Scripture:
Reflection:
We hear in this reading from Book of Job an encounter between Jesus and Satan. Jesus was confident and proud of his servant Job, his faithfulness and lived faith. Satan was complaining that the only reason Job was so faithful was that Jesus had given him everything one could ever hope for; healthy children, prosperous crops, ample livestock, all of which made Job a very wealthy and happy man. Satan believed that Job would renounce Jesus if the tide was turned and Job lost everything! Jesus told Satan to go ahead and reign down tragedy on all the things Job possessed and see for himself the outcome. Satan bit the bullet and set about systematically destroying all of Job’s livestock, workers and even his children! He stopped short of taking Job’s life as Jesus told him not to harm Job.
Job lost all his possessions and his family, but he never lost his faith in the love and generosity of our loving God! Job could have easily been so wedded to his wealth and possessions that he would turn his back on God and God’s generosity. Instead, as the faithful servant he was, he was able to proclaim,
“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the LORD!”
Over these many months, we have lived and died with COVID-19, unrest and destruction in our cities, tension all around us as a nation and world. Our secure lifestyles, employment, health, education, happiness and so many other things that contributed to the ‘good life’ we enjoyed have been compromised! As people of faith, believing in a generous, loving God, let us ask ourselves, how prone would we be to echo Job’s statement of faith in the wake of this changed and changing lifestyle today?!
In many respects, these past months have brought an awareness of just how blessed we are! For many of us we enjoy a very privileged life albeit, one we take for granted at times. Sometimes it seems that we have forgotten our sisters and brothers who have so little! Last week, our pastor reminded us in his homily, BE GENEROUS! It is so easy to allow our precious ‘things’ to consume us!
It is time to focus less on our wants and more on the needs of others. We are so preoccupied at times with complaining how inconvenient this pandemic is and longing for everything to get back to ‘normal’! I am wondering if we can buck up, wear our masks, social distance from others, observe the protocols in place in our churches, schools, cities and neighborhoods with less grumbling and dissent! YES, it has been a long seven months and YES, we want to gather again in large groups to eat, pray, laugh and cry. We want to be able to minister to our sick friends and family in person rather than outside their hospital room or home. We are tired of ZOOM and want to be together in-person, we want to have the freedom to vacation in far off lands or gather with neighbors for a backyard BBQ.
The ‘new normal’ has so many graced moments! The generosity, creativity, tenacity, care and concern for each other by young and old is indeed a blessing! Educators, pastoral workers, government officials, health care agencies, families are working together to provide relief where needed. Last week I read an article highlighting the selfless actions of people providing meals, transportation, healthcare, education and social interaction to others in need.
May we continue to be people of hope and echo the words of the prophet Job,
“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the LORD!”
Theresa Secord recently retired as a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.