REFLECTIONS TODAY
The Greek mikron (“a little while”) refers to a brief period of time. This expression of Jesus, which appears only in John’s Gospel, is a veiled reference to his approaching death and resurrection. He would be quickly taken from the disciples by death. This event would unfold from the moment he is arrested in Gethsemane until he is laid in a tomb. But as quickly as he is snatched from the disciples by his passion and death, Jesus soon rises from the dead, and he is seen again by the disciples, this time as the glorified Lord. All these events happen so fast that the perplexed disciples could hardly comprehend what Jesus meant by them. And in the end, in “a little while,” Jesus goes to what is eternal—the fellowship with the Father in his resurrection. The short time that Jesus was taken away from his disciples and the short bliss of the Easter fellowship with the risen Christ are but a foretaste of the lasting joy that the faithful will experience in the Father’s Kingdom.
Gospel • John 16:16-20
Jesus said to his disciples: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]); Website: [http://www.stpauls.ph](http://www.stpauls.ph).