Friday Reflection

Daily Gospel Reflection May 22^nd 2020

Gospel                                                                                  JN 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
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.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”

Dear Friends and Family,

            Images are powerful teaching tools.  Jesus uses the image of a woman in labor to describe the pain the disciples will endure at the loss of our Lord.  But that travail is quickly followed by the joy of Jesus’ Resurrection.  Then the Gospel seems to step out of time into the present moment when Jesus says, “So you also are now in anguish.”  Our anguish can come to us in many forms.  It could be the anguish of regret, in loss and mourning, in a life not fulfilled, in a decision poorly made, or a decision not made.  The anguish we feel could be a spiritual longing: a desire to grow in our faith, but our uncertainty as to how, a sorrow for our sinfulness, a regret that we could have done more but we faltered.  Whatever the cause of our sorrow, we find comfort in God’s promise.  He promises us a joy and an enlightenment that is beyond our imagination.

            If you talk to any performer or athlete, artist or musician, they will all tell you the practice or the journey is always hard. While the practice is what consumes their days and nights, their eyes are always on the prize, what awaits them at the end.  They can see the future they want to realize, and they take the steps that are needed to get there: the performer sees the finished dance, the athlete sees the gold medal, the artist sees the finished piece and the musician hears the complete performance.  Part of accomplishing your goal is envisioning the end result, while each day taking steps toward that goal. The expectant woman prays that what awaits her at the end of her pregnancy, and her labor, is the gift of a child.

Except some pregnancies result in a mother’s empty arms.  Some performers and athletes’ dreams are interrupted by injury or other obstacles. Some artists and musicians abandon their art, envisioning themselves as a creative failure. It is difficult to sit in this place of pain in our lives.  Fortunately we are not alone in that anguish. Our Lord, who became human, experienced suffering and pain. He accompanies us in our pain. Let us remember what awaits us on the other side of our present anguish; it’s a promise of joy that will never be taken from us, of hearts that will rejoice, and an understanding of all things, so much so that we will not have any questions for Jesus.  This also implies a final blessing of being in the company of Jesus Christ.  What earthly goals do we long to realize?  What effort do we make in trying to achieve those goals and claim those finite gifts for ourselves?  Let’s consider what Jesus promises to us today.   Will we strive with the same passion to realize Jesus’ gifts, as we do our earthly goals?  What are we willing to do to claim the prize Jesus extends to us? How much time are we putting in to “practice” so that we will gain entrance to the Kingdom?  Once that final goal is realized, we will forget the anguish it took for us to realize it.

            So, in this present moment, especially if we are sitting in a place of hurt and pain or fear, let us look to our Lord for comfort and consolation.  Let us also look to our neighbor so that we might ease the burden of another person or allow that neighbor to ease our burden.  Jesus promises us he will see us again and fill our hearts with joy.