Wednesday, May 31 (18), 2023
Acts 23:1-11; Jn. 16:15-23  

On the eve of His suffering the Lord says to the holy apostles: “A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me” [Jn. 16:16].  The suffering and death of the Lord struck the apostles so much that their mental vision got blurred and they no longer saw Him as the Lord; the light vanished, and they were lost in painful, sorrowful darkness.   When the light of Lord’s resurrection prevailed over that darkness, they saw Him again.  The Lord Himself explained His words as follows: “Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy” [Jn. 16:20].

In fact, every soul in her way to perfection suffers something similar to that.  Darkness besets her all around, she feels forlorn ─ but the Lord comes and turns her sorrow into joy.  Perhaps it is indeed necessary, like for a woman, before a child is born of her into the world [Jn. 16:21].  It could even be that unless you have gone through this kind of trial, you don’t yet have a true Christian within.

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