217 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER86 Before Holy Communion 1. “A little while, and you will see [M]e no more; again a little while, and you will see [M]e” (Jn 16:16). Consider that the eternal Word addresses with these words both good and bad religious. And what is this “a little while”? “A little while,” says St. Augustine, “is the whole space of time, through which the present age passes by.”87 Therefore, it is as if our gracious Lord exhorts us to fulfill our vocation, though we are sometimes deprived of enjoying the sight of Him: “Come on, you careless laborers, useless servants, religious negligent of your own perfection; wake up, come to your senses, get quickly to work, because in a little while you shall no longer see Me. Your journey and your life will end soon, and My judgment about you is very soon to be made. If your evil deeds bring condemnation upon you, after a short time you will be deprived of the sight of Me forever. And you, [f.49v] most diligent laborers; religious wholeheartedly attending to your perfection, fervently pleasing Me with tears, carefulness, and various mortifications, be of stout heart; for although I have withdrawn Myself from you a little, permitting you to fall into many afflictions and temptations, I assure you, however, that you shall see Me again in a little while. After a short period of mourning you will rejoice forever. You will toil for a short time so that you can receive eternal rewards. You will fight for a short while so that you may be crowned with immortal laurels. For in a short time I will visit My vineyard, and I will lavish on each their deserved reward. Following a short time of suffering, 86 In the Novus Ordo this Sunday is the “Fourth Sunday of Easter.” 87 St. Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John: Tract. 101, § 6, in: The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, vol. 90, Fathers of the Church, Inc., New York 1950, p. 239. [Hereafter The Fathers of the Church will be abbreviated as FC.] Cf. Augustinus, In Joannis Evangelium— Tractatus CXXIV: Tractatus CI (Joan. XVI, 16-23), in: PL, vol. 35, Ateliers catholiques du Petit-Montrouge, Paris 1864, p. 1895 (#6). Cf. Cornelius à Lapide, The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide: S. John’s Gospel — Chaps. XII to XXI and Epistles I, II, III, Trans. Thomas W. Mossman, 3rd ed., vol. 6, John Hodges, London 1892, pp. 167-168 (Ch. XVI, 16).
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