Trong xã hội hôm nay, nhiều người trong chúng ta thừa nhận rằng cuộc sống hiện tại đầy dẫy những khó khăn. Cho dù bất cứ trên các lĩnh vực nào, chính trị, kinh tế, tôn giáo, xã hội, ở đâu dường như cũng có quá nhiều bóng tối đang chực chờ hay đang bao trùm trên cả đất nước và thế giới của chúng ta. Vào những lúc như thế này, một số người trong chúng ta có thể rất dễ đâm ra chán nản, lo lắng, hoặc mất di niềm hy vọng. Chúng ta cũng có thể đặt câu hỏi là liệu chúng ta có nên tin tưởng vào Thiên Chúa khi những lời cầu nguyện của chúng ta không được Ngài đáp trả vả ban cho như ý muốn của chúng ta..?
Đó chính là niềm tin đã thúc đẩy Thánh Phaolô và các bạn đồng hành của ngài tiếp tục rao giảng Tin Mừng của Chúa Giêsu. Mặc dù có những nguy hiểm và đau khổ mà các ngài đã phải trải qua. Dưới sự khuyến khích và thúc đẩy của Chúa Thánh Thần, thánh Phaolô đã chứng minh được những gì có nghĩa cho cuộc sống. đó là sự tin tưởng và niềm hy vọng vào Chúa Giêsu, chứ không phải là phụ thuộc vào hoàn cảnh bên ngoài. Cái chết và sự phục Sinh của Chúa Giêsu đã khắc phục được bóng tối, và bóng tối đã phải nhường chỗ cho ánh sáng. Với niềm hy vọng mà chúng ta cần phải tiếp tục trong sự tin tưởng vào Thiên Chúa vì Ngài là nơi nương náu của chúng ta, và là đấng nâng đở và bảo vệ của chúng ta. Vâng Chúa là người lôn tuân giữ những lời hứa của Ngài; Lạy Chúa, xin cũng cố lòng tin của chúng con, giúp con có lòng tin tưởng vào Chúa mà không phụ thuộc vào bất cứ những gì trong thế gian….
Today, we are reminded again what faith actually means. Faith is about trusting God regardless the circumstances. In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that there will come a time of weeping and wailing. However, sorrow will not have the last word. Instead, it will be turned into joy — just like a mother who rejoices once her child is born. The disciples are to trust that Jesus will keep his promise, that he will overcome death. It is this conviction that drives Paul to continue proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus inspire of the dangers and the suffering he undergoes. Under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he demonstrates what it means to believe and place his hope in the Lord Jesus, regardless of the circumstances. This is why we celebrate the Season of Easter. It is a reminder that death has been overcome, and that darkness has given way to light. It is with this hope that we must keep believing and trusting that God is our refuge, our provider and protector. He has, and he will, fulfill his promises. Lord, I trust You regardless of the circumstances.
“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.” John 16:21–22
When we live fully united to Christ, we can endure anguish with confidence and determination. Without Christ, even small, temporary trials become so burdensome that we tend to avoid them. Though trials are not desirable in themselves, God permits them to strengthen us in virtue and prepare us for eternity. The anguish that accompanies them is temporary, but the victory over them is eternal. If we refuse to endure the temporary, we risk losing the eternal.
Our Gospel illustrates this point well. The purpose of pregnancy is to cooperate with God’s creative power and to bring forth into the world a precious new soul who will exist for all eternity. What a joy it is for parents to learn of their pregnancy, endure the nine months and the labor, hold their newborn child, and accompany that child throughout life and into Heaven.
In order to give birth to that child, the woman must endure labor pains. These pains are not desirable or sought for their own sake, but a woman willingly endures them as a necessary condition for the great joy of new life. Afterward, a loving mother does not regret having a baby because the labor was painful. The joy of holding her newborn is so rewarding that it puts the pain in perspective.
Just as a woman willingly endures labor pains for the joy of new life, we too must embrace temporary trials to receive eternal blessings. Trials are a consequence of Original Sin. In the beginning, God did not will that trials would be part of our lives. After the Fall, many forms of trials entered human existence. To enable us to overcome these trials, the Son of God took on flesh and overcame everything we endure. Therefore, when we face trials, God looks at us and invites us to follow His example: to carry our crosses with His strength, to do what He already did.
