Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you.
- Anonymous
(And in the meantime, there is always God: here, now, loving . . .)
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ACTS 18:1-8; PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4
JN 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."
Reflection on the Scriptures |
Psalm response: The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
We might ask ourselves the same question that the disciples ask each other here, “What can He mean, 'Within a short time you will lose sight of Me'?” The answer is clear for this context, but is there another meaning for us? I think that there might be.
When we come to know Jesus at first, to really know Him, we experience a warmth and a joy that sustains us in our faith, but with all our comings and goings we seem to lose sight of His constant presence. We start to doubt His power and His love and can't seem to feel His hand guiding our lives. But if we remain as faithful to God as we can, as willing to sacrifice our time as
we are able, to exchange our confidence in ourselves for complete trust in Him instead, then we will see and experience Him in our lives again.
Chas Kestermeier, S.J.
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 58
“All our life is in three: Nature, Mercy, Grace.’ The high Might of the Trinity is our Father, and the deep Wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother, and the great Love of the Trinity is our Lord”
Thus in our Father, God Almighty, we have our being; and in our Mother of Mercy we have our reforming and restoring: in whom our Parts are oned and all made perfect Man; and by [reward]-yielding and giving in Grace of the Holy Ghost, we are fulfilled.
And our Substance is [in] our Father, God Almighty, and our Substance is [in] our Mother, God, All-wisdom; and our Substance is in our Lord the Holy Ghost, God All-goodness. For our Substance is whole in each Person of the Trinity, which is one God. And our Sense-soul is only in the Second Person Christ Jesus; in whom is the Father and the Holy Ghost: and in Him and by Him we are mightily taken out of
Hell, and out of the wretchedness in Earth worshipfully brought up into Heaven and blissfully oned to our Substance: increased in riches and in nobleness by all the virtues of Christ, and by the grace and working of the Holy Ghost.
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