Parish Bulletin for February 5, 2012

A dear friend was caring for an invalid husband with no pension or insurance and working three minimum-wage jobs to support her family of six. Well-meaning friends assured her that there is no burden God does not give us the strength to bear.

Weary with such assurances, Marguerite quipped, "Well, I wonder if God has checked my load lately!"

In today's first reading, Job exhibits a similar weariness with well-meaning friends whose advice has done nothing to ease his struggle. Miserable, despondent, with no other recourse, Job cried out his lament to God, who, in the end, proved to be Job's sole support and strength.

Through the person and the story of Job, the ancient writer has taken on a perennial question: If God is good and just and caring, how could God allow someone as blameless as Job to suffer such loss? Traditionally, suffering was associated with sin, and Job's friends explored with him the possibility that he or someone in his family had sinned and brought on his troubles.

Through the several conversations with his friends, the sacred author shows Job coming to the profound realization that life, as we experience it, is a conundrum. Good people do indeed suffer. Children get cancer and die before they have a chance to enjoy a full life. Famines devastate entire populations. Calamities of nature cause immeasurable pain and loss.

Have the sins of all these people brought on their sad, untimely demise? Obviously, human suffering is a far more complex mystery that defies facile explanations. Through his dialogues with God, the character of Job came to realize that he could not understand.

Nevertheless, he willingly surrendered to the greater wisdom of God and declared, I know you are all powerful, O God. What you conceive, you can perform. . . . I have been holding forth on matters beyond my comprehension, on marvels beyond by knowledge. . . . I retract all I have said and, in dust and ashes, I repent" (Job 42:2, 3, 6).

When viewed in light of today's Marcan Gospel, Job's complaint stands juxtaposed with the healing power over suffering and sin that God revealed in Jesus. By his own innocent suffering and death, Jesus infused this mystery with new meaning. Jesus, who was fully just, suffered for the sake of the unjust. Through his willing sacrifice, the suffering of Jesus became a redemptive force, one in which he called his followers to be full participants.

Rather than be overcome with hopelessness by the human condition, believers in God and followers of Jesus are to trust as Job did and confess, I know that my redeemer lives (Job 19:25).

With Job and with Jesus, we might be inspired to declare, My footsteps have followed closely in God's; I have walked God's way without swerving (Job 23:11). With hope, we might profess, Like a father, God has reared me from my youth, guiding me even from my mother's womb (Job 31:18). Then, relying on God for strength and grace and trusting with unfailing hope, we can endure the suffering that shapes our lives and draws us into the healing and redemptive mystery of Jesus Christ.

For all who echo Job's cry, those who are struggling to survive each day, those who are fleeing war, who have no food, or who live on the streets, that in Christ they may find hope and meaning and that through our love, they may receive assistance and support . . . we pray.

Bulletin Notices: Written notices should be e-mailed, faxed or brought to the parish office by noon on Tuesdays.