Job is that familiar character in the Bible known for the immense suffering he endured: losing his children, possessions and good health. He had to face the worst tragedies life can bring, and yet remain hopeful. Job rightly refused to believe that he deserved any of these horrible realities due to his sinfulness. And he made is frustrations known to God. 

What kind of a God would perposefully cause a child to die to “get back” at a parent for their own indiscretions? This past week I encountered two families who had to bury a child in their early 20’s. Horrible. The God revealed by Jesus weeps with these families. God does not intervene to prevent suffering and illness, a great mystery for every human being. But if God intervened for one innocent person, why stop intervening for every human being suffering?

We endure the painful realities of life not understanding why they happen, but living through the suffering they cause. The Cross is the ultimate symbol, not of death,  but of the triumph of life. Resurrection always has the final word.  Through patient endurance you will find life, so the Scriptures say. Through patient endurance,  Job discovered new life: a new home, new children and  a new family. And the children he lost…he would encounter as he breathed his last, alive and well. 

Peace. Fr. Frank