RANDOM THOUGHTS IN TRANSIT

 
There is no coherence to these thoughts; take them separately, or pitch them, as you will.
I read a devotional post recently praising the Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit as ‘consolators.’  It’s a beautiful image, especially for the Holy Spirit in the great Pentecost Sequence (Consolator optime the best Consoler).  But I think most people think that a synonym for “consolation” is “comfort,” and this is a misunderstanding.
If we go to the roots of these words, we can learn that “consolation” means feeling with or easing one’s pain.   Surely this is a great thing to want to be for others.  “Solace” is what we’re talking about here, placing a balm on a wound (physical or emotional).  
A stronger notion is “compassion.”  You have heard me speak about the original Greek word in the New Testament as being so much stronger than simple “pity.”  But it kicks things up a notch because “to console” is to act on behalf of the other, whereas “to have compassion” is to enter into the suffering of the other. Its root is “passion,” feeling.
But “comfort” is different.  Its root (fortis) is all about strength.  To comfort someone is to make that person strong— able to deal with the circumstances of their lives, and to offer to help them by lending some of one’s own strength to them.
Bottom line:   consolation is nice; compassion is better; comfort is the gold standard for active charity/love of others.
Let’s consider this in light of the “Suffering Servant” of Isaiah 53– “Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.  The chastisement of our peace was upon him.  And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.  And with his stripes we are healed…” (KJV, as set by G F Handel in Messiah). 
This is Jesus.
 
So it turns out that this essay has some “coherency,” after all!