Feb. 7, 2021: 5th Sunday B
Feb. 7, 2021: 5th Sunday B
Both times that he faced the fear of being alone, George could identify with the plight of Job who lost his entire possessions. Through a series of tragedies, all ten of Job’s children were killed, he lost all of his material assets, and he suffered debilitating diseases. Job was so distraught that he said, “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? ... I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me.” We all have experienced the disappointments and harshness of life similar to those troubles that George and Job went through. When we go through such experiences, the happy memories of the past seem elusive and the hope of a bright future seems impossible.
Jesus knows the harshness of human life, for he himself became one of us to experience every kind of human suffering. He came to alleviate our broken hearts, to bind up our wounds, and to set us free from bondage to sin. When Jesus saw Simon Peter’s mother-in-law suffering with great illness, his heart was moved to heal her and to free her from suffering. Once healed, Peter’s mother-in-law wasted no time in showing gratitude to Jesus by serving him. If we also invite Jesus in, he too will sustain us.
A few days ago, I went to give last rites to a 94 year old woman who is in the final stages of dying. As I began to read to her the Psalm 23, she began to smile and her face lit up with great joy, “The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. ... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” She is a living example of St. Paul’s confidence in Christ’s love for him, “For I am sure that neither death nor life... nor things present nor things to come, ... nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39) She asked me if at her funeral we can sing a hymn composed by George Matheson called, “O Love That Would Not Let Me Go.” George Matheson is the blind man I mentioned at the beginning. The words of the song are:
O Love that will not let me go
I rest my weary soul in thee
I give thee back the life I owe
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be
O Cross that liftest up my head
I dare not ask to fly from thee
I lay in dust life’s glory dead
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be
On the night George was despairing in the darkness of his blindness and bleak future, Our Lord gave him divine wisdom, the wisdom of the Cross. In this fallen universe, we have no control of all the variables of our lives; at times, suffering seems so random. Yes, there are sufferings we bring to ourselves by our bad choices, but other times there is no one to blame. How do parents comprehend the loss of a child?
Job was upright, pure, and blameless before God, yet he was stricken with great suffering. His friends tried to rationalize and explain that suffering was caused by Job himself. Yet, Job came to realize that there was no cause or explanation for all that had happened to him and his family.
Faith in God acknowledges that the pain and the loss are real and the memories of searing loss will not fade. However, faith elevates us beyond being stuck in asking ‘why.’ The darkness of pain is only a part of the continuing journey. Because of our faith in his resurrection, we are assured of our “happiness” even while our eyes are veiled in tears. Our Lord gave us his living word, the Eucharist, the Sacraments, and a community of faith to nurture and strengthen us on our journey Home to Heaven.
Disappointment and suffering come to everyone in this life without exception. Yet our God has planted the seed of His Holy Spirit in us through our baptism and confirmation. Love, light, joy, and Cross. The love that Christ has for us is deeper than the ocean, brighter than the blazing sun, and more joyful than a rainbow after a downpour. It is the cross and our suffering in which we find the abiding presence of Our Lord and his great love for us.
As Padre Pio said, “In all the events of life, you must recognize the Divine will. Adore and bless it, especially in the things which are the hardest for you... Our Lord sometimes makes you feel the weight of the cross. This weight seems unbearable but you carry it because in His love and mercy, the Lord helps you and gives you strength.”
May we continue to grow in our faith so that one day we can proclaim as Job did, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
