The God of All Consolation

AM Psalm 51:1-18 (19-20) • PM Psalm 69:1-23
Lam. 1:1-2, 6-12 • 2 Cor. 1:1-7 • Mark 11:12-25

In terms of liturgy and focus during Lent, this time of Holy Week seems to be forgotten by many, unless you are focusing on the Daily Office. Palm Sunday initiates our week long journey to the betrayal, passion, and resurrection of Christ. That betrayal begins on Maundy Thursday, the beginning of the Triduum, the “three days" that lead to Easter. These liturgies give us the chance to enter into the depths of sacrifice so we can rise with Christ into the joy of resurrection.

But what about Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday? These days are decidedly unambiguous about the journey that started. The book of Lamentations begins with “How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!... Jerusalem remembers, in the days of her affliction and wandering, all the precious things that were hers in the days of old.” With psalm 69, the psalmist begins, “Save me, O God, for the waters have risen up to my neck.” Paul writes in II Corinthians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction.”

The readings for today teach us to remember, vividly, and without flinching, that life is precarious and tumultuous. And it is not only in the major crises in which we find this precarity, but in the quotidian nature of our faith, like a Monday in Holy Week, flanked by the remembrance of grief and violence.

The scriptures mingle together more than just this reality, though. In today’s gospel, Christ exacts justice in driving away those who defraud others in the temple. Paul, in writing that God is the God of mercy, writes that we receive that consolation so that we can console others. On this Monday of Holy Week, do not wait to engage the mystery of this grief and mercy, whether or not we can assemble together. Enter into it now, and look for where your consolation is, and where you can console others.

Written by Nathan John Haydon

Nathan earned his PhD studying medieval literature, especially Old English literature and theology. He’s a Benedictine oblate, and it's still true that he loves coffee, beer, and cats, although not necessarily in that order. It’s also his birthday today!