THE WORD
Ac 18,1-8 / Jn 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.”
IN OTHER WORDS
It is quite common to feel and see that when overseas workers say goodbye to their families there is a prevailing feeling of sadness or even grief around them. As a missionary I have also felt this several times when about to be transferred to another assignment. And one of the more common comments overheard in situations like these is: leave taking is more painful for those who are being left behind than for those who are leaving.
In this biblical text however, it did not seem important who would experience more grief than the other, but rather the striking observation that both must have felt exactly the same way. If Jesus knew that this was the reason of the disciples´ discussion and confusion among themselves, then that was a sign of how close they were to each other. The bond between Jesus and the disciples was strong and this was evidenced by their feelings before the possible separation, albeit temporary.
But when Jesus assured them that their grief would turn into joy, Jesus raised even higher the level of their oneness, that is, to the point of being one in the desire to muster the strength that they would need to persevere and endure until the end.
While we await the coming of the Lord and continue with our mission on earth, we need to persevere specially before the increasing signs of us getting farther from God´s designs. Instead of allowing grief to overtake us, let us be consoled by the fact that He is always one with us, including how we feel about our struggles. Then, the Word would have turned into a reality once more: your grief will turn into joy.
- Fr. Jun Castro, SVD | Madrid, Spain
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
