Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Grief is a part of life, isn’t it? No one chooses to grieve. We can be open to it or try to block it, but either way it’s part of the human experience. It’s not a choice, it’s simply a reality. Jesus in John’s gospel today seems to know that. As we remain in the Easter season, we are again taken back to Jesus preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection. And we hear that he does not try to sugarcoat what they are about to experience: “You will weep and mourn.” Jesus understood what it means to be human, to feel the pains of grief and loss. He does NOT tell them that there is no need to weep and mourn “because I’m going to rise again and it’s all going to be OK.” He acknowledges that it will hurt for a while. They will be in anguish. Do we expect to be excused from that very human experience?
I have at times been guilty of blaming God for my grief. Each time my husband and I lost a child to miscarriage, I was angry with God for a while. Maybe I had forgotten that not only did Jesus grieve, but also Mary, his mother, who knew the anguish and joy of childbirth, grieved the loss of her son through a violent death.
In John’s gospel, perhaps not coincidentally, we hear of Jesus comparing the disciples’ anguish to that of a woman in labor. It will be intense and difficult, but it is also temporary. It is followed by joy, the joy of new life. The disciples didn’t fully understand yet, and still had a difficult journey to walk before witnessing new life. But Jesus reassures them, and us, “your grief will become joy...I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” (John 16: 20b, 22b)
Until then, we can allow ourselves to grieve our losses, grieve our loved ones, holding on to the hope and belief that because Jesus overcame death, eventually our grief will turn to joy, our hearts will rejoice again. I know that to be true in my own grief journey, and I pray that you will know it too.
As we prepare to celebrate Pentecost, let us call upon the Advocate to fill our hearts with love and compassion for all those who are grieving and mourning at this time. For as Jesus also says, “If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14)
~Eileen Miller