Blog 3 Consolation

Blog three

We live in this world as if we do not belong to it because we have our sight intently on heavenly things. We live a constant struggle to deny the things of this world, but sweet in the consolation of heavenly things. “Nothing more acceptable to God nothing more helpful for thyself in this world, than to suffer willingly for Christ. And if it were thine to choose, toughest rather wish to suffer adversities for Christ, than to refresh with manifold consolation.”  [1] Whoever wants to follow Jesus must carry their cross, and the cross implies suffering. It was never an easy invitation, but rather of hard work and dedication for a different type of life.

Consolation

Consolation then comes for the renewal of strength, for both the body and spirit. The example we can see is when the angel of the Lord came to console Jesus. (Luke 22:43) “Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.” [2] It is not that the sufferings will end with the consolation we get from the Lord, but to strengthen us to keep going forward till the end just as Jesus did. The type of consolation that the Lord gives is different than any other. For instance St. Francis of Assisi ones was consoled by an Angel, who played for him a stringed instrument. At the first stroke, Francis begged him to stop because the sound was so beautiful that he felt that his soul was being pulled from his body. If an angel could do that with an instrument, how much more can the Word of God do? “Blesses is the soul which heareth the Lord speaking within it, and receiveth the word of consolation from his mouth.” [3] The Word comes not just to console but to instruct the faithful, and so the whispering of this world have no meaning.

To Despise the World and Serve God is Sweet

Although we are in this world, we do not belong to it. We are not just flesh that when we die, it will be dissolved in the earth, but rather we gaze our eyes to the heavens where we hope to be one day. Although it is true that we are in this world, we must act according to our faith. So in a sense, we have to renounce to the things of this world so that we may invest all the time we can to the things of the Lord. “It is a great honour, great glory to serve Thee, and despise all for thy sake. For they shall have great grace who of their own will shall submit themselves to thy most holy service. They who for thy love have cast away every carnal delight shall find the sweetest consolation of the Holy Ghost.” [4] There is little to gain when we work for perishable things that only last a while, and the joy that comes from it also lasts just a while. But there is no such thing as total freedom either we work for perishable things or the things that are eternal. Further, if the things of this world bring joy for a while, the things that eternal never end and by comparison they are much sweeter.

            Teresa of Avila spent much of her time in prayer and meditation; she also was a very busy nun and still found time to write. It is an example that through the grace of God one is able to do many things with less effort, it is almost as if the Lord did most of the work. She did not find pleasure in the things of this world, but rather she found pleasing to be with the Lord through prayer and meditation. “This voice of his is so sweet that the poor soul falls apart in the face of her own inability to instantly do whatever he asks of her. And so you can see, hearing him hurts much more than not being able to hear him… For now, his voice reaches us through words spoken by good people.” [5] One may think that spending time in prayer and meditation takes away the time that we should be investing in work, but that is was not the case for St. Teresa because it seems that the more she prayed, the greater things she was able to accomplish. But accomplishing things in this word was just to please Jesus, and the real payment for her was just to be with him and hear his sweet voice. 

Foot notes 

[1] Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book III,

[2] Luke 22:43. Retrieved from. http://biblehub.com/luke/22-43.htm

[3] Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book III

[4] Ibid

[5] Teresa of Ávila. Interior Castle. Retrieved from. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/156879-el-castillo-interior-o-las-moradas