On the Friday before the Ascension, Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (16: 20-23) in which Jesus tells the disciples, ‘You are sad now, but I shall see you again and your hearts will be full of joy and that joy no one shall take from you’. Today as we approach the feast of the Ascension, Jesus speaks of his going away and his coming back again.Fr Paul notes that, in the Gospel, we hear Jesus use the example of a woman giving birth. The joy of a mother is not because of the pain of childbirth. It is not because that pain has stopped. For her, a mother’s joy is that another life has been born.  There is now new life that is being celebrated.  There is the joy of a new, generous love to be experienced.As we approach the Ascension, Jesus is using this example to tell us that we should not be sorry that he is going but joyful because we will see him again. And as the scriptures remind us, no one will take that joy away from us.