SERMON/HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 6TH WEEK OF EASTER 10TH MAY 2024

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 6TH WEEK OF EASTER

Acts 18:9-18; Ps. 47; John 16:20-23a

Sorrow turned into Joy

Jesus spoke of sorrow and Joy to his disciples in today’s gospel reading. Both were in relation to Him. His physical departure will bring sorrow upon the disciples but their steadfastness to the Faith will win them eternal Joy from the Lord; a joy that is neither material based nor can it be taken away by another.

For us today, the experiences of sorrow and joy is something we have to accept in the course of living out the Christian life – we cannot afford to deny any of them and still hope to be authentic in our practice of the faith. The challenge in accepting these realities of sorrow and joy is that the world will always be at the opposite end. When we are sorrowful, the world will be happy; when we are happy, the world will be sorrowful. Therefore, we cannot afford to be of the world.

For the disciples, the departure of Christ will make them more vulnerable to the Scribes and the Pharisees and other enemies of the faith. Today, even though Christ remains with us in various forms, we remain vulnerable to the enemies of the Cross. Steadfastness to the faith does not give room for waywardness; it does not allow for justification of wrongs but admittance and repentance.

The fact is that these “enemies of the Cross” also exist inside of us in form of our inclinations and passions. It is sorrowful to deny the body what it desires just because your faith defines it as illegitimate. It is sorrowful to resist the temptation to falsify records when you are quite sure of not being caught and of being able to generate something to meet your family needs. It could also be sorrowful to be alone and mocked in practicing virtues in a world where vices have become domesticated. The temptation is always there to drop our “sorrow” and join the world in its “joys”.

But then, Jesus quickly reminds us that the joy of the world is passing away but the Joy of the Lord is eternal. If we must first experience sorrow in order to experience eternal Joy, then our sorrow is short-lived and never in vain. This thought should urge us on. Beloved, Jesus has ascended into heaven; this means that heaven is real. He also said that he has gone to prepare a place for us; this means that we too can go to heaven. Let me once again reiterate this: whatever is not capable of saving us on the last day, should not be allowed to entertain us in this world.