SORROW WILL TURN INTO JOY…

Acts 18:1-8

1 After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them;
3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers.
4 And he argued in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads! I am innocent.From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue.8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

John 16:16-20

16 “A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.”17 Some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”
18 They said, “What does he mean by ‘a little while? We do not know what he means.”
19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.  

MEDITATION

St LUKE Introduce a Jewish couple Pricilla and Aquila who had to flee Rome or be incarcerated, because of their missionary endeavors to establish Christian communities. This couple joined Paul, Timothy and Silas who went about proclaiming and testifying the ‘evangelion‘. 

Paul and his evangelical entourage turned their attention to the gentile community—non Jewish families who believed the Good News and were forthwith baptised. After receiving much pushback and rejection from primerily the Jews, Paul washed his hands from blame should any misfortune befall these Jews who rejected the Gospel. 

THE GOSPEL READING: The apostles were confused when Christ made it known that He will temporalily disappear and then they will see Him for a little while, after which they will not see Him again. Because these men were bewildered to the extent that they were in a state of paralysis, Jesus cryptically explained His death, ressurection and ascension, saying that the twelve will weep and be sorrowful upon His departure, however their sorrow will turn into joy when they encounter the risen Christ. 

Our Christian walk with the Lord can sometimes devolve to the extent that we cannot make sense of our familial relationships, such that we may even call into question the whereabouts of God in our lives. Disappointments should not cause us to crawl into a corner and self isolate! Cultivate new Christian frienships; remove ourselves from negativity and pray the Lord to reinstate our dignity and fill us with joy. To be sure, when we ‘offer up’ our pain and suffering; by being in service of those outside our regular circle, then our sorrow will be transformed into a state of joy and bliss in the Lord!

LET US PRAY: Psalms 98:1-4 

O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.