When Jesus told His Apostles, “So you also are now in anguish,” He was speaking not only to them but also to us. Jesus was fully aware of the anguish the Apostles would endure through His coming Passion, and He is fully aware of every anguish we will endure. His awareness is active, offering hope: “I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” This is His promise to each of us as we confidently endure the trials of life. Our endurance will lead to eternal joy, for we will share in the victory of Christ’s Resurrection.
Reflect today on whether you are willing to endure the anguish of temporary trials so as to share in the eternal blessing that will come after. Are you living for what is temporary or eternal? Do you avoid trials out of fear, or do you embrace them with trust in Christ’s promise? Reflect on how you might unite your daily struggles with His Passion and seek His grace to persevere. Turn to Jesus, Who has already endured every trial and triumphed, and imitate Him so that you share in His victory and rejoice with Him for all eternity.
My determined Lord, You fully aligned Your will with the Father’s by embracing the great anguish caused by Your Passion and exhorted Your disciples to imitate You. You call me to do the same. Please give me the grace and wisdom I need to keep my eyes on the eternal and glorious end to which I am called, so that I can endure every temporary anguish with hope and joy. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are with me. I have no reason to fear. I will speak your Word faithfully and seek always to be guided by your Spirit. Strengthen me to remain steadfast in your service.
1. Paul in Corinth: The First Reading continues the story of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. We can date Paul’s time in Corinth to A.D. 51 or 52, when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia. Paul spent a year and a half with the Corinthians, preaching and teaching the word of God. He was reassured by the Lord Jesus in a dream or vision at night to continue his witness and not be silent. The Lord assures Paul that, even though he will be brought before the governor by the Jews, no one will attack him or harm him. What the Lord predicted came to pass. The Jews in Corinth accused Paul of inducing people to worship God contrary to the law of Moses and brought him before Gallio, who was indifferent to the complaints of the Jews. Gallio rejected their case and drove them from the tribunal. Instead of attacking Paul, the Jews seized Sosthenes, who was a synagogue official who had accepted the Gospel, and publicly beat him.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” John 15:13–15
Is it possible to know everything that Jesus knows? Certainly not. Yet, Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” Jesus Himself is the full revelation of the Father. Therefore, in Him we have been given perfect access to the life of God. Even though God has revealed everything to us, we are limited in our ability to receive it because we are finite creatures. Nonetheless, our imperfect natures do not limit what Jesus has told us from the Father.
By analogy, consider water. When we are thirsty, we drink a glass of water. If we are very thirsty, we might drink several glasses. However, we are limited in how much water we can consume in one sitting. All that Jesus has revealed to us from the Father is like an infinite ocean of grace. He doesn’t offer us only one glass or even several. He offers us the ocean. Though He bestows it on us fully, we are limited in what we can receive by our finite nature and sin.
The goal of the Christian life is not to take one “sip” or “glass” of grace. Our goal is to continuously increase our capacity for receptivity. The greatest of saints spent their lives doing so. The more grace they received, the greater their capacity, and the greater their capacity, the more they received. St. Teresa of Ávila described this process as progressing through the “mansions” of the interior castle, with each step drawing the soul closer to union with God. St. John of the Cross taught that detachment from worldly attachments and the purification of the soul increase our receptivity to God’s grace. St. Thomas Aquinas explained that the theological virtues, especially charity, expand the soul’s capacity for divine love.
The presence of grace in any soul ensures that the soul will attain Heaven upon death. However, the level of glory that each will experience for eternity is determined by how much the soul’s capacity for grace expands in this life. This capacity is built through love. Jesus teaches, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” The love of charity is the process by which we lay down our lives for others. Jesus is not only the source of such love, He is also the Model. His choice to die on the Cross in His human nature exemplifies the kind of sacrificial love we are called to embody.
That form of sacrificial charity can be difficult to comprehend and live. Our fallen human nature tempts us toward selfishness. We can easily become deceived into thinking that taking is better than giving, being served is better than serving, and looking out for ourselves is better than putting others before us. The only way out of such deception is to enter into friendship with Jesus: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
The freedom to love is found through obedience to God. Though we cannot arrive at such obedience instantaneously, we can grow into it through prayer, penance, and fidelity to His commands. What does He command us to do? “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you” (John 15:12). Jesus loved us by laying down His life for us. In turn, we are called to lay down our lives for others. This means thinking of others before ourselves, anticipating their true needs, and working for their highest good—the salvation of their souls.
