Job, a wise man, blameless and upright, having many blessings from God; children, wealth, a large stock of animals, is suddenly put to the test by Satan. Will Job remain strong in his faith when all is lost and suffering ensues? This question is also the question we need to ask ourselves as well. Will we remain faithful when our lives are turned upside down? We know Job’s answer but do we know ours?
Our world is full of suffering. There are sufferings that you and I, to one degree or another, can relate, to that of Job’s suffering, his cries for help. Job says; “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?
We strive to grow in holiness only to fall time and time again to sin. We work so hard day in and day out for money to support our families, only to have it taken from us by an unexpected illness, more taxes, higher tuition costs, higher costs at the grocery store and I am sure sooner or later that gas prices will rise once again.
We raise our children the best way we can only to see some leave the faith. We exercise and eat healthy foods only to be stricken with a debilitating disease. Even our nights provide no rest for some. As Job proclaims, “The night drags on. I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.” Surrounded by sin and death we are tempted to utter with Job, “I shall not see happiness again.”
I know, first hand, how this attitude can be so depressing and full of misery. It is when I pushed Jesus away. However, Job never gave up. Yes, he felt a lot of misery and hurt. After all, he did lose his family, his money, everything that he had. Job constantly reached out to God in, I guess what you can call, Suffering Prayer.
It was really because of a priest friend of mine that showed me what it is to be happy as long as Jesus is in my life no matter what I had or did not have, as long as I constantly reach out to God in prayer.
My sisters and brothers, if you have uttered the same words as Job before, I am here to tell you that there is hope, hope for happiness, that we will see happiness, joy and love in our destinies, the values for which we were created.
This happiness, joy and love is found in the Word of God through Jesus Christ our
Lord and savior. And what will follow a life lived here on earth, will be a new life of happiness, joy and love in eternity with Him.
Our readings today bring together the trials and sufferings of life with the preaching of the Word of God. We have in this mass the cries of Job along with St. Paul’s zeal for preaching the Good News. And we find our Lord preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. Jesus says; “Let us go to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” A few verses earlier we heard how Jesus cured many who were sick and drove out many demons.
This reminds us that the Word of God is linked to every aspect of the healing ministry of the Church, physically and spiritual. We need not take for granted the wisdom offered to us in these readings.
In every mass throughout the world the Word of God in scripture is proclaimed. In masses where the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is celebrated, readings from scripture are there. In the celebration of this sacrament in a hospital, readings from scripture are there. In visits to the sick with Holy Communion, readings from scripture are there.
In the Stations of the Cross, which will be offered every Friday during Lent at 7 p.m., the Word of God in scripture is there. Have you heard the saying that the Church is not a haven for the perfect and healthy, but it is a hospital for sinners, and that our Lord is the divine physician with his words being our medicine for everlasting life? What did we sing in the responsorial; “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Remembering how linked the Word of God is with both physical and spiritual healing, we are given both a consolation and a challenge. How can we grow if we are not challenged? How often, when we are suffering or in some kind of despair, do we look to everything but the Word of God in scripture for relief?
In a world that has no tolerance for suffering and refuses to find meaning and redemption in it, we are tempted to turn to Christ, if we turn to him at all, only when all other avenues have been exhausted. We try all the latest medicines and remedies. Or, we medicate ourselves through impulsive buying or thrill-seeking or lustful passions or even simple denial.
Mark captures beautifully in our gospel today, what is at the root of what we should reach for first; “Rising very early before dawn, Jesus left and went off to a deserted place where he prayed.” Jesus shows us what to do, pray.
Mark goes on to say, “Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, everyone is looking for you.” We seek happiness and relief from our suffering in a myriad of ways but after all that, then we look to Jesus. Although in the midst of our trials, our Lord may seem far off to a deserted place, he is always near. When we are tempted to look to worldly things to find what only He can provide, we must remember that He is truly found in the Eternal Word of God. This is our consolation and our challenge.
Perhaps today you yourself is suffering even while you listen to me. Or perhaps a friend or a relative or even a co-worker you know is suffering today. St. Paul challenges us with zeal. “If I preach the Gospel”, he says, “This is not reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it.”
Woe to us as well if you or I fail to preach the Good News to those who are sick in body or soul, if we fail to give them this greatest of medicines. You see, the Word of God, if we really and honestly hear it, propels us to go out to take care of one another.
I hope all of you are now well into this beautiful book, the gift that Father Rick offered us; “Living the Mass”, how one hour a week can change your life!
I would like to read to you a few sentences from the section on page 179 called ‘The other six days of the week.” With regard to daily life, the Concluding Rites invite and challenge us to:
- Bring the Good News of Jesus Christ into every aspect of our daily lives: home, work, play, family, friends, neighborhood, country, world
- Live each day according to God’s plan as revealed by Jesus.
- Go about life in such a way as to attract others to Jesus.
- Live out our baptismal callings.
- Practice our Catholicism every day.
- See every aspect of life as spiritual.
As St. Therese of Lisieux expressed: “Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”
St. Mark challenges us but in a very subtle way. He says that Simon, Andrew, James and John “immediately told Jesus” about Simons mother-in-law, who lay sick with a fever. We must not hesitate to tell our Lord in prayer about our own trials or those of our relatives or friends.
Upon hearing their petition, Jesus approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. St. Mark goes on to say, “when it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.” Perhaps, you, or someone you know, are looking in all the wrong places for the comfort we can only find in Jesus. Perhaps you, or someone you know, are possessed by the demons of addiction or despair.
Today, let us resolve, if we have yet to do so, to greatly take them by the hand and bring them to Jesus. Let us resolve to persevere. For as our Lord himself said, he wishes to preach there also. He goes on to say, “For this purpose I have come”, says the Lord. We need only gather at the door. We gather at the doors of those who need us and we, when the time arises, will be gathering at the door of Jesus to look for that comfort and love that he has offered us and that we have shown to others.