LIFE’S PAIRS AND THE REALITIES BENEATH
Has it ever occurred to you that much of life’s happenings and realities often come in pairs? There is weeping, but there is also rejoicing. There are the pains which accompany childbirth, but there is also the ensuing joy and wonder as the child is born. There is death, as well as life; and there is heaven, as well as earth.
If there’s any sadness with Jesus’ departure (on His ascension into heaven), it is simply a question of Him going ahead to prepare a place for us who also hope to be there eventually with Him in heaven. As He assures us in today’s Gospel, “You are sad for a time, but I shall see you again.” It’s more just like saying, “See you later,” or “Till we meet again.” There is no final or definitive goodbye or farewell.
As we were saying about pairs in the first paragraph of the Gospel, while we usually tend to dichotomize each item in the pair (separating and even pitting them with one another), the greater truth is that each of the two things in the pair are really connected with each other. It is a connection whereby the two inevitably go together, and you can’t quite have one without the other. (Go ahead, look at the pairs again in the Gospel and ponder on it.) As was beautifully put by Mormon missionary John Groberg (depicted in the movie-biopic, The Other Side of Heaven), “There is a connection between heaven and earth. Finding that connection makes everything meaningful, including death. Missing it makes everything meaningless, including life.”
So, whether you talk about departures or childbirths, about grief or rejoicing — beneath them are the same realities of meaning, faith and God’s love. And in the midst of it all, Jesus assures us, “On that day, you will have no questions to ask me.” Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: Look back at the most sorrowful moment in your life. Can you find its most joyful pair?
Lord Jesus, help me trust that You will turn my every sorrow into joy, every trial into a blessing, every death to a new life.
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