11 January 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“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, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3–4
Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthians not with complaints about his sufferings, though they were many, but with a blessing: God is “the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation”. In Asia Paul had felt “the sentence of death”, and he learned to “rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The comfort he received becomes comfort he can give. Our wounds, once consoled by God, become a ministry to others.
In the Gospel John the Baptist says of Jesus: “He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” Today we remember Mar Gregorios of Nyssa, younger brother of Mar Baselios, a bishop and mystic who taught that the soul never stops growing toward God: each discovery opens a greater longing. The Spirit given without measure keeps drawing us further into the endless love of God.
Theme: “The Father of mercies and the God of all consolation.”
Consoled to console; trusting the God who raises the dead.
“Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.” Isaiah 40:1
“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, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3–4
Apply: Comfort one suffering person this week.
“For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.” Psalm 116:8
“Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:9
Apply: Hand over one fear to God in prayer today.
“Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.” Numbers 11:25
“He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” John 3:34
Apply: Add five minutes to your daily prayer.
God consoles us so that we may console.
With Mar Gregorios, let us keep growing in God.
Take-home resolution: Visit or call a grieving person this week.
Dear friends, Paul had suffered greatly in Asia. He even felt he had received the sentence of death. Yet he begins his letter with a blessing: blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation (2 Corinthians 1:3).
God consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console others with the consolation we ourselves have received. Our healed wounds become a ministry.
Paul says his trials taught him to rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:9). Suffering strips away false supports and leaves us leaning on God alone.
Today we remember Mar Gregorios of Nyssa, brother of Mar Baselios, who taught that the soul is always growing toward God. Christ gives the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). Let us receive God's comfort, pass it on, and keep growing in his love. Amen.
Children, when you are sad, God comforts you. Then you can comfort a friend who is sad. Who can you cheer up today?
Father of mercies and God of all consolation, you comfort us in every affliction. Teach us to rely on you who raise the dead, fill us with the Spirit without measure, and through the prayers of Mar Gregorios let us grow without end in your love. Amen.
Paul begins with a blessing that comes out of real suffering: the God of all consolation comforts us so that we can comfort others. The Gospel speaks of a gift with no limit: the Spirit is given “without measure”. Consolation that passes from person to person, and a Spirit that never runs out, make a fitting pair for the memory of Mar Gregorios of Nyssa, who taught that the soul never stops growing toward God.
Setting.
Paul's relations with the Corinthians have been painful. He has written them a letter “with many tears” (2:4), and has been waiting anxiously for news. His letters usually open with a thanksgiving; here he opens with a blessing of God, in the form of Jewish prayer. He writes as a man who has lately been close to death.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,” (1:3)
“Father of mercies” is a phrase at home in Jewish prayer. A man who has just despaired of life begins by praising God.
“who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction” (1:4)
Consolation is not for keeping. A wound that God has healed can become a way of helping others. Those who have suffered often know what to say, and when to say nothing.
“so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” (1:9)
Paul sees a purpose in the worst of it. When every human support is gone, only the God of the Resurrection remains.
“as you also join in helping us by your prayers,” (1:11)
The great apostle says that he needs the prayers of the Church he has quarrelled with. Prayer binds the Church together even when relations are hard.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that blessing is the basic movement of Christian prayer (CCC 2626) and points to Paul's own life as an example of intercession in the first Christian communities (CCC 2636). It teaches that suffering united with Christ becomes a sharing in his saving work (CCC 1521). The Church's anointing of the sick is one sign that God's consolation comes through the hands of others.
Setting.
John the Baptist has just said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30). The verses that follow could be the Baptist still speaking, or the evangelist reflecting on the scene. The Greek has no quotation marks, and commentators differ. Either way, they sum up the whole of chapter 3, with its themes of being born from above, testimony and life.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true.” (3:33)
Faith is not a guess. It is a personal signature, a word of trust in the God who speaks.
“He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” (3:34)
The prophets each received a gift for a task. Jesus has the Spirit in fullness, and from that fullness he gives.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.” (3:36)
In John eternal life begins now, as a present gift: “has”. God's “wrath” is not a fit of temper; it describes the state of one who refuses life. The verse is a warning given so that a person may turn.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this Gospel when it teaches that from the moment of his conception the humanity of Christ is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God gives him the Spirit without measure (CCC 504). It adds that from his fullness we have all received. It also cites this passage when it speaks of the need of faith for salvation (CCC 161).
Mar Gregorios of Nyssa (fourth century) was the younger brother of Mar Baselios, and one of the great Cappadocian Fathers. As a bishop he defended the faith of Nicaea on the Trinity. In his Life of Moses he taught that the soul, drawn on by God who has no limit, never reaches an end of its growth, and that each discovery opens a greater longing (in substance). A Spirit given “without measure” is the Gospel root of that teaching.