YOUR AFFLICTION WILL CHANGE TO JOY

Da Paolo Tessione - February 18, 2019

God's word
“Truly, truly, I say to you: you will weep and be sad, but the world will rejoice. You will be afflicted, but your affliction will change into joy. The woman, when she gives birth, is afflicted, because her hour has come; but when he gave birth to the child, he no longer remembers the affliction for joy that a man came into the world. So you too are now in sadness; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will be able to take away your joy "(Jn 16,20-23). "Therefore you are full of joy, even if now you must be a little afflicted by various trials, because the value of your faith, much more precious than gold, which, although destined to perish, is nevertheless tested by fire, returns to your praise glory and honor in the manifestation of Jesus Christ: you love him, even without having seen him; and now without seeing him you believe in him. Therefore rejoice with unspeakable and glorious joy as you achieve the goal of your faith, that is, the salvation of souls "(1Pt 1,6: 9-XNUMX).

For comprehension
- To a superficial Christian faith, which has Jesus Crucified as its center, may seem a path full of sadness. But the Crucifix is a source of love and joy. The mosaic that the artist Ugolino da Belluno reproduced in the penitentiary room of the sanctuary of San Gabriele is significant: a large heart, with two images of Jesus merged in one in the center: on the right the Crucified Christ, wrapped in thorns; on the left the Risen Christ, wrapped in the same branches, which have become branches of flowers.

- Jesus did not come to transform human life into a large cross; he came to redeem the cross, to make us understand the meaning of the cross that is part of every human life, assuring us that, following Him, the cross can become "unspeakable joy".

Reflect
- The Apostles have struggled to understand Jesus' teachings on the mystery of the Passion. Jesus must reproach and remove Peter who does not want to hear about the cross (Mt 16,23:16,22); remember that even his disciples must carry the cross behind him to have life; he announces several times that he must suffer a lot, but always ends by announcing his resurrection (Mt XNUMX:XNUMX). - Before beginning the Passion, Jesus gathers the disciples in the intimacy of the Upper Room for the last teachings. Now that the hour of the cross has come, He encourages them by remembering that Calvary is not the last goal, but an obligatory passage: "You will be afflicted, but your affliction will change into joy". And remember that the joy of a new life also begins with pain: the mother suffers to give life, but then the pain becomes fruitful and changes into joy.

- So is the Christian life: a continuous birth that starts from pain and ends in joy. The Holy Pontiff Paul VI, defined by someone as "the sad Pope", for his reserved and melancholy character, for the Holy Year of 1975 left us one of the most beautiful documents: the Apostolic Exhortation "Christian joy", fruit of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. He writes: “It is the paradox of the Christian condition: neither trial nor suffering are eliminated from this world, but they acquire a new meaning in the certainty of participating in the redemption wrought by the Lord and of sharing his glory. Man's own punishment is transfigured, while the fullness of joy flows from the victory of the Crucified One, from his pierced Heart, from his glorified Body "(Paul VI, Christian Joy, n.III).

- The Saints have experienced the joy that comes from the cross. St. Paul writes: "I am full of consolation, pervaded with joy in all our tribulations" (2Cor 7,4).

Compare
- I will contemplate Jesus Crucified "who in exchange for the joy that was placed before him, submitted to the cross" (Heb 12: 2-3): I will thus experience that the weight of the cross becomes light. In the trials of life I will feel the loving presence of God the Father, of Jesus who takes my pains on himself and transforms them into grace. I will think of what Jesus will tell me one day: "Take part in the joy of your lord" (lvtt 25,21).

- I must be a bearer of joy and hope by example and word, especially for those who suffer without faith, according to St. Paul's teaching: “Rejoice in the Lord, always; I repeat, rejoice. Your affability is known to all men "(Phil 4,4: XNUMX).

Thought of Saint Paul of the Cross: “How nice to suffer with Jesus! I would like to have a heart of Serafino to explain the loving anxieties of suffering that dear friends of the Crucifix desire; that if on earth they will be crosses, they will then become crowns of Paradise "(Cf. L.1, 24).