Wounds are part and parcel of being alive. We have all got experiences when we got hurt. In such experiences of emotional pain the temptation is to keep dwelling on that pain permanently. This can happen if we keep focusing on our pain without opening ourselves to be helped by a third party. Experience shows us that behaving this way is really catastrophic! We keep going round in circles.

Have we ever thought that our emotional pain can be a source of comfort and hope for others? Think of Jesus for example. The Bible says: “By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pt 2, 24). In Pope John Paul II’s words: “Christ’s suffering... became the price of [our]... redemption” (Salvifici Doloris, 19). He gave his very life for those who have rejected him. In him love conquered hate, light darkness, and life death.

God’s comfort in suffering is powerful enough to build bridges to those in pain. By knowing exactly how does it feel to be in hard situations and allowing God to comfort us in the ways he chooses to do so we will be able to experience the healing and transforming power of his comfort. And when our suffering matures it can be offered in love and compassion to those who need a caring ear and a sensitive heart to accompany them in their turmoil.

We can use our suffering as a resource to receive, respect and hold other people’s emotional pain. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor 1, 3-4).

Are we bringing our emotional pain to Jesus? Do we believe that he comforts others through our pain in as much as he comforts us when we are afflicted? Can we seriously consider Søren Kierkegaard’s view that “there is peace and rest and comfort in sorrow”?

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

San Gwann