Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter - Your Grief Will Turn to Joy

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. 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 that joy away from you. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” 

Introductory Prayer:Jesus I need your help to pray. On my own, I’m buried by little concerns. Bring me out of myself. Help me to think of others and to be more concerned for them. Help me to reject every vain thought and spend this time with you alone. 

Petition:Lord, grant me an increase of faith in the power of prayer.

1. In His Name. “Your grief will turn to joy.” The disciples would be shocked and discouraged by the crucifixion. But death would not be the end. After Calvary comes Paschal joy, the resurrection, a new and glorious life. How happy the disciples must have been to see our Lord again! It is precisely this Easter joy that the Church seeks to prolong during the Easter season in the weeks leading up to Pentecost. Our lives should be filled with joy, and it should be infectious. Joy radiates itself and invites others in. It was this joy that led the disciples to go to the ends of the earth to proclaim the good news, and it was this joy that made new believers out of the people they met along the way. 

2. For Time We Live with Sorrow. Jesus wants our best, our true good. He wants to fill us with joy and for our joy to be complete, but this doesn’t mean he guards us from all sorrows. We experience the loss of family and friends. We face difficulties and struggles, temptations and sufferings. This is when we need to turn to Christ, to seek his consolation. He can fill us with joy even in the midst of great suffering. There is a joy to be found in his presence, the joy of his love, the joy of his promise. Perhaps we need to turn our thoughts to heaven more frequently, spending time reflecting on the peace and fullness of life that awaits us.  

3. Our Sorrow Will Turn to Joy. Jesus sits at his right side of the Father interceding for us and never fails to think of us. We may forget about him, but he never forgets us. He is there asking for the things we need, for our daily bread. Through baptism, our life is united to Christ, our life is hidden in his. In a way we are already in heaven. Even now we can experience the passing of sorrow and the coming of joy. There is a fullness of joy that God wants us to experience even in this life. There are so many other people in need of his love. They need me to transmit this Easter joy to them. We need to pray for them and trust Christ’s promise that the Father will answer our prayers in his name. 

Dialogue with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for this time. Thank you for revealing the Father’s love. Open my heart to this love. Convince me of the power of prayer. You always listen to me. Help me to trust in your promises. Help me to remember to turn to you more frequently, raising up in prayer all my loved ones, the people you have entrusted to me. Don’t let me forget them. Give them the things they need this day. Be with them and bring them into your kingdom.  

Resolution: I will make three spiritual communions, offering them for the Holy Father.