Nirmal Kumar csc –
Readings: Acts 18: 9-18; Jn 16:20-23a
In the first reading we see how God assures his protection to St. Paul. In spite of facing hardship in Corinth Paul remained there for some more months preaching the Word of God, because that was God’s plan for him.
Did Lord promise that there will not be any difficulty? Definitely no; rather he promised him “I will be with you.” That is where our confidence is supposed to lie. In fact this is the covenant that the Lord makes with us. He promises us that he will be with us always, both in joyful and sorrowful
moments. We all have problems and difficult moments in life.
Whenever this situation arises, we lose heart and get distracted easily, forgetting that God is with us because often we rely more on ourselves than on God’s providence.
The gospel reminds us that our sorrows are short-lived. When we keep our eyes focused on the person of Jesus we find that our pain and suffering give way for a lasting joy. The joy that Christ promises is eternal, and no one can take that away from us. He is with us always just we need to feel his presence and call out to him. When we do this then he will work wonders in us.