(Fifth
Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on February 4, 2018, at St. Pius
X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Job 7: 1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23;
Matthew 1: 29-39.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Fifth Sunday 2018]
One
day a reporter was interviewing an 80-year-old woman who had just gotten
married for the fourth time. Sadly, her
first three husbands had all passed away.
The reporter asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like
to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband’s occupation.
“He’s
a funeral director,” she answered.
The
reporter thought to himself, “Well, that’s interesting.”
He
then asked her if she wouldn’t mind telling him a little bit about her first
three husbands and what each of them had done for a living. She explained that she had first married a banker when she was in her 20s, a circus ringmaster when she was in her
40s, a preacher when she was in her 60s, and now, in her 80s, a funeral director.
The
reporter said to her, “Wow, that’s amazing—four men with such diverse careers!”
She
smiled and said, “Well, you see, I married one for the money, two for the show,
three to get ready and four to go.”
Fr.
Mac from St. Vincent’s and Our Lady of Victory sent me that a few years
ago. I always knew I’d be able to use it
in a homily someday!
I use
it this morning because even though it’s an amusing story, it does have a very
serious background. That 80-year-old
newlywed had three major losses (that we know of) to deal with in her life,
namely, the banker, the ringmaster and the pastor. But I’m sure she also had to deal with many
other losses during her 80 years on planet earth: the loss of other family
members and friends to death; the loss of some of her independence; the loss of
her ability to physically do certain things; maybe even the loss of some of her
cognitive abilities.
But
at least these losses were spread out over a number of years (actually a number
of decades). Poor old Job suffered all of
his losses in a single day!
Most
of us, I’m sure, know at least the basic outline of Job’s story. The Bible tells us that he was a deeply
religious man, “who feared God and avoided evil”. He was also quite wealthy. And for many years he led a very happy life;
that is, until the day when he literally lost almost everything! First, his herds
and flocks were either destroyed or stolen; then his ten children died when a
house collapsed on them during a severe windstorm; and, finally, he was
afflicted with a terrible disease that left his entire body covered with
painful boils.
After all these disasters the only one Job has left
in his family is Mrs. Job, but she proves to be no help at all. At one point early in the story she actually tells
her husband to “Curse God and die.”
(Obviously, Mrs. Job never received the “Wife of the Year Award”!)
Three
of Job’s closest friends then come on the scene “to give him sympathy and comfort.”
However, all they end up giving him is a lot of bad advice, more
aggravation—and probably a really big headache (which was the last thing the
poor guy needed at the time!).
It’s
in the midst of all this intense suffering that Job utters the famous words we
heard in today’s first reading: “Is not
man’s life on earth a drudgery? Are not
his days those of a hireling? 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. . . . 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.”
Finally,
Job goes right to the top. After he
hears from his friends, who basically tell him that he must have done something
wrong to bring all this evil upon himself, Job cries out to God and presses him
for an explanation. He knows he hasn’t
sinned in a serious way, so he wants to know why the Lord has allowed him to
experience all these trials.
And
God responds! Job calls, and the Lord
shows up. But instead of answering Job’s
question, God asks some questions of his own!
He says, “Where were you, Job, when I created the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its size; do you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it?” And on and on the Lord goes for four
chapters. His basic message to Job is, “Do
you think you’re smarter than I am? Do
you understand creation and everything in it?
Can you make an eagle fly or give a horse its strength? These are things that are beyond your
capacity to understand. And so is your
present situation.”
The
final chapter of the book then begins with Job saying these words to the Lord:
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be
hindered. I have dealt with great things
that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot
know.” Then comes what I would call the
“key line” of the book. Job says, “I had
heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I disown what I have said, and
repent in dust and ashes.”
“I
had heard of you by word of mouth, but
now my eye has seen you.”
Job’s
experience of loss—his terrible, excruciating experience of loss and
suffering—became the occasion of a life-changing encounter with God.
Which
is the point I want to drive home today in this homily.
Now
don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying that Job’s encounter with the Lord took
away all his pain and made him forget about his children and his other losses. No, I’m saying that in the midst of all that suffering, Job had the opportunity to meet
God in a personal and powerful way—and he did.
And
he was greatly blessed because of that encounter. It changed him! It didn’t change God; it changed Job.
Many people
think of suffering as an obstacle to meeting the Lord and having a close
relationship with him, but Job shows us otherwise. Job shows us that suffering can actually be the
occasion for starting, or renewing, or strengthening our relationship with God.
Some
of you know this, I’m sure, from your own experience. How many people have either come to Christ,
or come back to Christ, or deepened their faith in Christ after they’ve
experienced a terrible tragedy in their lives?
I’ve
seen that kind of thing happen lots of times over the years.
So
the bottom line is this:
Many
people suffer—like Job did.
Many people
suffer while living a good, moral life—like Job did.
Many people
suffer with little or no human support—like Job did.
Many people
question God and his ways—like Job did.
But
relatively few people encounter God in their suffering—like Job did.
Let’s
pray today that we will be among those few.