Acts 18:23-28 / John 16:23-28
One of the most comforting verses in the Bible is this - Ask and you shall receive.
Jesus said that in all the four gospels, and today we hear it again in the gospel passage.
But it is not just ask and you shall receive, but ask and you shall receive so that your joy will be complete.
So the question to ask is what is it that will give us joy?
And yet the answer may be in the question. What is it that will give us joy?
So let us look at the word "joy". It could be an acronym to mean Jesus, others and you.
When we prioritize our lives in that order - Jesus, others, you - then we will indeed find the true meaning of our lives, and with that, we will also find joy in our lives.
In the 1st reading, we saw how Apollos put that priority of Jesus-others-you in his life as he offered his life in the preaching of the Good News.
The gospel truth is that when we put Jesus and others first, and we put ourselves last, then the last will also be the first to find joy.
That was what Jesus did. He came to serve and He put Himself last and hence He could offer us the joy of the resurrection.
Let us ask for that joy and know that we will receive it when we put Jesus and others before ourselves.