Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • February 2, 2024 5 Compassionate Service 228-374-5650 Bradfordokeefe.com Patience of: As our lives unfold moment by moment, we experience joys, sorrows, and surprises, things we must deal with immediately and those we can put off for a time. In my most trying hardships and decisions, I have found that, at times, the God I so desperately long to hear from can be coldly silent, painfully unreachable, and mysteriously perplexing. Today’s first reading focuses on our kinsman Job, who has been where most of us do not want to go but, in varying degrees, find ourselves there anyway. The Book of Job introduces a protagonist who is living the good life. Job is God-fearing, happy, healthy, wealthy, pious, and blameless, and enjoys God’s protection and blessings. But suddenly, without warning, Job lost all his children, all his livestock and property, and suffers excruciating pain from severe boils that cover his entire body. As for pity, support, or consolation, Job’s wife, convinced that God inflicted this misfortune on him as punishment for some grave hidden sin, advises him to “Curse God and die.” Three of Job’s closest friends presumed the same and, in a long discourse, pressed him to confess his guilt and plead to God for mercy. Job’s problems have raised a question on many people’s minds throughout the ages: Why do bad things happen to good people? How many of us have struggled to understand God’s motives in the face of our broken experiences? Throughout the drama in the book, Job’s emotions range from humility, persistence, praise, and assurance to outrage and frustration as he proclaims his innocence and presses for divine vindication. This direct experience with God gradually leaves Job at peace with himself and God as he declares, “I know that my redeemer lives… whom I myself shall see…” (Job 19:25-27). I highly recommend reading the entire book of Job and allowing it to stir reflection on the value of suffering and why people of strong faith can experience momentary feelings of rejection on their way to redemption. Job’s Enlightenment: Job’s three statements at the end of the book (Job 42:2-5) invite added reflection. 1. Speaking to God, Job declares, “I know that you can do all ‘things.’” As people of faith, these or similar declarations may have easily and often flowed from our lips. But, when “bad things happen,” how do our attitudes or actions match the words? Do we think the worst and waver in our trust? Are we gripped by fear and worry? If God can do “all things,” why doesn’t He do our “thing” now -- the “thing” we need most from him? Keeping a daily journal will give us great insight into this dilemma. 2. “I have dealt with great ‘things’ that I do not understand.” Do you demand an explanation for everything uncomfortable that is happening in your life? Instead, can we allow that God knows more and cares enough to work everything out on our behalf? Will we exercise faith over doubt and trust over impatience? 3. “I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you.” God, for us, will only be “hear- say” or a reflection of another’s experience until or unless we, too, have emerged from a valley of tears to an intimate walk of assurance and trust with Him. We can “see” the Lord only with the eyes of a heart transformed. The Immediate Jesus The opening sentence in Mark’s gospel, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ (the Son of God)” (Mark 1:1), is more than an introductory title. It makes a definitive statement that Jesus is Lord and Messiah and challenges readers to question their own faith convictions about Him. While Matthew and Luke begin their Gospels with Jesus’s infancy, Mark introduces us to an adult Jesus and quickly draws us into the drama and mystery of Jesus’s active ministry. Jesus is about the business of restoring broken lives. Today’s gospel is a two-day glimpse of the activities of Jesus, the miracle worker. The evening before, he healed the sick and many possessed with demons. Early the next day, crowds of people came for more miracles, but Jesus was not there. So, Peter and the other disciples searched and found Him in a secluded place where He went to pray. Imagine their shock when Jesus insisted on moving on instead of returning to the house. He did not want His mission defined only by miracle-working but would reveal His true identity and nature as Lord and Messiah in the context of His entire life. This two-day snapshot of Jesus with Peter and the other apostles provides a lesson in discipleship for us. Jesus going to a deserted place to be refreshed in spirit through prayer and communing with the Father is vital to our ministry of discipleship, which relies on spending our time, talent, and treasure in service to others. Then, return to the Lord for a time of prayer and communion to be refreshed, refilled, and reenergized and to go back and repeat the process again and again. That is the rhythm of discipleship. Closing Remarks: You and I can proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Lord only when we accept His way of suffering -- His willingly yielding to powerlessness on the cross -- and finally his miraculous resurrection. Even in our own lives, restoration must often be preceded by a cross. The value in suffering is in uniting ourselves with Jesus and always being in His care and presence. Will our discipleship hinge on following Jesus on His terms, or will we insist on conforming Him to our standards of comfort, demands for quick healing, and the privilege of selective belief? Deacon Ralph Torrelli lives in Hattiesburg and is assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. Visit his web- site: www.homilypearls.com. First Reading: Job 7:1-4, 6-7 Responsorial Psalm: 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 Gospel: Mark 1:29-39 Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time God’s sovereignty Deacon Torrell i Sunday Scripture Commentaries Pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the Diocese of Biloxi by visiting www.invisiblemonastery.com