FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
FEBRUARY 8, 2015
Today
we hear Job crying out in pain, because he does not understand why he is
suffering so much. He has lost
everything – his possessions, his entire family, and even his health. His wife has abandoned him, telling him to
curse God and die. His “friends” try to
comfort him, but only make things worse.
Convinced that suffering is the direct punishment from God for sin, they
try to talk Job into confessing that he is a terrible sinner. Their narrow perspective and easy solutions
cause him more doubt and discouragement.
Throughout the entire Book, Job continues to ask God why he is suffering
so much. However, no matter how much Job
complains and asks questions, he never loses faith. In the end, God poses a series of rhetorical
questions asking Job if he understands the good things of life which he has
taken for granted. When he answers “no,”
God responds that suffering is also a mystery, something we can never
understand.
In the
Gospel today, many people who share the sufferings of Job seek out Jesus. In response, Jesus shows compassion, heals
some of them, and drives demons out of others.
Jesus does not explain the mystery of human suffering. Throughout the New Testament, he does not
provide any further explanation than did the Book of Job. Instead, he embraced our human condition in
every way except for sin. In the course
of his ministry, he endured the pain of criticism and rejection. Eventually, he would suffer greatly and enter
into a terrible death. As the Eternal
Word of God, he would show that suffering can be redemptive. By his suffering, we are redeemed and freed
from the grip of sin, the devil, and death.
When we find ourselves in Job's shoes, we can place our suffering within
the suffering of Jesus Christ and trust that our suffering can also have a
transforming power, especially in ways we would never expect.
When Jesus
heals Peter's mother-in-law, he gives some insights into how this mystery
affects us. She is sick with a fever,
which not only causes physical pain, but which also isolates her from the
community. Jesus touches her and raises
her up, just as the Father would raise him up from the dead. Not only is the pain gone. But she is also restored to her family and
friends. Having recognized the Lord's saving power, she
waits on them. Saint Mark uses those
words to speak of official ministry in the Church. She provides an example of a proper response
to the healing power of Jesus Christ.
Those who have experienced that saving power respond by giving
themselves in humble service to the Body of Christ, the Church.
Suffering
is a part of the human condition, and faith in God does not protect us from
suffering. If anything, faithfulness to
the Gospel can open us to more intense suffering. Jesus does not give us easy answers when
suffering invades our lives, causes great pain, and separates us from family
and friends. But we encounter Jesus
Christ in the Sacramental life of the Church, just as surely as Peter's
mother-in-law did. He washes away our
sins in the waters of Baptism and strengthens us through Sacrament of
Confirmation. He heals us with his mercy
when we fail to live our baptismal promises, restores us to the community of
family and friends, and heals us in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the
Sick. He feeds us with his Body and
Blood in the Eucharist. He strengthens
us to live our permanent commitments in the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders.
Once we
become aware of his healing actions in our lives, we respond as Peter's
mother-in-law did. We give ourselves in
humble service to the community. That
humble service allows us to show the same compassion which Christ has shown us. That humble service renews our faith that he
will raise us up with him in the Mystery of the Resurrection.
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