Here in today's gospel, our Lord wants to encourage his disciples, and so he says these
words, a little while and now you shall not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me
because I go to the Father. Here our Lord is talking about that period of time between his
ascension to the Father and his return, the final coming. He says a little while now and you shall
not see me. Why? Because I go to the Father.
He ascends to, as our Lord said, my God and my Father and your Father, and again a little while
and you shall see me. That refers to our Lord's second coming in glory. And then our Lord goes
on to explain what all of his followers should expect to experience in the interim. He says,
Amen, amen, I say to you.
That you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice. During this time period between our Lord's
ascension into heaven and his glorious coming at the end of the world, he says that we shall lament and weep
while the world rejoices. Here he's telling us that we should expect to experience trials and
tribulations during this life. We should expect to meet up with difficulties, to experience times of
sorrow and sadness while he is away, before he comes again. While the world, on the other hand,
will rejoice. The world, of course, refers to all of those who are against Christ and his church,
who are against
the truth of the gospel. And I think each and every one of us experiences this a little bit today,
especially with regard to the culture of death. We all experience a little bit of sadness and
disappointment that the culture of death and those who are against family, the traditional family and
family values are making such progress today. While the world, in this sense, those who are against the
church and the truth of the gospel, they are rejoicing. The promoters of the culture of death are
certainly all rejoicing at the gains that they're making. But our Lord encourages us because the devil's
time is short. So that's why our Lord says, in a little while, we only have to wait a little while. The reign of the
prince of this world is going to be a little while. The reign of the prince of this world is going to be a little while.
The kingdom of the world and his kingdom here below will not last forever. It's not an eternal kingdom like the
kingdom of Christ. But as I said, the devil has a short time. And when Christ comes in glory, his kingdom, his reign
will last eternally. And even if it takes another thousand, another 2,000 years, what is that in relationship to
eternity?
It's a mere nothing. It's a little while. And so these words of our Lord should encourage us all to persevere and to be
patient in the trials that we endure in this world, in the sadness, in the failures, so-called failures, that we
experience in promoting the truth of the gospel and advancing and making grow his church. And it should encourage us to
wait for that glory which will have no comparison on this side of eternity. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.