My Sisters and Brothers:
In our first reading today we hear Job say “is not a person’s life on earth a drudgery?” and “my days . . . come to an end without hope” (see Job 7:1-4, 6-7). He had been a man of wealth and stature, and he had lost it all, including his family, and then he had succumbed to a terrible skin disease. For this reason, it’s possible that others would have thought that he had leprosy, and this would have made him an outcast and an untouchable. All the wealth and stature in the world could not buy a respectable place in society for a person with leprosy. We might certainly understand why he had been tempted to come to such dreadful conclusions. However, and in spite of all of his difficulties, Job eventually comes to terms with his lot in life. He recovers his trust in God and actually is strengthened by his experience of loss and suffering.
It’s interesting that in our Gospel today Simon's mother-in-law is also presented as one who had been nearly ruined because of misfortune and sickness. Jesus, who had caught the attention of the people in Capernaum because of his preaching and many healing acts, goes to her and heals her. The Gospel tells us that once she is cured, she gets right up in order to show hospitality to those who had gathered in her house (see Mark 1:29-39). Perhaps, like Job, she realized the things that really mattered in life were not the difficulties or demands placed on a person, but rather in giving thanks and praise to God in all things.
How do we do that? Are we like Job who at first lamented his very existence and then claimed that all his days would come to an end without hope? Do we say with him that life is nothing but a drudgery? I can think of many modern reasons why we may be tempted to despair like Job: most obvious at this moment in history is our experience during this pandemic; also there is violence in our world and even on our own streets; our young people are becoming addicted to drugs and to other terrible habits; we must lock our doors behind multiple locks and we still do not feel safe in our own homes; we turn on the television and are bombarded with messages that we really do not want to hear; we walk down the street and we hear small children using vulgar language that we would never dream of using ourselves . . . and the list goes on! And all of this can tend to make us think that our world is falling apart right before our eyes, and that there is nothing that we can do about it. So we might be tempted to despair!
Like Job, and like the mother-in-law of Simon, let us instead move beyond our difficulties and our fears, and may we then come to a knowledge and understanding of God’s power over all things. As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the Lord of the Universe and that he has authority and dominion over all things. Let us believe this with all of our minds and hearts. Through faith, we can conclude, as eventually Job was able to do, that somehow even the difficulties of this life can somehow make us aware of the great presence of God in all things.
Our faith allows our weakness to give us strength! It is actually through the trials and challenges of our lives that we are able to grow. Let us encourage one another with the message of our faith!
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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In our first reading today we hear Job say “is not a person’s life on earth a drudgery?” and “my days . . . come to an end without hope” (see Job 7:1-4, 6-7). He had been a man of wealth and stature, and he had lost it all, including his family, and then he had succumbed to a terrible skin disease. For this reason, it’s possible that others would have thought that he had leprosy, and this would have made him an outcast and an untouchable. All the wealth and stature in the world could not buy a respectable place in society for a person with leprosy. We might certainly understand why he had been tempted to come to such dreadful conclusions. However, and in spite of all of his difficulties, Job eventually comes to terms with his lot in life. He recovers his trust in God and actually is strengthened by his experience of loss and suffering.
It’s interesting that in our Gospel today Simon's mother-in-law is also presented as one who had been nearly ruined because of misfortune and sickness. Jesus, who had caught the attention of the people in Capernaum because of his preaching and many healing acts, goes to her and heals her. The Gospel tells us that once she is cured, she gets right up in order to show hospitality to those who had gathered in her house (see Mark 1:29-39). Perhaps, like Job, she realized the things that really mattered in life were not the difficulties or demands placed on a person, but rather in giving thanks and praise to God in all things.
How do we do that? Are we like Job who at first lamented his very existence and then claimed that all his days would come to an end without hope? Do we say with him that life is nothing but a drudgery? I can think of many modern reasons why we may be tempted to despair like Job: most obvious at this moment in history is our experience during this pandemic; also there is violence in our world and even on our own streets; our young people are becoming addicted to drugs and to other terrible habits; we must lock our doors behind multiple locks and we still do not feel safe in our own homes; we turn on the television and are bombarded with messages that we really do not want to hear; we walk down the street and we hear small children using vulgar language that we would never dream of using ourselves . . . and the list goes on! And all of this can tend to make us think that our world is falling apart right before our eyes, and that there is nothing that we can do about it. So we might be tempted to despair!
Like Job, and like the mother-in-law of Simon, let us instead move beyond our difficulties and our fears, and may we then come to a knowledge and understanding of God’s power over all things. As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the Lord of the Universe and that he has authority and dominion over all things. Let us believe this with all of our minds and hearts. Through faith, we can conclude, as eventually Job was able to do, that somehow even the difficulties of this life can somehow make us aware of the great presence of God in all things.
Our faith allows our weakness to give us strength! It is actually through the trials and challenges of our lives that we are able to grow. Let us encourage one another with the message of our faith!
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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