On Tuesday last week, when we read an extract from the Book of Tobit, we reflected on the suffering caused by accidents great and small. The question, "why do bad things happen to good people?" is one that troubles many of us. In his very inspiring opening to his second Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul reflects on the interplay of suffering and consolation in our lives, especially when we strive to live our lives in Christ. Every grace we receive involves a mission - the mission to share with others what we enjoy from God's hands. Paul suggests that the same thing applies to suffering: "if we are afflicted it is for your encouragement and salvation." Many Christians who suffer have the same approach: suffering engages them in the suffering of Christ for the salvation of the world and so even if in this life they enjoy the consolation of Christ, the consolation which he gives to those who suffer patiently and lovingly as well as the consolation of the Resurrection which he enjoyed after his passion, that consolation is an increase in faith, hope and love and joy in the things of the Lord (St. Ignatius).