Job 1:6-22 / Luke 9:46-50
Suffering comes to Job: Job remained faithful to God.
The Book of Job is one of the written books in the OT. It deals
with a man named Job, who spent his whole life doing good. He was a real
saint. Then, one day, a series of terrible tragedies comes crashing down
on him. Job can't understand why these things happened to him, because he had
always led a good life. He seeks an answer from his friends. He seeks
an answer from God. But no satisfactory answer comes. Through it all,
however, Job trusts God. He doesn't know why he is suffering, but God does and
that's enough for Job.
*****
Today we hear the beginning to the book of Job. Job is not
historical but a reflection, mostly in a poetic form, on the existence of evil,
particularly as it comes to good, innocent and God-fearing people. For his
answer, because he lacks the perspective of eternal life, the author cannot go
beyond this: God is wise, we are too small to understand him. God knows. Leave
everything to him. Be patient and trust him. Childlike, but not childish... We
are God’s children, yet not infants. We have to grow up constantly to the
maturity of Christ, to remake with the help of the Spirit, our unity, the
center of ourselves.
****
How do we react when suffering and misfortune come crashing
down on us? "Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make
you forget the joy of the Risen Christ." Mother Theresa
****
The Bible is an honest book. It speaks not only of virtues
and holiness but even of the faults of the important biblical figures. So
here, for narrow-minded pettiness, we get two instances. The apostles
discussed who was the greatest among them. And later John, of all persons,
wanted Jesus to forbid a man to use the name of Jesus in driving out demons,
they did not think that it is not the opinion of others that makes them great
but what they are before God, who alone can objectively assess the greatness of
man. John did not think that it is more important that a devil has been driven
out than it is to ask who did it and in whose name it was done. These
faults gave Jesus the chance to give two important lessons: What counts
before God is not what people think, but real greatness can be found in what is
smallest in the esteem of the world like the child that God loves. God's love
of men is tolerant. It values the good that has been done more than the
narrow-minded question who did it?
****
There are some things which we would certainly like to put
on display. Whether it is at home, or in school, at the clubhouse, or even
in the parish office, if we have any awards, or academic achievements, medals, or trophies, we would certainly like to put them a special display. In
a way, all those items are mirrors. They show us how good we are and what we
can do. They are also indicators of how we fare with others, to see what we are
and who we are in comparison with others. In the gospel, the disciples were
ranking themselves against each other, and that's when Jesus interjected.
The model of greatness which He gave them was a humble
little child. That was really a contradiction and a paradoxical model of what
we are so used to when we talk about greatness.
Because we tend to associate greatness with power and might, and achievements
and possessions. But when these are taken away, is there anything else that we
can be proud of or feel great about? We can slowly understand a bit of what
greatness is all about when Job in the 1st reading said this after all he had
was taken away:
Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return.
The Lord gave, the Lord has taken back. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
***
Let us Pray: Lord our God, your Son Jesus Christ became a child of people. He made children the privileged symbol of the truly adult disciple. May we have the openness and receptivity of the child: humble, authentic, and open to your love and to your gifts. For only then will you fill our emptiness through Jesus Christ our Lord.
***
Saints Cosmas and Damian
Feast day September 26
There are some saints of whom we know very little. People
from all over the world may honor them. Shrines and churches may be built in
their names. But the facts and details of their lives have faded from our
memories or their stories may never have been recorded.
Cosmas and Damian are saints like these. Little is known
about them except that they suffered martyrdom for their faith in Syria
sometime during the persecutions of Diocletian (around 303). We may never know
exactly what happened, but we do know that their witness to the faith was so
strong that people turned to them for prayerful help and passed their story on
to others.
Legends about these two saints abound. According to these
stories, Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers, born in Arabia, who went to
Syria to study and practice medicine. But they were concerned about more than
healing bodies. They brought their belief in Christ to those to whom they
ministered. Not only that, but they also served people without charging any
fees. Lysias, the governor of Celicia, heard about these two brothers and he
summoned them before him. When Cosmas and Damian proclaimed they were
Christians, Lysias had them tortured and finally beheaded. Devotion to these
two brothers grew, and many cures were said to have been worked through their
intercessions. Later a church in their honor was constructed over the site of
their burial. When the Emperor Justinian was sick, he prayed to Saints Cosmas
and Damian for a cure. Out of gratitude for receiving this favor, he enlarged
the city of Cyr and its church. Numerous other churches were erected for them
at Constantinople and Rome. Their names are also included in the First
Eucharistic Prayer.
If so little about these saints is actually known, why do we honor them? Part of the answer can be found in tradition. When so many believers continue to honor the memory of martyrs, year after year and all over the world, there is good reason to believe that their lives were true witnesses to the Gospel. People who live and die according to their convictions and faith give hope to the world long after their deaths. Their lives can inspire us and encourage us to be faithful during our little trials and sorrows.
