Friday
of the Sixth Week of Easter
(Acts
18:9-18; John 16:20-23)
As if
global warming were not enough concern for the future, another catastrophe
looms on the horizon. Western cultures will
wane if not disappear because women in many nations do not want to bear
children. The joy of which Jesus speaks
in today’s gospel is being lost.
Jesus
speaks of childbearing as a metaphor to describe his imminent death and
resurrection. He tells his disciples
that their anguish will be great like a woman in labor as they watch him suffer
and die. But like a child being born, he
will rise to a new life giving them great joy.
Jesus
shares his new life with us in Baptism.
Properly nourished with the Eucharist, the new life will recognize the
need to procreate for the common good. It
will also acknowledge that few things are more satisfying than guiding one’s progeny
to become loving, faithful people of God.
