Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 1, 2016 - Saturday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 and Luke 10:17-24]Thus the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones...[Job]
OCTOBER 1 ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX (THE LITTLE FLOWER)
Most folks love stories with happy endings. Job's story has a happy ending, but it would be tragic to ignore what went before. The selection in today's scripture also deserves to be read in its entirety from the book beginning at verse seven. There God severely criticizes Job's friends for their theories about why Job suffered and compliments Job for his own behavior. The result is that Job is better off materially than he was before, but we are no better off for understanding the mystery of "innocent" suffering. (e.g. Why did St. Therese of the Little Flower have to die at age 24 of tuberculosis?) We are told that Job lives on to die at age 140!
One important point is worth noting. If God rejects the reasoning of Job's friends that God was punishing him for some wrongdoing, then why did Job suffer? Was it just to show Satan that goodness and integrity will win out in the end? This is why I mentioned "Job's scars" a couple of days ago. For us, those "scars" are the lingering questions that the human mind continues to ask of God. We do have Job's integrity and the lesson taught to his friends to meditate on. The enduring power of the story testifies to its impact through the centuries. This has to be the work of the Holy Spirit. AMEN