6TH FRIDAY HOMILY OF EASTER – YEAR B
6TH FRIDAY HOMILY OF EASTER – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: THE WORLD
BY: Fr. Karabari Paul
‘Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.’
The words of today’s Gospel (John 16:20-23) are not exactly what we want to hear. Our generation abhors pains and sorrows. We want it juicy and rosy from the beginning to the end, but Jesus hasn’t promised such expectations.
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The declaration of Jesus shows that the identity of a Christian is not defined by the world. It means that we are different from the world. Otherwise, we should laugh when the world is laughing, we should rejoice when the world is rejoicing. This also means we have a criterion for measurement. Whenever we become one with the world, then we are no longer doing what we ought to be doing as Christians. Unfortunately, we all tend to blend into the world in everything. The world strongly imposes its ways on us, and we gladly accept, leaving Jesus and Kingdom’s values behind.
Life is not easy. We all experience stress, demands on our time, deadlines, expectations, personal pressures ganging up on us, and constantly trying to rob us of the peace we desperately desire.
We live in an imperfect world. Humanity’s choices have led the world away from God’s original setup for us, and that means that we have to deal with setbacks and disappointments created for us by this fallen state of being. The astounding thing is that God is still with us in all of that. He is grabbing hold of the negative and difficult situations that we find ourselves facing and turning them into something that can become a part of His goodness and our restoration. Romans 8:28 says: ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’.
That is God’s promise to us, not that we will never face difficulties, but that He is pulling together this broken world into something that works for His good. Because of this, we can know that the darkest situation we could see right now will be completely engulfed in His light. Like 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says: ‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’
When we are facing troubles, it can be challenging to fix our eyes on the things unseen rather than what we are facing. Our problems can seem huge and overwhelming, but our God is bigger. So let us try and keep focused on God, the good things He can do through the troubles and the light He can pour into our darkness. Jesus told them, ‘You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy’ (John 16:20). Nothing lasts forever. Only God does. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God heal our world, bless and protect us through Christ Our Lord Amen. Please, stay safe. Good morning!
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