Your grief will become joy
REFLECTIONS TODAY
In this interesting episode, we see the interaction between Jesus and his disciples who are gripped with fear because of the impending departure of their Master. They cannot understand what he is saying, and they are upset by the time element of the whole process of suffering revealed by Jesus. They ask: “What is this little while?” (v 18).
But in Jesus’ response to his disciples, he seems not to be concerned with time at all, but what comes after the suffering. Isn’t this true also in our lifetime when we are faced with troubles. We ask, “How long, O Lord?” We forget that Jesus has said repeatedly that being his followers would entail suffering and distress. This reality of discipleship is inevitable. But he wants us to remember that sorrow is not the last word. He says, “Your grief will become joy” (v 20).
The proof of that is seen in the resurrection event. Perhaps this is what we need to keep in mind whenever we are deep into the struggle of following the Lord; remember that after the cross, or better still, “within the cross” shines the beauty of the resurrection.
First Reading • Acts 18:1-8
Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Every sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
When they opposed him and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” So he left there and went to a house belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next to a synagogue.
Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized.
Responsorial Psalm • Ps 98 “The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.” or “Alleluia.”
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 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.