In the gospel passage for today's Mass, Jesus is speaking with his disciples. This is a tender time for them: they all know that the time they have with the Master is drawing to a close and there is great anxiety among them. Jesus acknowledges this anxiety. He knows that they will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices ... you will grieve, he tells them, but your grief will become joy (Jn 16: 20). Caught up in that moment, I wonder whether they were even capable of truly hearing the words he was speaking, much less understanding what he was trying to tell them. When anxiety and fear have a grip on us, we are often unable to hear such reason ... but Jesus wanted to reassure them: your grief will become joy.
In order to help them understand this, he used a concrete example: 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 (Jn 16: 21). When the time comes for a woman to give birth, she is in anguish, she is in pain. If we have not experienced such pain ourselves, it is impossible to fully comprehend it, but when she has given birth to a child the world around her changes instantly. The pain and scars of childbirth are still evident but in that moment, the mother is not aware of it because she is overcome with joy.
When we encounter such debilitating pain in our lives that we are unable to function, we are also enveloped in the pain that blinds us to everything else around us, but when we witness the resurrection - when the pain has been relieved - we realize that it is possible to rejoice again. Jesus rose from the dead, there is hope for a better tomorrow. We will grieve at some moments in our lives but have faith faith: our grief will be turned into joy.
Have a great day.
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