Tuesday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 27, 2022

Job 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!

Along with the other wisdom books, that of Job cannot be dated except in a general way, and its author is not known.  It would seem to have been written at the time after the Jews had returned from the Babylonian Exile.  The book is an exploration of the problem of evil in the world: why do terrible things happen to people who are doing everything right, represented by a man named Job.  It is also a meditation on the transience of human life.  In the early chapters of the book, the righteous and prosperous Job has been afflicted with catastrophic loss by Satan.  Faced with the deaths of family members as well as property, Job laments, but does not despair, recognizing that everything he had came from God and that he can take it back whenever he wants.  However, when grievous physical suffering sets in as well, it is too much, and he desires death.  The verses that make up the First Reading for today’s Mass are some of the most intense and most vivid found in the Scriptures or anywhere else.  From the point of view of even a believer in God, there seems no point to life in the midst of such horror and pain.  Life is so empty anyway, why persist in it when no relief is possible, especially when God has evidently turned away?  For those who believe in Christ, this life is a preparation for the world to come, and suffering is something to be borne patiently, imitating the Lord Jesus in his Passion and Death.  Indeed, since the Son of God himself entered the greatest depths of human suffering and death, suffering is a way to be with him.  The Christian also sees suffering as an opportunity to do penance for one’s sins or as an offering to be made to God for another’s sake.  Finally, for the Christian, suffering strengthens one’s faith through perseverance.

At the end of the Book of Job, God himself speaks to him of the wonders and mysteries of creation and explains to Job that suffering is among them.  Job accepts God’s words and repents for any sin he may have committed in his complaint.  God then restores his health and his prosperity.  Suffering remains a mystery, but it is accepted along with the good that God gives.  For us who believe in Jesus and in his promises of eternal life with him, suffering has gained a purpose, and appoints to the joy to come..