Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

There's a lot we could discuss from today's readings, since they bring up so many issues---oath-swearing, Jesus' teaching against divorce, etc. I want to focus, however, on the allusion to the Book of Job from today's first reading from the Letter of St. James.

In today's first reading, St. James gives us the example of Job from the Old Testament. Job is a great example of someone who had hardships and trials in his life. Job not only lost much of his wealth in the form of livestock, but he was harmed physically as well, with sores all over his body. Even worse, all of his children were killed. Job is then surrounded by his friends who basically blame Job for all of his problems. Why do bad things happen to good people? This question arises in situations like Job's where the innocent suffer. But Job is patient during his trials and hardships. Does this mean that we should just suck it up when we encounter hardships? Be quiet and bear it? That's not what Job does, and Job's is the example St. James lays out for us today.

Job cries out to the Lord in his anguish. He groans under the strain. He does not go on as if nothing had ever happened. He mourns, he struggles, but he endures. He never turns his back on God, and he never curses God. This is the image St. James provides us with in today's reading.

When we struggle with hardship, there is no need to hide our feelings, or pretend as if nothing has happened. But we must always keep in mind that the Lord is there with us. God is there to raise us up from the dead, to lift us from our misery. Let us be encouraged by the image of Job, and let us take refuge in the Lord during times of crisis. For, remember, as today's responsorial psalm emphasizes: "The Lord is kind and merciful" (Psalm 103:8).

- Jeff Morrow