My infinite Lord, the depth of love within Your soul is incomprehensible, yet You have revealed that love to us and invited us to receive it. Please flood me with the gift of charity so that I will not only share more fully in Your eternal glory, but so that You will touch others through the charity You place within my heart. Grant me the grace to embrace sacrificial love, laying down my life for others as You laid down Your life for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. Interpreting the Prophets on the Restoration of David’s Kingdom: After the Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles and presbyters sent a letter to the Church in Antioch about the decision they reached. Led by Simon Peter, the Church decided that the Gentiles did not have to follow many of the laws of the old covenant, especially those regarding circumcision. Many of the laws of Moses had a temporary character and were a cultural and social safeguard against contact with pagan Gentiles. That barrier of separation was being torn down in the forty years between Jesus’ death and the destruction of Jerusalem. At the Council, Paul and Barnabas confirmed Peter’s decision by relating how God was acting through them among the Gentiles. The apostle James also confirmed Peter’s decision and referred to the prophetic passages that described the return from exile and the restoration of Israel during the last days (Hosea 3:4-5; Jeremiah 12:15; Amos 9:11-12; and Isaiah 45:21). Jeremiah, for example, used the imagery of the Gentiles being built up like a building in the midst of Israel and this suggests their incorporation into the new temple, the Body of Christ. “Drawing on this imagery, James considers the gathering of the Gentiles in the midst of Israel to be the key to interpreting the Scriptures concerning the Gentile disciples during the last days” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 134). James also interprets the prophet Amos to mean that when God rebuilds the kingdom of David, it will be made up of all those – Gentiles included – who are united to the Messiah.
“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.” John 16:21
This truth can certainly be extended to any form of anguish we experience for a good reason. Note that the pain experienced in childbirth is pain for a good and holy reason. Therefore, the pain is forgotten, in a sense, when the mother sees and holds her newborn child. That suffering is forgotten in the sense that it is transformed into joy by the birth of a child.
There is much in life that can cause anguish. In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes on to say to His disciples: “So you also are now in anguish.” He says this because He had just finished speaking to them about His coming departure to the Father and about the suffering that they would all experience in the form of persecution. But then He says to them that after He departs and they no longer see Him, they will then see Him again and will rejoice. And He says, “On that day you will not question me about anything.” This is an important line to understand.
Anguish, or any form of suffering, can tempt us to question our lives and even to question God. It is clear that after Jesus was killed, the disciples questioned everything. They were confused and frightened. All appeared to be lost. Then, to a lesser degree, after Jesus ascended into Heaven and prior to Him sending the Holy Spirit, the disciples would have also experienced confusion. Why did Jesus leave them? Why didn’t He stay longer? Who was going to lead them now? These and many other similar questions would have arisen in their minds.
So also with us, when things do not go as planned, or when things take a painful turn in our lives, we can immediately question and even doubt the perfect plan of God. If things fall apart because of our sin, then repentance is the remedy. But if things fall apart, in the sense that life becomes difficult, then we should especially listen to the words of Jesus today.
When anguish in life happens because we are fulfilling God’s will, we must see that anguish as a means to a much greater good. Just as the pains of childbirth lead to the gift of a child, so the pains of bringing forth God’s will in our lives will lead to the presence of God Himself. Patient endurance is a virtue that is especially important in this case. For example, the anguish of overcoming an addiction, or of praying when we don’t feel like praying, or of forgiving someone who hurt us are all examples of anguish turning into blessings. Very often, combatting our own selfish will is difficult. But the fruit of engaging in such a battle within us is joy. There is joy found in victory over sin. Joy is found in persevering in prayer. Joy is found in every difficulty we endure for the Kingdom of God. But the joy is not always our first experience. It is only experienced when we patiently endure the situation.
Reflect, today, upon any form of anguish you are currently enduring for the glory of God, or anything you are currently avoiding because it seems difficult to do. Do not shy away from these difficulties. See them as a means to a glorious end. Endure the “labor pains” of the purification and mission God is calling you to by looking beyond the difficulties you initially experience so that you will see the end result that awaits you.
My glorious Lord, You endured Your passion with perfect virtue. You never wavered from fulfilling the will of the Father, and the fruit of Your perseverance was the glory of the Resurrection. Please help me to patiently endure the crosses in my life and give me hope to see that from them You will bring forth the good fruit of eternal joy. Jesus, I trust in You.
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.
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