Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
When I look back each day on how closely I have lived out my faith I always find a mixed bag. Some things nearly always go well and others, well, not so much. The same failures and shortcomings replay again and again and the journey is more circuitous than straight. I know this is the case with most of us human beings. However, I do know that when I strive in earnest I am always looking for my life to reflect “more of God and less of me”.
Today we begin the story of the trials of Job. Job suffers the loss of his livestock and herdsmen, sheep and shepherds, camels and those tending them and—most tragic of all—he loses his children. The passage says Job tore his cloak and cut off his hair and then cast himself prostrate upon the ground and said, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” In his anguish, Job has many questions and struggles to endure more than his share of suffering, but his faith remains steadfast.
In the passage from Luke’s Gospel the disciples argue among themselves about who is the greatest among them. Jesus places a little child in their midst and says, “Whoever receives this child in my name, receives me and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” These readings relate two very different aspects of the human faith journey. The disciples easily sink into petty rivalries with one another and worry about someone outside their group performing exorcisms in the name of their Master. They fall readily into reliance on their human thinking—how they are held in esteem amongst themselves and in the eyes of others and they grant sway to petty insecurities by trying to apply exclusivity to the group of Jesus’ followers. Job’s faith is tested on every level and in the extreme; he stays firm and fixed on that which is eternal refusing to let go of the God he knows. I find it easy to identify with both the disciples and Job.
Yes, faith is a lifelong journey, but hardly a straight one-way road. Both progress and regression are essential on this road. I believe I learn most when I find myself having taken a few steps backward. And God always seems to take me back…greeting me the moment I awaken to that fact. At times suffering, loss, or upheaval sends me straight to God and other times I find I’ve taken the longer scenic route. Overall, it is about heading in the right direction—more of God and less of me. This day, may I be clearly aware of this right direction. May God grant me the grace to refelct more of God and less of me.
--Gail Lyman