Blessed Be the Name of the Lord!

St. Joseph Church (Cottleville)
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
February 8, 2009 - 12:15 p.m.

Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Ps 147
1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23
Mk 1:29-39

Would you believe that in the first reading today you heard some of the oldest words in the Bible? Many scholars believe that Job is the oldest book of the entire Bible, probably written about 1500 years before Christ. Now, we don’t know for sure whether it is the oldest of all the books – that’s merely speculation – but it is certain that Job is a very intriguing figure.

Job, Scripture tells us, was a blameless and upright man (Job 1:1). He was very successful – married with ten children, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen; the list goes on and on. Now God was obviously quite pleased with Job, and it happened one day that He was kind of bragging to Satan about His faithful servant. Satan, on the other hand, was quite annoyed by Job, since he was such an upright man, and he said to the Lord, “Job isn’t that great of a man. Anyone who has so many material blessings would be just as faithful as him. Take that all away. Then you’ll see the true Job.” So God gave Satan permission to do anything he wanted other than take Job’s life. And so it happened, that one-by-one Satan began to destroy every good thing in Job’s life. First he lost all of his possessions. Then his children all died. Finally his own health began to give him trouble. The words we heard in today’s reading are spoken by Job to friends who come to visit him. They are an honest expression of the great pain the trial has caused him. And yet, through it all, Job refuses to turn his back on the Lord. He remains faithful, even when it seems that God has abandoned him completely. He says, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (1:21).

Now look at the contrast between Job and the people who come to Christ in today’s Gospel. Jesus is working mighty deeds of healing in Capernaum. St. Mark tells us that the whole town was gathered at the door of the house where He was staying. Now certainly it’s not wrong that people were coming to the Lord seeking the healing He offered. But the fact remains that the people weren’t’ coming to Christ out of love. They weren’t coming for Him. They were coming because they knew that they could get what they wanted from Him. They came not for Him but for what He could do for them. That’s very different from Job. He was faithful to the Lord even when everything in his life and even his best friends were telling him that God had abandoned him. He wasn’t concerned so much with what God could do for him. Instead, he had faith. He knew that he owed everything, even his very life, to God. And so he remained faithful, even when his faithfulness was greatly tried.

So the readings today give us an opportunity to ask ourselves where we stand – here and now – in our relationship with Christ. Are we like Job? Do we call ourselves Christians because our lives are totally centered upon Christ for who He is in Himself? Or are we more like the people who come to our Lord in the Gospel? Are we more concerned with what’s in it for us, with what Christ can do for us? Spiritual writers have written about this struggle for centuries. We have to reach a point in our spiritual lives, they say, where we are purified of our attachment to the favors and blessings the Lord pours upon us and fix ourselves totally on God Himself. The question we must ask ourselves is simple: Do I love the gifts of God? Or do I love God Himself?

This has a very practical implication for our attitude each week when we come here to the Mass. Mother Church tells us that the Mass has two primary ends or goals: first is to glorify God, second is to receive His grace that sanctifies us. The Mass is certainly the source of every grace we could ever need in our lives, but the Church tells us that if we’re coming here simply to get that grace, then our priorities are all wrong. We should be here first and foremost to give glory to God. In other words, it’s not about what I get out of Mass but what I put into Mass. Maybe I can’t stand the music. (Surely no one would say that about this music…) Maybe I hate the way the church looks. (Surely no one would say that about this church.) Maybe I’m tired of hearing that priest or that deacon ramble on in his homily. (Surely no one would say that about this deacon!) All of that is secondary. Our primary concern must be offering all of ourselves with Christ to God the Father. Think of that beautiful doxology, when the Precious Body and Blood of Christ are raised and the priest sings, “Through Him, with Him, in Him, all glory and honor is yours, Almighty Father, forever and ever.” We must come here first and foremost to pour out our lives to the Father, praising and glorifying Him – yes, for His wonderful gifts – but even more for who He is in Himself.

The story of Job didn’t end with all his misery. After he had been tested and proved faithful, Satan’s power over him was taken away, and God poured forth upon him more blessings than he knew even before he was tried. Scripture tells us that he lived another 140 years! He had ten more children, and – you can’t make this stuff up – his three daughters were the most beautiful in all the land! He received double the possessions and riches he had before! You see, if we get our priorities straight, we don’t have to worry about a thing. If we give our lives over to the praise of God, if we seek first the kingdom, everything else will be given us besides. If we come to this altar week after week and pour out our hearts completely in praise of God, offering everything we have and are out of love for Him, we are going to leave here having received more abundantly from His riches than we ever thought possible. We’re going to receive not progeny or riches, not health or good feelings. We’re going to receive something infinitely greater than those passing things. We’re going to receive nothing short of God Himself, dwelling in our hearts as a foretaste of eternal life with Him in heaven.

So wherever we find ourselves today – whether basking in God’s abundant gifts or suffering through great trial – let us offer fitting worship to glorify the Father. Through our participation in the Mass today, let us re-echo the words of Job: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”