“Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you.”

This is the assurance Jesus gave his disciples and for us today that we need to direct our prayers to Father God in Jesus' name. Yet we know that this presupposes that we have the 'faith' because Faith changes our perception of situation, events and things in our lives.

Jesus' illustration of child birth expresses the joy the mother experiences especially after the birth of child. This is the joy that Jesus assured the disciples that their sorrow will turn to joy at His Resurrection. As followers of Jesus who believe in the Resurrected Christ, we are promised of the Easter Joy which the world cannot give or take away.

Such assurance is also reflected in the first reading wherein we see how God gave Paul a vision that encouraged him not to be afraid but to continue his mission. This helped to strengthen Paul as this was one of those critical periods in his life. With this, Paul continued to minister at Corinth.

When faced with difficulties in our lives and the lives of many Christians who have suffered Persecution these days, do we draw strength and encouragement from the Word of God and pray earnestly for all who are badly affected? For we are convinced that “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31)