THE GOD OF ALL CONSOLATION

PRAYER MOMENT

Monday 8 June 2015

THE GOD OF ALL CONSOLATION

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have receieved from God ourselves.” (2 Cor 1:1-7)

Reflection. This opening passage from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth immediately sets the tone of the new relationship with God revealed by Jesus. He is not a distant judgemental God who watches us to see where we fail, no more than a mother watches her child to catch them making a mistake. He is a God who loves us and watches our progress ‘with delight’ as any mother would her growing child. We let the phrase ‘the God of all consolation’ sink into to us; this is the true nature of God. If you wanted to describe in a word what the early Jesuits thought they were doing in the sixteenth century when they began to travel Europe and indeed the world, this would sum it up: they were bringing the consolation of God to people.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to know you as our lovng God of all consolation and encouragement and help us never to lose heart. Amen.

davidharoldbarry@hotmail.com