FIFTH ORDINARY SUNDAY
(Job 7:1-4.6-7; I Corinthians 9:16-19.22-23; Mark 1:29-39)
The book of Job has attracted attention for millennia. Its
fame is so extensive that people who never read the Bible know its main
character. Having “the patience of Job” marks an individual as a person who has
suffered fools without complaint. Job endures the loss of his fortune, his
children, and his health without knowing why. His friends tell him that he must
have done something unjust. But Job knows that he has always treated everyone
well.
Today's reading gives a glimpse of Job's suffering. It
mentions three kinds of suffering people: the soldier, who has to fight to
support himself; the day laborer, who waits until the end of the day to receive
a meager salary; and the slave, who at the end of the day only receives the
shadows that allow him to rest. Job's life has proven worse than these. He
cannot rest at night because his sores cause him to toss and turn while he
tries to sleep.
Job represents all humans who suffer; that is, all men and
women. In his apostolic letter Salvifici doloris Pope Saint John Paul II
reflects on suffering. He says that along with physical pain, there is “pain of
the soul,” which is also burdensome, but more complicated and less understood.
Examples of this second type of suffering include maladies as diverse as the
death of one's own children, the unfaithfulness of friends, and the remorse of
one's own conscience. In each case, John Paul says, suffering provokes the
question: why do I have to suffer?
Saint John Paul along with Saint Paul says that it is human
sin that causes suffering. In other words, suffering is the punishment due to
human guilt for sin. However, he recognizes that it is not true that an
individual's suffering is a consequence of his own fault. Sometimes, we suffer
even though we have not done anything wrong. However, this suffering can
benefit us as an opportunity to reconsider our lives in the face of the
greatness of God.
God's goodness goes beyond giving us a lesson. Saint John Paul says that out of love for humanity
God sent his own Son into the world to free humans from evil. Jesus delivers people
from evil by curing the sick, feeding multitudes, casting out demons, teaching,
and even raising the dead. But there is an evil even more pernicious than these
which Jesus also addresses. This is the “definitive evil,” the loss of eternal
life. Jesus achieves victory over this evil by embracing death on the cross
although he was free from all guilt. God the Father could forgive all men and
women by seeing us in communion with his Son.
It is not that Jesus Christ eliminated all human suffering nor
that he rescued humans from all forms of death. However, through his
resurrection from the dead he has brightened our lives with hope. We can be
sure that by following his teachings we will reach life without pain -- eternal
life. But this is not all that Jesus has won for us. Saint John Paul teaches
that Christ's death on the cross has redeemed suffering itself. Suffering is no
longer just an evil that we have to endure because we share in human guilt. Now
it is the means by which we participate with Christ in salvation. That is, by
our acceptance of suffering with patience and faith we share in the salvation of
other people.
In the gospel today we see Jesus defeating evil by curing
diseases and expelling demons. It becomes difficult when he cannot rest because
of the number of people seeking his help. But this is only a prelude to the
suffering that he will endure to free us from evil. Demons are not incapable.
Rejected by Jesus, they are going to conspire to do him in. They will have him
nailed to the cross. But with a love stronger than death Jesus will vanquish
them again. By following him, we too will be victorious over evil.
