Martin Madalai Muthu csc –
Readings: Acts 18: 9-18; Jn 16: 20-23
I am sure most of us cannot easily accept the following words of Jesus that says “You will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice”. Further, I am sure all of us long for the following words of Jesus that says “you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy”.
These above words are taken from today’s Gospel. We often long for the day when our pain and sorrow will turn into Joy but seldom are ready to weep and mourn while seeing the world around us rejoicing. We often forget that ‘we are in the world but not of the world’. We want to enjoy the worldly pleasure and materials, wish to have the latest mobiles and technology and longed to have a life which is entertaining rather than going through pain and suffering for the sake of living the Gospel and imitating the life of Christ.
Through today’s Gospel Jesus speaks to us of the sorrow of separation and the joy of reunion. Jesus is saying that pain and sorrow are not forever, that a time of joy will come again when we will be with him and when that time comes, our joy will be certain and permanent. We cannot long for the Joy of reunion without going through the Pain of separation while living in this beautiful yet corrupted world. To simplify the message Jesus explains with the image of a woman who is in Pain for child birth.
Every woman who has given birth (Normal Delivery) to a child can bear witness to the truth of what Jesus says here. Yet this joy diminishes in comparison with the joy of God’s everlasting love. It is a deep-down joy that nothing can take from us. Let us not forget that to love is to give and to be with the one whom we care. Let us have the courage to go through the pain and separation in living the life of Christ while the world rejoices.