The Sixth Day of the Missionary Decade

In today’s Gospel passage, the Lord reveals an important truth about Christian life: a believer is not free from suffering, but by following Christ learns to experience suffering as a path that God can transform into a source of life and joy.

Very often we expect that faith in God should protect us from every pain. We think that the life of a Christian should be peaceful, easy, and free from crises or loss. In some way this is true, because living according to God’s wisdom really protects a person from many mistakes that bring suffering.

However, sometimes we wrongly begin to see faith as a kind of “insurance” against difficulties: if I pray, go to church, and try to live according to God’s will, then God should remove all trials and not allow pain or crisis in my family. But Christ says something very different:

“You will weep and mourn…” (John 16:20).

At the same time, His words are not hopeless or tragic, because He immediately adds:

“You will grieve, but your grief will turn into joy” (John 16:20).

Christ is not simply talking about emotions changing, as if sadness will automatically become happiness one day. He speaks about something much deeper — the inner transformation of a person. What is now a source of pain can, with God’s help, become a source of life, wisdom, and joy. This is not the removal of suffering, but its transformation and deeper meaning.

To explain this more clearly, Jesus uses a powerful image from family life — a woman giving birth to a child. The pain of childbirth is real and very deep, but it is not meaningless. That pain leads to new life.

How important it is to understand this truth in marriage and family life. Even the best and most faithful families are not free from difficulties. The “world,” meaning a reality that rejects God, may even rejoice in this. But this does not mean that God has failed or that Christianity does not work. On the contrary, it is often in these moments that God works in a special way, leading people to an important inner transformation.

With God, difficulties are not signs of destruction — they often become places of growth. And it is here that Christ’s words become a light for every family:

“You will grieve, but your grief will turn into joy” (John 16:20).

There are many kinds of pain in family life: misunderstandings, tiredness, crises, difficulties in raising children, financial struggles, inner wounds, war and all its consequences. Yet it is interesting that families who try to build their lives on God’s values often do not break under these trials. Instead, their unity and love become even stronger.

Recent studies about Ukrainian families during the full-scale war show that many families in this difficult time began to value one another more deeply, spend more meaningful time together, and better understand the importance of family. These examples once again show that family suffering can become “birth pains” leading to a new and deeper quality of life together.

So, dear married couples and families, let us not be afraid of difficulties. The Lord never promised that the road would be easy, but He did promise that “our sorrow will turn into joy.” And if we remain with God even in times of trial, He can transform our pain into a source of life, love, and deep inner joy.

Today, accept your difficulties not as a defeat, but as a place of meeting God and an opportunity for further growth.

Let us pray together for families in our parish who are going through trials, and support them with kind words and attention, so that no one remains alone in their pain.

Let us become witnesses of hope — showing other couples through our own example that even in difficulties, life with God leads to deeper love and joy.