taken 2003

 

 

october 3 2006

Jb 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23 Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. Job spoke out and said: Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, “The child is a boy!” Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth, like babes that have never seen the light? Wherefore did the knees receive me?or why did I suck at the breasts? For then I should have lain down and been tranquil; had I slept, I should then have been at rest With kings and counselors of the earth who built where now there are ruins Or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter in spirit? They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures, Rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave: Those whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!

Ps 88:2-3, 4-5, 6, 7-8 R. (3) Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
O LORD, my God, by day I cry out;at night I clamor in your presence. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my call for help.
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
For my soul is surfeited with troubles and my life draws near to the nether world. I am numbered with those who go down into the pit; I am a man without strength.
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
My couch is among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom you remember no longer and who are cut off from your care.
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
You have plunged me into the bottom of the pit,into the dark abyss. Upon me your wrath lies heavy, and with all your billows you overwhelm me.
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

Lk 9:51-56 When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

The Samaritans do not want to welcome Jesus into their homes because his destination is Jerusalem. Jesus does not wish to punish this lack of hospitality. The Samaritans have been treated differently than the Galileans and punished by some. Jerusalem for them is associated with those who have punished them. This is my limited understanding of the culture of the times. James and John are anxious to jump into a reaction of punishment with retribution without consideration of the suffering that the Samaritans have endured from the Jewish dominant culture of the time.

In the first reading the book of Job is continued and as the misfortunes accumulate, now Job has begun to regret his very life in his misery of sufferings upons sufferings which not God but the devil has piles on him. His quiet acceptance of disaster upon disaster has changed to a state now of despair. There are limits at times to what a person can graceful bear in suffering before they begin to become overwhelmed and despair. Job has not renounced God but is entering a depth of suffering that he did not allow himself into initially. One wonders as the listener/reader how much can this faithful man stand? as he loses all that is dear to him after living a good life.

Jesus in the Gospel is preparing to go to Jerusalem to give his life and suffer for us. He goes willingly and without any sense of anger or need to rebuke others. The gentle acceptance of his fate in life is a strength that is in witness and a life more powerful than any words. The Man of Sorrows is in some ways like Job in his readiness to do the will of God in the midst of acceptance of the deepest of sufferings in this world. Jesus and Job did not seek out suffering but do not deny God or God's will when they are confronted with suffering but accept God's will over their own self will.o I pray this morning for the blessing of the gift of giving my total self again this day over to the will of God in all that I do.