Notes from the Hours: The God of All Consolation

On this feast of St. Paul Miki and his companions, we read from the Common of Several Martyrs. This morning's prayer includes the passage from 2 Corinthians 1:3-5:

Praised be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation! He comforts us in all our afflictions and thus enables us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have received from Him. As we have shared much in the suffering of Christ, so through Christ do we share abundantly in His consolation.

The God of all consolation. What a beautiful title for our Father. In Greek, the word translated here as “consolation” is paraklēsis, and it literally means a calling by someone close beside. God is close beside us; He calls us to Himself; and therein lies our consolation, our comfort, and our joy.

In the midst of our afflictions, God remains beside us and comforts us. The verb for “comfort” is parakaleō, and like the related noun above, it refers to a personal calling from someone very close. We draw our comfort from our intimacy with God. We dwell in His presence; His presence dwells in us; and we find that we can cope with whatever suffering we experience.

But we can't leave it there. We are meant to spread God's consolation to others. We are meant to remain close beside them in their sufferings and call them to join us in intimacy with God. This is the best comfort we can ever offer.

Suffering can and does draw us closer to our Father when we unite our pain to that of Christ. As we enter into Christ's sufferings, we can also enter into His intimacy with the Father. As we learn to cling to our crucified Lord even and especially in the midst of our trials, we discover comfort that comes from just being close to God, held securely in His arms, and we find that we can praise Him even in this midst of our most fierce storms.

The Greek definitions come from Biblehub.com, especially HELPS Word Studies.