Job Amongst The Ashes

Job spoke, saying:                                                           Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.

If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.


What are we to make about the three readings that the Church has given us this Sunday?  I am not a theologian so to me there does not seem to be a common thread between the three readings. It didn't help much that in our parish it was commitment Sunday for the Catholic Appeal so there was no real homily, just instructions as to how to fill out the pledge envelope and where to put the credit card information if we wanted to pay by credit card.  As for the readings, we were left to our own devices.

 When I read Paul's reading, he says "be all things to all people."  This is not practical advice for me because I want to present myself as genuine, as "me."  I have to accept that there are those out there that will not like "me" but that is who I am.  I do not reject the teaching, I just do not know how to apply it to my life. 

In our Gospel reading, we continue the theme we have had this whole week, Jesus is going around and curing, preaching, and teaching and accumulating a following.  This will be news for those of us who haven't been reading the daily readings from this past week, but I've run out of things to say right now about this snapshot of the daily ministry Jesus was involved in.  

That leaves us with reading from Job.  This is a cheery little reading, isn't it?  Thank heavens that we get this reading on Sunday instead of everyone's favorite day of the week, Monday!  Look at Job.  If there was anyone that had a right to complain it would be him.  His life turned from being one of the richest men in the world to a man sitting with boils from head to toe in a pile of ashes after hearing that all of his herds were stolen and all of his children were killed by raiders.  So, I can see where Job is coming from.  He is right in what he says.  Life can be a drudgery.  We wake up, go to work, eat, sleep, and do it again, over and over and over again and we never seem to get anywhere.  To top it off, while this is going on we are getting older, the sands of time are running through the hourglass and we end up tired, alone, and friendless.  Gosh, I am glad I read that reading!  Okay, I am not going to leave it like this.  

Job was within his rights to be a bit down after everything that had happened to him.  But in all that happened, we never hear Job blame God for any of the bad things.  His friends come by and try to convince him that all of these things were just punishments sent from God because of some sin that Job had committed. Even his wife came by and told him the same thing and suggested that he should curse God and die.  Job through this course of several conversations with several well-meaning friends insists that he did nothing wrong.  In the end, Job asks God why this happened and God replies that He is much wiser than Job or any other person and He offers no explanation to Job.  Instead because of his righteousness before God, Job had all of his things restored and more besides!  Job remained loyal and loving to God and everything came out okay in the end. 

In life, it has been my experience that the hard times make us appreciate the easy times more.  We have to look at life through the lens of eternity.  What happens to us can be good or bad, but it will always help us to our ultimate goal, not of scoring super bowl tickets or buying a new car or paying off nagging creditors, no, it will help us to perfect ourselves so that we can live with God forever in Paradise. 

Please remember that someday you might be in Purgatory and needs prayers.  Please, pray for the Poor Souls.