overtaken with a storm. If their obedience to Jesus Christ, if
his presence did not free them from danger, to what frightful storms do those persons
expose themselves, who undertake the voyage of the present life without him? What
can they expect but to be tossed to and fro for a time, and at last miserably to founder?
Faithful souls ought, from the example here offered them, to rise superior to every
storm and tempest, by invoking the all-powerful and ever ready assistance of heaven,
and by always calling in God to their help before they undertake any thing of moment.
(Haydock)

Ver. 25. Should God appear to sleep, with the apostles, we should approach nearer to
him, and awaken him with our repeated prayers, saying: "Lord, save us, or we perish."
(Haydock) --- Had our Saviour been awake, the disciples would have been less afraid,
or less sensible of the want of his assistance: he therefore slept, that they might be
better prepared for the miracle he was about to work. (St. John Chrysostom, hom.
xxviii.)

Ver. 26. Why are you fearful, having me with you? Do you suppose that sleep can take
from me the knowledge of your danger, or the power of relieving you? (Haydock) --- He
commanded the winds. Christ shewed himself Lord and Master of the sea and winds.
His words in St. Mark (iv. 39,) demonstrate his authority: Rising up he rebuked the
wind, and said to the sea: Peace, be still. (Witham) --- As before our Lord restored
Peter's mother-in-law on the spot, not only to health, but to her former strength; so here
he shews himself supreme Lord of all things, not only by commanding the winds to
cease, but, moreover, by commanding a perfect calm to succeed. (St. John
Chrysostom, hom. xxiv.) How many times has he preserved his Catholic Church,
when (to all human appearance, and abstracting from his infallible promises) she has
been in the most imminent danger of perishing? How many times by a miracle, or
interposition of his omnipotence, less sensible indeed, but not less real, has he
rescued our souls, on the point of being swallowed up in the infernal abyss?
(Haydock) --- He commands the mute elements to be subservient to his wish. He
commands the sea, and it obeys him; he speaks to the winds and tempests, and they
are hushed; he commands every creature, and they obey. Man, and man only, man
honoured in a special manner by being made after the image and likeness of his
Creator, to whom speech and reason are given, dares to disobey and despise his
Creator. (St. Augustine, hom. in Mat.)
From this allegory of the ship and the storm, we may take occasion to speak of the
various senses in which the words of Scripture may be occasionally taken. ... The
sense of Scripture is twofold, literal and spiritual. The literal is that which the words
immediately signify. The spiritual or mystic sense is that which things expressed by
words mean, as in Genesis xxii, what is literally said of the immolation of Isaac, is
spiritually understood of Christ; and in Colossians ii. 12, by the baptism of Christ, St.
Paul means his burial. The spiritual sense in its various acceptations, is briefly and
accurately given in the following distich:
Littera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria,
Moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia.
Jesus Still the Storm