Daily Catholic Lectio
Fri, 30 May ‘25
Sixth Week of Easter – Friday
Acts 18:9–18. John 16:20–23
Sorrow Will Turn into Joy
In yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus promised, “Your sorrow will turn into joy.” In today’s Gospel, He deepens that assurance through a powerful image.
Jesus compares the disciples’ sorrow to a woman in labour. A mother endures great pain in childbirth. But once the child is born, that suffering is quickly forgotten—replaced by the joy of a new life entering the world. Even the desperate pleas for the pain to pass disappear from her memory because something greater has come.
This is not simply poetic. It is a profound truth of the spiritual life.
Jesus explains that though His going away will cause sorrow, their reunion with Him—through the Resurrection and later through the gift of the Spirit—will bring a joy that cannot be taken away.
What does this image teach us?
Suffering is temporary. Pain has a limit. It fades. But what is born from that pain—if embraced with faith—can last forever. Joy follows sorrow.
Like labour before birth, we must pass through hardship to reach the gift. Remembering that a deeper joy awaits gives us the strength to endure.
Our interpretation of suffering shapes our experience. How we see a negative moment affects how we feel about it. If we see it as birthing something new, we are not crushed by it.
Jesus then makes two promises:
(a) “No one will take your joy from you.” Real joy—the kind rooted in God—cannot be taken away by circumstances or people. It is secure in Him.
(b) “On that day, you will ask me nothing.” That is, we will be so full of presence and fulfillment that we won’t even feel the need to ask. Joy and freedom of spirit go hand in hand.
In the first reading, the Lord appears to Paul in a vision and strengthens him: “Do not be afraid… I am with you.” This comfort becomes a turning point in Paul’s mission in Corinth.
Takeaway
Whether through a vision to Paul or a promise to the disciples, God tells us again and again: Suffering is not the end. I am with you. And joy is on its way. Let us, then, allow our sorrows to birth joy, just as Christ transformed the Cross into Resurrection.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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