The gospel for Thursday of the sixth week of Easter is taken from John 16, chapter 16, 20th verse. Jesus said to his disciples, a little while you will no longer see me. And again, a little while later, you will see me. So some of his disciples said to one another, what does this mean? That he is saying to us, a little while and you will not see me. And again, a little while and you will see me.

And because I am going to the Father. So they said, what is this little while in which he speaks? We do not know what he means. Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him. So he said to them, are you discussing with one another what I said? A little while and you will not see me.

And again, a little while, you will see me. Amen. Amen. I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will become joy. The little while that is spoken in this gospel is the time that Jesus was not with his disciples.

It was before he returned to the Father and sent the advocate. What I think is important about this period of time is that this is a way in which we grow in our understanding of mystery. We get an insight, we think we understand it, and then we lose that insight. And there’s nothing but darkness, fear. And then we come back with greater understanding. The little while is that time when we’re not certain, when we’re not sure, but we keep trusting.

And that’s what’s necessary in order to grow in our understanding of these mysteries. Please spend the next moments in reflection. And then I will close with a prayer. Closing prayer. Father, help us. During the times that are dark, we don’t have a sense of purpose or meaning.

We’re confused, we’re afraid, we’re back in some kind of shame and anger. Those are the times when we need to be in touch with what we’re feeling, because that is the way in which we grow. We leave what we’ve known and we enter into a deeper understanding of what is unknown. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.