John 16:20-23

Acts 18:9-18

Psalm 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

John 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,

while the world rejoices;

you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;

but when she has given birth to a child,

she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy

that a child has been born into the world.

So you also are now in anguish.

But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,

and no one will take your joy away from you.

On that day you will not question me about anything.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I trust in your Son’s promise that my grief in this life will become joy. You are capable of all things and can transform the pain of my suffering into the joy of love. I ask you today for the grace and charity I need to be your faithful child.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Your Grief Will Become Joy: At the Last Supper, Jesus tells the Apostles that their grief will become joy. This is a law of Christian life. We will share in the passion and sufferings of Jesus and will rise with him to glory. We are persecuted for our faith, yet we are consoled and comforted by the presence of God. We live by faith, the beginning of the joy of the eternal vision of God. We live by hope, look beyond the sufferings we endure in this passing world, and are confident in Jesus’ promise of eternal life. We live according to love, knowing it alone lasts beyond the grave.

2. The Image of a Woman in Labor: To exemplify the turning of grief into joy, Jesus uses an allegory of a woman in labor. “The hour of Christ’s Passion is compared to the pangs of childbirth. The disciples, like a woman in labor, will experience extreme distress that soon gives way to joy when Christ is reborn to a new life on Easter morning” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 1920). The image of a woman in labor is able to be connected to Mary, who, in John’s Gospel, is the model disciple, “who exemplifies this sorrow turning to joy more than anyone else. As the mother of Jesus, she experiences the sorrow over the loss of him like no other. In fact, John’s Gospel highlights how this allegory about the pains and joys of childbirth is concretely embodied in Mary’s experience at the foot of the cross” (Sri, Walking with Mary, 137). The hour is coming when Mary, the New Eve and the New Rachel, will suffer with her Son and give birth to the Church.

3. In Jesus’ Name We Pray: After the Resurrection, things will become clearer for the disciples. Throughout the Last Supper Discourse, they have been asking Jesus questions and seeking answers. After the resurrection, they will not question him because they will truly understand his identity and the meaning of his Cross through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. “Through the Holy Spirit, the risen Jesus will draw his disciples to share in his communion with the Father, and an indication of this new relationship will be their praying to the Father in Jesus’ name. … To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray in union with him, who was completely obedient to the Father’s will out of love. It is to pray and desire that the Father’s will be done (Matthew 6:10)” (Martin and Wright, The Gospel of John, 272).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, make my home and household a little Church where you reign and where all of my family members are united in a bond of true love. Help us to offer up our sufferings and experience true and lasting joy.

Living the Word of God: What do I need to do to allow Christ to reign more fully in my home? Is the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist a high point during the week? Do we pray together as a family? Do we serve the poor and needy in our local community as a family?