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| AN ANGEL COMFORTS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST BEFORE HIS PASSION. Image from heremembersrthebarren.com via google.com |
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;
you will grieve,
but your grief will become joy."
In our pilgrimage on earth, we shall encounter many trials and sufferings which shall test our faith, challenge our hope and purify our love. While on pilgrimage, sufferings would abound more than comforts; more sorrows than happiness; more pain than convenience. For our pilgrimage is more of following the Lord as He goes through His way of the cross before we accompany Him through the path of the resurrection.
As we try to thread upon the path of holiness, the world will, first of all, try to tempt us into going through the easy path; then lure us to indulge in sin; and if we do not follow it, we shall be persecuted for being conservative, outmoded and backward. We shall be branded as enemies of development and progress for not accepting the many ideas and ideologies which may temporarily respond to needs and wants but ultimately ruin our human dignity hence they run counter to and even destroy our Faith, Hope and Love.
Since the way of the world appeals to the here and now and the importance of present happiness, comforts and conveniences, it shall always have the upper hand in the fight; while we who proclaim the full salvation in heaven in a future time, would be considered losers. And yet we know that in the end we shall be fully justified for standing up for the truth, for what is good, right and proper. When that time comes, the world will grieve and we shall live be eternally joyful.
There will surely be occasions wherein we shall have to cry and then perhaps smile for the Teacher says, "There's a time for everything under the sun" [see Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8]. In the midst of pain and suffering, we must always remember that our Lord has already overcome the world [see John 16:33], that He was given us that peace which the world cannot give [see John 14:27] and that He has told us to remain in His love [see John 15:9]. So as the Apostle wrote, we ought to rejoice always in the Lord [see Philippians 4:4].
As we try to thread upon the path of holiness, the world will, first of all, try to tempt us into going through the easy path; then lure us to indulge in sin; and if we do not follow it, we shall be persecuted for being conservative, outmoded and backward. We shall be branded as enemies of development and progress for not accepting the many ideas and ideologies which may temporarily respond to needs and wants but ultimately ruin our human dignity hence they run counter to and even destroy our Faith, Hope and Love.
Since the way of the world appeals to the here and now and the importance of present happiness, comforts and conveniences, it shall always have the upper hand in the fight; while we who proclaim the full salvation in heaven in a future time, would be considered losers. And yet we know that in the end we shall be fully justified for standing up for the truth, for what is good, right and proper. When that time comes, the world will grieve and we shall live be eternally joyful.
There will surely be occasions wherein we shall have to cry and then perhaps smile for the Teacher says, "There's a time for everything under the sun" [see Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8]. In the midst of pain and suffering, we must always remember that our Lord has already overcome the world [see John 16:33], that He was given us that peace which the world cannot give [see John 14:27] and that He has told us to remain in His love [see John 15:9]. So as the Apostle wrote, we ought to rejoice always in the Lord [see Philippians 4:4].
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