Consolation is not “autonomous”, but a gift from God and service to others
“The experience of consolation, which is a spiritual experience, always needs ‘someone else’ in order to be full: no one can console himself,” Francis said. “[I]f I let the consolation of the Lord enter as a gift it is because I need to be consoled. I am in need: in order to be consoled, one must recognize oneself as being in need of consolation. Only then does the Lord come, console us, and give us the mission to console others.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis said Mass this morning in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta” and commented the 2nd Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.
The Holy Father centred his remarks on consolation, which is mentioned eight times in the Letter. He noted that its first trait is that it is not “autonomous” but is a gift from God to ask for and give to others. Anyone who tries to console themselves on their own runs the risk of being self-referential.
“The experience of consolation, which is a spiritual experience, always needs ‘someone else’ in order to be full: no one can console himself, no one – and whoever tries to do it ends up looking into the mirror – staring into the mirror and trying to ‘make oneself up’. One ‘consoles’ with these closed things that do not let one grow, and the air that one breathes is that narcissistic air of self-reference. This is the made-up consolation that does not let one grow – and it is no [real] consolation, because it is closed, it lacks an alterity.”
There are so many people in the Gospel, like the doctors of the Law, who are "full of their own sufficiency," or the wealthy Epulone who had a feast on holiday thinking he was so consoled. Above all, what better to express this attitude better than the Pharisee's prayer in front of the altar, which says: "Thank you for not being like everyone else."
“That man looked at himself in the mirror,” the pope said. “He gazed on his one likeness embellished with ideologies, and thanked the Lord.” Jesus showed us such people because they represent a real possibility – it is possible to live in such a manner that, “one shall never arrive at fullness, but only achieve a state of being bloated,” that is, of being puffed up with vainglory.
In order to be true, consolation therefore needs an “other”. First of all, consolation is received, because, “it is God who consoles,” who gives this “gift.” Then true consolation also matures in another “other”, when one who has been consoled, consoles in turn. “Consolation is a state of transition from the gift received to the service given”.
“True consolation has this twofold otherness: it is gift and service. And so, if I let the consolation of the Lord enter as a gift it is because I need to be consoled. I am in need: in order to be consoled, one must recognize oneself as being in need of consolation. Only then does the Lord come, console us, and give us the mission to console others. it is not easy to have one’s heart open to receive the gift and to serve, the two ‘alterities’ that make consolation possible.”
An open heart is needed, and in order to be open, a heart must be happy. Today’s Gospel Reading tells us precisely “who are the happy, the ‘blessed’.”
“The poor: the heart is opened with an attitude of poverty, of poverty of spirit; those who know how to cry, the meek ones, the meekness of heart; those hungry for justice who fight for justice; those who are merciful, who have mercy on others; the pure of heart, peace-makers and those who are persecuted for justice, for love of righteousness. Thus is the heart opened and [then] the Lord comes with the gift of consolation and the mission of consoling others.”
Those who feel “rich in spirit” – that is, “sufficient,” are instead “closed”. They are “those who do not need to cry because they feel they are in the right,” the violent who do not know what meekness is, the unjust who commit injustice, those who are without mercy, who never need to forgive because they do not feel the need to be forgiven, “the ones whose hearts are dirty,” the “makers of war” and not of peace, and those who are never criticized or persecuted because injustice done to other people is of no concern to them. “These,” Pope Francis said, “have a closed heart.” They are not happy because the gift of consolation cannot enter their closed hearts, and so they cannot give it in turn to those who need it.
In concluding, Francis called on the faithful to think about their own hearts, whether they are open and able to ask for the gift of consolation and then give it to others as a gift from the Lord. He also said that we need to return during the course of each day to this consideration, and thank the Lord, who “always seeks to console us,” and “asks us to open the doors of our hearts even only just a little bit.” Then, said Pope Francis, “[The Lord] will find a way in.”
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