"We all know the power of the word: it is said that the tongue can calm a storm or ignite a forest. Imagine the effect the Word of God can have on us: the difference is that if we allow it, the Word of God always lifts us towards heaven. God does not impose Himself upon us; it is we who must invite Him with our words and deeds to enlighten our lives with His Word. This Sunday, the reading carries a truly special message.
Today's first reading is from the Book of Job: a beautiful and very powerful book in the Old Testament. The sacred author, inspired by God, writes a parable about Job. This means that the story of Job itself is not true; it is a parable, but through it, the author teaches us a very important lesson for our lives. Job is presented to us as a very wealthy man who fears God. Once, Satan comes before God, and God says to him, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him in the world, a perfect and upright man, who fears God and shuns evil.' But Satan, being the father of lies, says to God, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.' And the Lord said to Satan, 'Very well, then, everything he has is in your power.' After this, Satan took away everything Job had, all his wealth, even his children were lost, and finally, he was struck with a severe skin disease. In all this, Job remained faithful to God: 'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.'
After all this, his wife said to him, 'Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!' [Job 2:10] But he replied, 'You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?' Then three of his friends came to him, and when they saw his condition, they began to weep. However, according to the mentality of the Jews at that time, all this was a sign that God was punishing him for some sin he had committed, so they insisted that he must confess his sins. Job remained firm, insisting that he had committed no sin. We note here the two greatest temptations with which Satan tempts and torments us when we are suffering: 1) God does not love you, otherwise, He would not allow all this to happen to you, and 2) God is punishing you for your sins. Just as Job did not give in to these temptations, neither should we.
Job, however, began to break his head trying to understand why all this was happening, that accursed question that torments us in moments of suffering. Finally, God appeared to him and helped him understand that there are moments in life we cannot presume to understand: how can you ever understand God? Here enters the first reading of today; 'Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb...' This all means that although we are intelligent beings, compared to God, the creator of heaven and earth, we are nothing, we cannot presume to understand everything? At the end of this book, we find that Job regained more than before. Obviously, this book does not contain the wisdom of the Gospel of Jesus, and we can say that the story of Job continues in that of Jesus because it is through Jesus that God reveals to us the mystery of suffering or of the cross.
In today’s gospel, we see that during the storm, Jesus was sleeping, as we often feel during the storms of life. However, we note that the apostles had great faith in Him so that they woke Him when they began to fear they would drown; unfortunately, many people today have lost faith in God and therefore face the storms of life willing to risk drowning rather than waking the Lord. The second point is the power of Jesus before the storm so that the apostles were amazed; how peaceful we live if we trust ourselves in the hands of the Lord and keep in mind that, although sometimes we feel like we are losing control over our lives, if we trust in Him, He never loses control.
We ask ourselves: How do I behave in moments of suffering? How vigilant am I against the temptations of Satan trying to sow doubt in me about the love of God? How ready am I to accept in suffering that God still and always loves me, even though I cannot understand this with my mind?
We pray to You, Lord, that when we feel burdened by the cross in life, we remain convinced that You are in the boat and will not leave us alone: help us so that we never lose the deep conviction that You love us, even when we feel the weight of the cross, because we remain convinced that You are carrying it with us and for us. Amen."
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