St. Philip Neri, priest 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 18:1-8

 

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Cointh.  

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pon­tus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, following a decree of the Emperor Claudius which ordered all Jews to leave Rome.  Paul went to visit them and then stayed and worked with them because they shared the same trade of tent making.   Every Sab­bath he held discussions in the synagogue, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.

 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was able to give himself wholly to preaching and proving to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.   One day when they opposed him and insulted him, he shook the dust from his clothes in protest, saying, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. I am not to blame if from now on I go to the non-Jews.”

 So Paul left there and went to the house of a God-fearing man named Titus Justus who lived next door to the synagogue.   A leading man of the sy­na­gogue, Crispus, along with his whole household, believed in the Lord. On hearing Paul, many more Corinthians believed and were baptized.

 

Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

The Lord has revealed to the nations.

 

 ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

John 16:16-20

A little while and you will see me no more; and then a little while, and you will see me.”

 Some of the disciples wondered, “What does he mean by: ‘A little while and you will not see me, and then a little while and you will see me’? And why did he say: ‘I go to the Father’?”  And they said to one another, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.”

Jesus knew that they wanted to question him; so he said to them, “You are puzzled be­cause I told you that in a little while you will see me no more, and then a little while later you will see me.

Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

 

 Gospel Reflection：

Christian Sorrow

When the world is madly after pursuit of happiness, Christianity feels like killjoy. Why is it so?

In the movie Hotel Rwanda that tells the story of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Jack, a journalist, plays back the horrible scenes of lynching that he recorded, to some of the stunned officials of the hotel. They ask Jack to send the footage immediately to the international news channels so that the world will see and respond.

Jack pessimistically refuses commenting thus: “I think that when people turn on their TVs and see this footage, they’ll say, ‘Oh my God, that’s horrible, and then they’ll go back to eating their dinners.”

Sad, but true! Yet, when the ‘world ’goes back to dinner, authentic Christians simply cannot: They are compelled to share in the suffering of their brethren and alleviate the same. They seem like killjoys, but they have a joy that can never be taken away .       

  

"A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one."

〜〜〜〜〜 ST. PHILIP NERI 〜〜〜〜〜