Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them; and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers. And he argued in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

Ps 97:1-4 R./ The Lord has shown the salvation to the nations.
Jesus said to his disciples, “A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.” Some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” They said, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he means.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy

Reflection:

Jesus shocks his disciples by His declaration “A little while and ye shall not see me and again a little while longer, and ye shall see me.” The expression “a short time you will no longer see me” recalls the way in which the disciples see Jesus the Son of God bodily; the other expression “a short time later you will see me again” foretells the encounter of the disciples with the Risen Christ. Jesus seems to say to the disciples that, for a very short time, the conditions to see him still exist, to recognize him in his visible flesh, but later, they will see him in a different form, in so far as he will show himself transfigured.The concern of the disciples is how long Jesus’ absence is going to last. Their hearts were filled with fear as well as sorrow. Their attention is on when and why. But, Jesus promises that their sorrow will be turned into joy. Fortunately, Jesus does not depart from us because he is present with us always in the form of the Eucharist. The danger is that we seem to desert him!