Weekly HOMILY for February 5, 2012: God and the Mystery of Suffering

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B
St. Mark Church, Fallston
February 5, 2012

God and the Mystery of Suffering
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


"I CAN HAVE COMPLAINTS"

There is a story that goes back to the 1970’s, when Communism still had its grip on Eastern Europe.

One day a man in Budapest went to the police station. He was seeking permission to emigrate to Western Europe.

The officer asked, “Aren’t you happy here, Comrade?” The Hungarian replied, “I have no complaints.”

Again the officer asked, “Perhaps you are dissatisfied with your work?” And again the man replied, “I have no complaints.”

The officer was insistent, so he asked once more, “Perhaps you are dissatisfied with your living conditions?” And once more the Hungarian quickly replied, “I have no complaints.”

Finally, the officer asked, “Comrade, if you have no complaints, then why do you want to go to the West?” to which the man replied, “Because there, I can have complaints.”


JOB'S AND OUR SUFFERINGS

That story is a helpful introduction to our first reading today.

This is a passage from the Book of Job – one of the best-known books of the Old Testament. The entire book is about a man named Job who is probably a lot like many of us.

Job has a pretty good job and is living comfortably. He and his wife are happily married and are blessed with many children.

But then Job’s life, as he knows it, falls apart. He loses his job and goes into bankruptcy. All his children are killed in an accident and his wife dies. Job himself contracts a chronic, painful disease.

Hopefully, we have not experienced all the sufferings that Job does, but the truth is that suffering does touch us all. Addiction, illness, or death; emotional, financial, marital or family problems – none of us is spared at least a couple of these.


JOB'S AND OUR COMPLAINT

In the midst of his suffering, Job is like that man in Budapest who has complaints. What is different, however, is that he can cry out and complain to God.

“Why? Why is this happening to me?” We, of course, may at times have the very same cry.

Being able to complain helps get our problems off our chest by giving what’s bothering us form and shape. Having it heard, we can evaluate for what it is.

In our first lesson we have two responses to the cries of human suffering: one from Job’s friends, a second from Job’s God.

When Job complains to his friends they tell him that his sufferings are in truth a sign that God (1) Is either testing him or (2) That God is punishing him.

Job, we hear, will not accept these traditional, pat explanations. He cannot believe that the good, loving God would will such evil either as a test or as a punishment.

And beyond that, Job knows in his heart that he has tried to be faithful to God and live a good life.

So what happens when he complains to God?

God does speak to Job and asks him two simple questions. (1) “Do you have the power that I have? And (2) Do you have the wisdom that I have?”

Job gets the point. He realizes that God’s power and wisdom far surpass his own.

What Job really “gets” is that God is a mystery, that human life is a mystery, and that suffering is a mystery. And with faith and trust in God’s power and wisdom, Job begins to accept his suffering as the mystery that it is.


A VALUABLE AND ESSENTIAL LESSON

This story of Job and his struggle is as alive for us today as it was when it was happening to him 500 years before the birth of Jesus.

For a long time, Job seeks understanding of his suffering (circle before you with finger) through reason (tap temple). He keeps asking “Why?” and he gets no satisfactory answer from his friends.

The change comes when God guides Job to seek understanding (circle before you with finger) through faith (point to heart) and not through reason (point to temple).

It is only then that Job gains some inner peace (circles with hands) by entrusting himself to the mystery of God’s power and mystery (hands opened and moved forward).


CONCLUSION

Understanding can rest on one of two foundations: the reasoning of others in my life or my faith in God.

The opportunity to complain opens us up to hear how God’s power and wisdom can act in our lives.

Job would encourage us to speak out our pain and heartbreak and then to hear God’s assurance to us.