Word to the Wise
Monday, September 27, 2010 - St. Vincent de Paul
[Job 1:6-22 and Luke 9:46-50]"Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.
It is not unusual during a retreat for one of the participants to ask me, "Can I be angry with God?" The reason for the question is almost always a particular suffering that the inquirer is going through and cannot understand why he or she or someone they love is suffering. I immediately call their attention to Job. (The attention of the whole church will be directed to the Book of Job for the next few days in the first scripture.) Job very definitely complains and debates with God about his suffering. Yes, he is respectful and remains faithful, but there is no question that he gets angry with God and especially with the four "friends" who come and sit with him and try to rationalize his situation. They give rise to the expression, "a Job's friend" - a person who makes things worse by useless analysis of suffering, instead of offering comfort! The words of Job, quoted above, are famous. They reflect his initial response to the wave of calamity that Satan sends over him. There is one more suffering that is added, the skin disease, but it is just one more sorrow on top of the others. God knows something that Satan does not. God knows that Job will remain faithful even though Job will contest the whole thing from beginning to end. It is this "contesting" of the situation that I call my inquirer's attention to. Yes, it is possible to be angry with God. Even if the outcome of the story of Job is a "happy ending," we cannot help but be drawn into this masterpiece about suffering. We can listen to the explanations and challenges of the "friends," and compare them with our own responses to the suffering of others or our own sorrows. I urge all my Beloved Congregation to pick up the Bible and read the whole Book of Job (and not just the "edited passages" for the liturgy). The mystery and drama of all suffering is laid out before us. Ultimately we must ask ourselves if the ending is satisfactory. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
166 ms
4
