Our Hope and Consolation

Our Hope and Consolation

Eileen Renders

Whenever we are hurting, experiencing a loss, or seeking consolation, where do we go? There are choices, and of course, we all are given free will. We can internalize our pain and find our loss or hurt unacceptable.

This choice can trigger negative feelings, and it may feel to us that fate or God wanted to hurt us.

Life makes no promises to anyone. We will have crosses to bear. Like Christ, we must carry our crosses. Our best choice is to God to God for hope and consolation. For the courage, trust, and strength to go forward with faith, and learn and to grow. To receive consolation from God is what we need and would be wise to strive for. In God’s mercy, we will receive the grace and understanding to carry on. We are all given only one day at a time.

Something that I have used to gain understanding and acceptance is to turn my thoughts to Our Blessed Mother Mary, the mother of Christ, remaining at the foot of the Cross while her only son, the son of God, was whipped, crowned with thorns, and bleeding while being nailed to a huge cross hanging and bleeding til death. How did she do it? Why did Jesus have to do what He did? They did for each one of us out of love and mercy.

Why did Jesus’ twelve disciples sleep when Jesus was in mental agony, and He asked them to stay and be with Him? We are asked to pray for understanding, fortitude, humility, love, and acceptance. We are not born with all of these qualities; however, with prayer and trust, God gives freely to us, not what we ask for, but what we need. Keeping in mind that all of life as we know it is terminal, we can pray for our loved ones who precede us in death, as we want to ensure they are in heaven. Perhaps, they, too, pray for us.  

Faith is trust; that is why it is called faith! Can we begin to understand that God is and always was? Of course not. We cannot grasp the aspect of three persons in One God; it is beyond our understanding. When we keep in mind how prayer transcends all understanding, how God freely gives His special gifts to those who love Him and remain in prayer, we will want to pray at every opportunity. Such as mowing the lawn, cooking dinner, doing the laundry, and driving to work.

God never promised, nor said that He wants us to be happy all the time, to live without pain or suffering. We are here to work toward God’s acceptance at the end of our lives. None of us is truly worthy, but God wants us to live our best life emulating Him, one of the reasons His Father in Heaven sent Him to Earth on a mission.