May 06, 2016 Friday, 6th Week of Easter 1st
Reading: Acts 18:9-18 Gospel: John 16:20-23
Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. A woman in childbirth is in distress because her time is at hand. But after the child is born, she no longer remembers her suffering because of such great joy: a human being is born into the world.
“You feel sorrowful now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice. And no one will take your joy from you. When that day comes you will not ask me anything. Truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my Name, he will give you.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
A husband tells his wife that if he were to be a movie character he’d be Zorro. “And what character would you assign to me?” asked the wife. “Dacos”, replied the husband. “Why?” asked the wife. “Because you are the cause (Dacos) of my sorrow (Zorro),” the husband explained. (End of the joke).
Sorrow can creep into the lives of even the most intimate of couples. Even priests who are unmarried aren’t spared. Whether married or unmarried, we are all vulnerable to sorrow. That’s why Jesus’ promise to turn sorrow into joy excites us all. But we must be careful not to mix up joy with happiness lest we be misled. Happiness depends on happenings; joy is deep, deep down in our hearts. Happiness provides external satisfaction but cannot protect the interiority of the person from being wounded. We are happy, for instance, after winning a court case, but deep inside we are hurting because of broken relationships. In light of this distinction, the sorrow-turned-into-joy that Jesus promised is something internal. It is the fruit of faith.
Another characteristic of this kind of joy is fullness. In contrast, earthly happiness is incomplete. We are happy in the morning, for instance, but suddenly become sad in the afternoon. At times we can’t even recall what we have been laughing about all day as we retire into the night in loneliness and depression. Happiness leaves us empty at the end of the day. But the joy that Christ promises to those who persevere is one that cannot be taken away, not even by the most powerful persecutors. It is the kind of joy etched permanently in the soul like a tattoo by the stylus of sufferings. The more intense the suffering, the more genuine and defined the joy.
Today’s Gospel invites us to use sufferings as whetstones against which we sharpen our spirits. With this, we can have genuine joy even if the heavens should fall upon us.—(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MAPM, MMExM, REB, Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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