Job 1:6-22 / Luke 9:46-50
Suffering comes to Job: Job remained faithful to God.
The Book of Job is one of written books in the OT. It deals
with a man named Job, who spent his whole life doing good. He was a real
saint. Then, one day, a series of terrible tragedies comes crashing down
on him. Job can't understand why these things happened to him, because he had
always led a good life. He seeks an answer from his friends. He seeks
an answer from God. But no satisfactory answer comes. Through it all,
however, Job trusts God. He doesn't know why he is suffering, but God does and
that's enough for Job.
*****
Today we hear the beginning to the book of Job. Job is not
historical but a reflection, mostly in a poetic form, on the existence of evil,
particularly as it comes to good, innocent and God-fearing people. For his
answer, because he lacks the perspective of eternal life, the author cannot go
beyond this: God is wise, we are too small to understand him. God knows. Leave
everything to him. Be patient and trust him. Childlike, but not childish... We
are God’s children, yet not infants. We have to grow up constantly to the
maturity of Christ, to remake with the help of the Spirit, our unity, the
center of ourselves.
****
How do we react when suffering and misfortune come crashing
down on us? "Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make
you forget the joy of the Risen Christ." Mother Theresa
****
The Bible is an honest book. It speaks not only of virtues
and holiness, but even of the faults of the important biblical figures. So
here, for narrow minded pettiness, we get two instances. The apostles
discussed who was the greatest among them. And later John, of all persons,
wanted Jesus to forbid a man to use the name of Jesus in driving out demon,
they did not think that it is not the opinion of others that makes them great
but what they are before God, who alone can objectively assess the greatness of
man. John did not think that it is more important that a devil has been driven
out, than it is to ask who did it and in whose name it was done. These
faults gave Jesus the chance to give two important lessons: What counts
before God is not what people think, but real greatness can be found in what is
smallest in the esteem of the world like the child that God loves. God's love
of men is tolerant. It values the good that has been done more than the
narrow-minded question who did it?
****
There are some things which we would certainly like to put
on display. Whether it is at home, or in school, or at the club-house, or even
in the parish office, if we have any awards, or academic achievements, or
medals, or trophies, we would certainly like to put them a special display. In
a way, all those items are mirrors. They show us how good we are and what we
can do. They are also indicators of how we fare with others, to see what we are
and who we are in comparison with others. In the gospel, the disciples were
ranking themselves against each other, and that's when Jesus interjected.
The model of greatness which He gave them was a humble
little child. That was really a contradiction and a paradoxical model of what
we are so used to when we talk about greatness.
Because we tend to associate greatness with power and might, and achievements
and possessions. But when these are taken away, is there anything else that we
can be proud of or feel great about? We can slowly understand a bit of what
greatness is all about when Job in the 1st reading said this after all he had
was taken away:
Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return.
The Lord gave, the Lord has taken back. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
***
Let us Pray: Lord our God, your Son Jesus Christ
became a child of people. He made children the privileged symbol of the truly
adult disciple. May we have the openness and receptivity of the child: humble,
authentic, and open to your love and to your gifts. For only then will you fill
our emptiness through Jesus Christ our Lord.
***
Saint
Jerome
Feast day September 30
Jerome was
a man of extremes. His real name was Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius. He lived
to age 91 even though he undertook extreme penances. Jerome had a fierce temper
but an equally intense love of Christ.
his
brilliant saint was born in Eastern Europe around 345. His Christian family
sent him to Rome at age 12 for a good education. He studied there until he was
20. Then he and his friends lived in a small monastery for three years, until
the group dissolved. Jerome set out for Palestine, but when he reached Antioch,
he fell seriously ill. He dreamt one night that he was taken before the
judgment seat of God and condemned for being a heretic. This dream made a deep
impression on him.
Although
Jerome wished to study rather than to be a priest, he was ordained. Again he
tried the life of a monk in the desert, but impure temptations plagued him. To
fight them, he studied Hebrew, wrote letters counseling friends in the
spiritual life, and copied books. Finally, Jerome moved to Constantinople. He
studied Scripture under the Greek theologian Gregory Nazianzen. Pope Damasus
summoned him to Rome and had him translate the Bible into Latin, a 30-year
task. His translation, called the Vulgate, became the official text of the
Catholic Church.
Jerome was
strong willed. His writings, especially those opposing what he considered
heresy, were sometimes explosive. His temperament helped him do difficult
tasks, but it also made him enemies. Jerome was named a Doctor of the Church
for the Vulgate, his commentaries on Scripture, his writings on monastic life,
and his belief that during a controversy on theological opinions, the See of
Rome was where the matter should be settled.
Jerome also guided a group of Christian widows who were practicing a semimonastic life. Gossip about his spending so much time with women led Jerome to move to Bethlehem. There, Jerome trained Paula and Eustochium to be Scripture scholars and to assist him.
