Reflection for Thursday May 9 of the Sixth Week of Easter: John 16:16-20

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.”

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Reflection:

Do you believe that after sorrow and pain comes redemption, joy and triumph? 

When Jesus said to his disciples: “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve but your grief will become joy (John 16:20).” Jesus was already alluding about his forthcoming passion and death that he has to go through and to his subsequent resurrection. 

 Jesus even compared it with a woman who is in labor pain. But after she has given birth she would forget that painful experience altogether because of the great joy that the newly born child would give her (John 16:21). 

Married life is not always blissful, the couple will go through humps and bumps that would test the strength of their fidelity before Jesus. But if they persevere and decide to stay in their union amidst their trials there would be joy in their hearts in the end.     

Same with our walk with Jesus, it will not always be a bed of roses, there would be trials, and sometimes we will be persecuted and tested because of what we do for God. 

In spite of these all let us continue to follow Jesus, for in the end there will be redemption, joy and triumph for those who are faithful to Him. – Marino J. Dasmarinas