Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter
“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.’” (Jn 16:21) Whoa, slow down there Jesus…no longer remembers the pain? That’s a pretty stark shift. When was the last time you gave birth to a child? I am certainly no expert to have such a strong opinion but having witnessed the birth of all five of our children, I would be so bold as to testify to the fact that the pain doesn’t go away immediately. However, I can attest to the joy that follows the pain and anguish. As I shared in a reflection last month, we welcomed our newest child, Dorothy, at the beginning of April. Over the last several weeks, she has continued to be a resounding source of joy and peace. Through countless stories, examples, and interactions, we can confirm the way that her life causes our hearts to rejoice and “no one can take that joy away from us”.
From my vantage point as the husband and father, my focus on the gospel today takes a unique bent when I think of Christ and of LeeAnn (or any woman) preparing to give birth. In the example from Jesus to his disciples, my attention is drawn to the way in which the mother in labor takes on the passion of Christ. The mother takes up her cross, sacrifices and gives her whole self–physically, emotionally, spiritually–in pregnancy and labor so that we may have life to the full. Christ so deeply loved us that he went to the depths of our despair, dysfunction, and darkness and showed us the path to eternal life. I’m not sure that I can find a more perfect comparison of the path from anguish to alleluia than the parallel of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection to a mother’s conception, pregnancy, labor, and birth of a newborn. Christ continued to bear his wounds even after the resurrection, just as a mother bears the scars and physical toll of childbirth. I, as the father, and we, as disciples, reap the benefits.
Christ is light, hope, love, joy. Likewise, all the little moments with Dorothy–the smiles, the peaceful sleeping, the excitement from older siblings, the way that holding a baby can settle anxieties–light, hope, love, and joy abound. I imagine Paul telling the people of Corinth in the first reading to “clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness, for the Lord, the Most High, the awesome, is the great king over all the earth” (Ps 47:2-3). Why? Because Jesus Christ is truly risen. Alleluia! Again, God became man, entered into our broken world and forged the path to eternal life. Christ is that path. Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, and so enter into his glory. (Lk 24:46, 26) God is king of all the earth. If we believe this, let us rejoice in the hope of Christ, clap our hands in the light of God. May we always embrace the call to love one another. Christ is light, in him there is no darkness. Come to him, and he will bring you light. “Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our king, sing praise” (Ps 47:7)
Peace,
Brandon Meyer