The end of the story of Job sends a clear message about repentance, humility, and God’s mercy. We are continually tempted to see the bad things that happen to us or to others as some kind of punishment – deserved or undeserved. Job, a truly wise man, finally humbles his mind before the workings and designs of God. “I have dealt with great things that I do not understand[…]” As we sit and meditate upon life’s difficulties, we can become trapped in our own understanding of events. No matter how hard we try, because we are sinners and our minds are weak, our own perception of the “why’s” of evil becomes a burden for our soul. Job’s solution, inspired and helped by the grace of God, is to simply lift his eyes – the eyes of his heart – to look upon the mystery of God. This act of faith is vitally important if we are to let go of the burden of evil, which we carry around in the form of unspoken or unacknowledged judgments and bitterness about the evil we have known. Job looks to God, not for an answer, but for the strength to let go of his limited way of seeing which is not only inaccurate but burdensome.
Saint Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels
BASIL THE GREAT:
Remember the vision of Daniel and how he brings the judgment before us … clearly disclosing in the hearing of all, angels and human beings, things good and evil, things done openly and in secret, deeds, words and thoughts all at once. What then must those people be who have lived wicked lives? Where then shall that soul hide that in the sight of all these spectators shall suddenly be revealed in its fullness of shame? With what kind of body shall it sustain those endless and unbearable pangs … without end? There is no release after death; no device, no means of coming forth from the chastisement of pain.
Saturday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
When worldliness becomes a scandalous gaping wound in the Body of Christ, let us not forget that persecutions condemning the mystery of the Church will inevitably accompany it. When wrongs have been committed by leaders of the Church, we may be tempted to lower our hands in disappointment, disgust, discouragement, and sadness. It is important to perceive with the eyes of faith that not only are the guilty being condemned by the scandal that they caused, but the innocent one – Jesus – whose Body we are, is also being persecuted. Faith leads us forward in our attachment to Christ and to one another, recognizing the part that belongs to scandal and the part that belongs to persecution.