ACTS 18:1-8

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. Every sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. When they opposed him and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." So he left there and went to a house belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next to a synagogue. Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized.

JOHN 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."

What does it mean when Jesus said: “In a short time you will no longer see me and then a short time later you see me again?” It seems like a riddle. The disciples could not understand it. Christ was preparing them for his approaching passion and resurrection. He will be handed over to death and taken from their sight but they will see him again in his risen life, not only through their human sight but through their vision of faith.

Of ten our eyes see only things, events or people that interest us; this was how it was with the apostles. Christ, like a superstar, is being followed by the crowd. But a Christ who should suffer is incomprehensible; that is why they abandoned him at the cross. Perhaps it is the same for us who can only understand the victorious Christ in good and pleasant events. But life is not always rosy. We need the inward vision of faith to understand that hardships lead us to develop perseverance, and perseverance develops a tested character, something that gives us hope. “This is a hope that will not let us down because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Ro 5:5)”.

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Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

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