These last few weeks of the easter season we’ve been reading from John chapters 13-17, Jesus’ address to the apostles at the Last Supper. And throughout these chapters, the Lord prepares his disciples for his passion and death on the cross, while also preparing them to take up their own crosses in the evangelizing mission.
The Lord explains in today’s passage that the Apostles experience will sometimes feel like the sufferings of childbirth. Now, none of the Apostles had ever experienced the pains of childbirth, themselves; but no doubt, they knew it to be one of the most intensely painful human experiences.
The Apostles would truly experience great suffering. They would see their Lord and Master crucified in what appeared to be ultimate defeat. Then they would experience the feeling of abandonment following the Lord’s Ascension. And then in their work for the spread of the Gospel around the world, we know they would undergo terrible sufferings for the sake of the Gospel. They would face persecution in nearly every corner of the earth.
“You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices.” Not only will discipleship bring a cross, but you’ll have to carry that cross in the midst of a world that will appear to rejoice without the cross. The wicked will prosper while you will suffer for being Christian. You’ll agonize over practicing chastity while the world delights in promiscuity and perversion. You’ll fast while the world feasts. You’ll make less money, you’ll have less power, you’ll enjoy less fame for being Christian. The world will hate you, and mock you, and persecute you.
But, just as a woman is in anguish as she gives birth, the Lord explains, once the baby is born, the mother no longer remembers the pain but is filled with joy, the Church’s grief will pass away, and be transformed into joy over the new life experienced through Christ.
Many of our contemporaries are hellbent on trading their souls for pleasure, power, fame, and wealth. They hate the very thought of the cross. But, we are tasked to convince them, or at least invite them to consider, that It profiteth not a man to gain the whole world, but to lose his soul along the way. That following Jesus Christ will result in a joy that outweighs all of the pleasures of the world.
It would be a tough sell. But not only is Christ with us, but the Holy Spirit is producing tremendous fruits in the lives of those who follow Jesus. You don’t have to simply take our word for it. Look at the saints. Look at what happens when you trust Jesus. Look at what happens when you generously dispose your souls to growing in the grace of God. Look at what happens in the lives of those who take the Gospel seriously. They are transformed by grace. Look at how our grief is transformed into joy.
Today, by the way, begins the annual Pentecost Novena. Nine days of prayer perhaps corresponding to the nine months of pregnancy. Nine days of prayer praying for the divine life, the gifts of the spirit and the fruits of the spirit, to grow in us.
Let us pray fervently these nine days and endeavor to follow the Lord more closely today, to persevere in carrying our crosses, and being transformed by grace and engaging in holy works, be the proof needed to convince the world to follow Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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That through the preaching and teaching of the Church and all that she suffers, all people will come to recognize Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
That those charged with civil authority will show Christian compassion to the poor and marginalized, particularly for the safety and defense of the unborn.
For all Christian families: that the mercy, purity, and peace of Jesus will reign in their hearts and homes.
That the Church may cooperate with God’s grace for a flowering of new spiritual life during this Pentecost Novena.
For the sick, the suffering, those in nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice care, for the underemployed and unemployed, for the imprisoned, those with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, that the Spirit of Consolation may comfort them.
For the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all those who fought and died for our freedom.
O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.
