God blesses Job; God rewards Job beyond his dreams
In their book Finding God, Louis Savary and Thomas O'Connor tell the story of a young man who had a remarkable experience of God. He knelt down and prayed for the first time in over 20 years. In the course of the prayer, he surrendered himself to God, totally. As he did, he suspected that God would make his life hard and painful. But the opposite happened. God blessed him beyond his wildest dreams. The young man wrote later:
"Since I gave up to God all ownership of my own life, he has blessed me in a thousand ways, and opened my path in a way almost incredible to those who do not enjoy the secret of a truly surrendered life."
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Have we ever experienced God's special love after surrendering something to God? God's blessings put our wildest dreams to shame.
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Introduction
Today, we hear the closing words of the Book of Job. In his sufferings, he has voiced his complaints, and his friends have tried to justify God, but Job cannot fully understand; finally, his eyes have seen, and he accepts that God is greater and wiser and knows best. We should understand better than Job, for we have seen the suffering face of the crucified Christ.
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Fortunate are we!
The Seventy returned from their initial preaching and healing ministry brimming with joy and excitement over the victories they had accomplished in Jesus' name. However, Jesus then warns them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven." This statement holds deep significance and can be interpreted in various meaningful ways.
It might signify the defeat of the forces of darkness and evil, the overthrow of Satan's stronghold, and the establishment of God's kingdom. It could also serve as a caution against pride. According to legend, Satan was expelled from heaven due to pride, and Jesus may have been warning the Seventy to guard against becoming prideful despite their successes. Jesus advised his disciples to avoid pride and overconfidence, reminding them that their true glory lay in having their names inscribed in heaven. It will always be true that a person's greatest glory is not in their own accomplishments but in what God has done for them.
Christianity does not mean knowing all the theories about the New Testament, nor does it mean knowing all the theologies and Christology. It does not mean knowing about Christ; instead, it means knowing Christ, which requires not only earthly wisdom but heavenly grace. Jesus gives a simple formula to know God: "If you want to know what God is like, look at me." Jesus didn't just speak about God; he embodied God's character and nature, revealing God through his words and actions.
The concept of evolution in science suggests that human beings have gradually evolved from lower forms of life. From a faith perspective, we can take this a step further and view Jesus as the culmination of this evolutionary process. In him, humanity meets God, and he is at once the perfection of humanity and the fulness of Godhead.
“Fortunate are we to experience what we experience in the Church, in the Word of God and in the Sacraments!”
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Opening Prayer
Lord our God, in your bewildering wisdom you let us stand at times all alone before you with our miseries and we barely know where you are. Give us then the courage to keep our trust in you alive, as people without pretensions, humble, without illusions, but aware that you too have a Son, who all alone and disfigured, died one day on the cross for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.
