“When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” - John 16:21–22
Our life consists of sadness and joy, and Jesus recognizes this. That is why in today’s gospel, Jesus tells 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” (Jn 16:20).
It means that whatever our trials, we can always find strength, consolation and abiding joy in the thought that our Lord is forever happy and wants us to have a joy that no one can take away from us.
You know, we are always trying to pursue joy in every avenue imaginable. Some of us have successfully found it while others have not.
We cannot fine joy in Unbelief. Voltaire was a pagan of the most pronounced type. He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.”
We cannot fine joy in Pleasure nor in Money. Pleasure and happiness are not the same. Wealth may give you a life of pleasure but not happiness.
We cannot fine joy in Position and Fame. There were people in a very high position ended up their lives committing suicide.
We cannot fine joy in Military Glory. Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, saying: “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
Then, where can we find real joy? The answer is simple, in Christ alone.
Many times, in our lives, we are so busy with the things of this world and go with its flow, and we lose the sight of the Lord.
Finally, we realize that all sorts of worldly promises and distractions offer us nothing but confusion.
We will have trials and difficulties in our live but, through the eyes of faith we know that our sorrow will turn to joy.
Knowing that the Father in heaven will give us everything we need to live as his children, we can pray confidently:
"Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit that we may we radiate the joy of your Resurrection and live in the reality of your great victory over sin and death."
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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