One thing that is quite certain in life is that there is growth.
Together with growth, there will also be change.
Growth is not just in the physical sense, but also in the emotional and spiritual sense.
We want to be emotionally stable, such that what disturbs and troubles us before will not be such great issues.
We want to be spiritually matured too, that with faith in God, we are able to be more loving and forgiving, and to die to sinfulness and grow in holiness.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul talks about faith in the Resurrection of Jesus, and it is a dynamic faith that empowers him to preach the Good News.
It is also faith in the Resurrection that enables us to put our hope in Jesus, a hope not just in this life but more in the life to come.
It is this faith and hope that keep us growing and changing to be more like Jesus.
We see that faith and hope in the gospel passage when the disciples and women followed Jesus in His mission and ministry.
They saw themselves growing and changing into the persons that they are proud of, and that is not by their own abilities but by their faith and hope in Jesus.
May we too have that faith and hope in Jesus and in His Resurrection, that we will grow and change into the person that God has created us to be and to live life with love and with joy.