THURSDAY (9 May) – Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

Mabuhay at Mabuting Balita!

Month of Our Lady

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 294


First Reading: ACTS 18:1-8
PSALMS 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4:  The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Gospel: JOHN 16:16-20
Jesus said to his disciples:
“A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me.”
So some of his disciples said to one another,
“What does this mean that he is saying to us,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,’
and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks?
We do not know what he means.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,
“Are you discussing with one another what I said,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me’?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050924.cfm
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-may-9-2024-day  

Reflection:
How does “weeping” and “rejoicing” go together? Jesus contrasts present sorrows with the future glory to be revealed to those who put their hope in God. For the people of Israel time was divided into two ages – the present age and the age to come. The prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah as the dawn of a new age. Jesus tells his disciples two important truths. First, he must leave them to return to his Father and second, he will surely come again at the end of time to usher in the new age of God’s kingdom.

Jesus’ victory over sin and death brings us supernatural joy without end
Jesus’ orientation for the time between his first coming and his return in glory at the end of the world is a reversal of the world’s fortunes. The world says take your joy now in whatever pleasures you can get from this present life. Jesus points to an “other-worldly” joy which transcends anything this world can offer. Jesus contrasts present sorrows with future joy. A woman in labor suffers the birth-pangs first, but then forgets her sorrow as soon as her new-born child comes to birth. We cannot avoid pain and sorrow if we wish to follow Jesus to the cross. But in the cross of Christ we find freedom, victory, and joy. Thomas Aquinas said: “No one can live without joy. That is why a man or woman deprived of spiritual joy will turn to carnal pleasures”. Do you know the joy of the Lord?

To you, O Jesus, do I turn my true and last end. You are the river of life which alone can satisfy my thirst. Without you all else is barren and void. Without all else you alone are enough for me. You are the Redeemer of those who are lost; the sweet Consoler of the sorrowful; the crown of glory for the victors; the recompense of the blessed. One day I hope to receive of your fullness, and to sing the song of praise in my true home. Give me only on earth some few drops of consolation, and I will patiently wait your coming that I may enter into the joy of my Lord. (Bonaventure, 1221-74 AD)
https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=may9
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video/2024-05-09-reflection-294  Saint of the Day:  Saint Pachomius (292-348)St. Pachomius was born about 292 in the Upper Thebaid in Egypt and was inducted into the Emperor’s army as a twenty-year-old. The great kindness of Christians at Thebes toward the soldiers became embedded in his mind and led to his conversion after his discharge. After being baptized, he became a disciple of an anchorite, Palemon, and took the habit. The two of them led a life of extreme austerity and total dedication to God; they combined manual labor with unceasing prayer both day and night. Later, Pachomius felt called to build a monastery on the banks of the Nile at Tabennisi; so about 318 Palemon helped him build a cell there and even remained with him for a while. In a short time some one hundred monks joined him and Pachomius organized them on principles of community living. So prevalent did the desire to emulate the life of Pachomius and his monks become, that the holy man was obliged to establish ten other monasteries for men and two nunneries for women. Before his death in 346, there were seven thousand monks in his houses, and his Order lasted in the East until the 11th century. St. Pachomius was the first monk to organize hermits into groups and write down a Rule for them. Both St. Basil and St. Benedict drew from his Rule in setting forth their own more famous ones. Hence, though St. Anthony is usually regarded as the founder of Christian monasticism, it was really St. Pachomius who began monasticism as we know it today. Other saints whose feast day is May 9^th are St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Beatus.  https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=800

More Saints of the Day
St. Beatus of Lungern
St. Beatus of Vendome
St. Brynoth
St. George Preca
St. Gerontius of Cervia
St. Gorfor
St. Hermas
St. John of Chalons
Bl. Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger
Bl. Thomas Pickering
St. Vincent

Let me be the change I want to be. Even if I am not the light, I can be the spark. (Lasallian Prayer)

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