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Any alleged Christianity which fails to express itself in cheerfulness, at some point, is clearly spurious. The Christian is cheerful, not because he is blind to injustice and suffering, but because he is convinced that these, in the light of the divine sovereignty, are never ultimate.
- Elton Trueblood (1900-1994), The
Humor of Christ
("In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Jn. 16:33) |
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Acts 17:15, 22—18:1; Ps 148:1-2, 11-12,
13, 14 Jn 16:12-15 Jesus said to his disciples:
"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of
truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is
mine
and declare it to
you." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” —John
16:12 Several decades ago, I began my computer programming career. During my first month on the job, so much new information came my way that I left work each day with a headache from information overload. I learned much each day. However, my boss had a great deal more to teach me, and I couldn’t bear it yet. Likewise, schools separate students into twelve grades. High-school subjects are not
taught to first-graders; they aren’t mentally ready for that yet. Besides being mentally unable to bear information, people may not be emotionally ready for certain information. For example, Jesus had just told His apostles He would be leaving them. He could see they were grieving His departure (Jn 16:5-6) and realized that they couldn’t bear any further revelations (Jn
16:12). Finally, we may not be ready spiritually to bear God’s revelation. If we live in sin, our spiritual hearing is blocked and our hearts too hardened to receive what Jesus wants to tell us (see e. g. Mk 4:15ff). Like the Corinthians, we may be immature Christians not yet committed to growing in discipleship. Though we should be able to bear solid teaching by now, the Lord has to feed us spiritual
milk, for we are still infants in Christ living at the level of the flesh (1 Cor 3:1-3). God insists upon repentance (Acts 17:30). Repent of all sin and of any stifling of the Holy Spirit (1 Thes 5:19). Abide in God’s Word (Jn 8:31) and in Holy Mass. Bear the Good News. Bear great fruit for Jesus. Prayer:
Jesus, enlarge me so I can bear more for You (Acts 20:32; 2 Tm 2:20-22). “Speak, for Your servant is listening” (1 Sm 3:10). Promise: “In Him we live and move and have our being.” —Acts 17:28 Presentation Ministries
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-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part One, Chapter 5: Courage to Live - Selected
quotes Jesus’ attitude toward all forms of suffering—even the most blatant self-induced forms—was compassion. He realized that perhaps the hardest thing about suffering is going it alone. It is true that we must each bear our own pains bravely, but the support of others can help to
diminish pain and give us perspective. Knowing that others have suffered even as we suffer keeps us from despairing and connects us with the larger human family. No matter how unfair we believe our pains to be, no one of us will ever suffer more unjustly than did Jesus. In him, we encounter a God who has accepted the human condition completely, even to the point of suffering and dying as we do. Here is a God we can turn to during all our experiences of pain, knowing that God understands our predicaments since Jesus has suffered with us. Furthermore, the resurrection of Jesus demonstrates that suffering borne in hope and
love will bring us to new vistas of consciousness and joy. The risen Jesus was first the crucified Jesus, and we, too, will find this pattern repeating itself in our own lives if we can manage to turn our pains into redemptive suffering. The consolation of Christ we extend to one another during those times is one of the most important functions of our life in the
Church. Paperback and eBook versions
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