01 October. Saturday, Week 26
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. memorial
1st Reading: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
After Job repents of his complaining, he is blessed more than before
Then Job answered the Lord:
“I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. And Job died, old and full of days.
Gospel: Luke 10:17-24
Jesus rejoices in the graces reserved for the humble of heart
The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”; He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
What’s there to be glad about?
It baffles us when a person as good as Job must “repent in dust and ashes”. But he was humbled by the mystery of God’s overpowering presence. He had presumed to question God, as though he, Job, were a divine colleague, but now he disowns his words and repents in dust and ashes. The conclusion to the Book of Job is a strong call to just this kind of humility before God. If we follow Job’s example, we will be blessed like him.
Our gospel allows us a rare glimpse into the deepest of all mysteries, the prayer of Jesus himself. The Evangelists, especially Luke, frequently enough speak of Jesus at prayer, but seldom offer more than a reverent silence around such moments. Here he speaks his prayer aloud, overcome by a hidden power. Rejoicing in the Holy Spirit, he thanks the Father that “what you have hidden from the learned and the clever, you have revealed to merest children.” We can only hope to remain so grateful in the midst of any success we may achieve, even in our teaching of religion.
A job well done
When we do a job well we are generally quite pleased with ourselves and we are happy to talk about it with others. In this morning’s gospel, the disciples were very pleased after a successful period of mission and they couldn’t wait to share their success with Jesus. Full of joy, they said to Jesus, ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ Yet, Jesus immediately deflected their focus from the success of their mission to something even more important. They should really be rejoicing not so much in the success of their mission but in the fact that their names are written in heaven. It is their relationship with God and the future it promises that is the real source of joy.
That source applies to all of us. There will come a time when we won’t have the energy or the health to achieve a great deal. Our energy-level and the work we are able to do can diminish at any stage of our lives. However what remains constant is God’s relationship with us and our relationship with God, and all it promises. We can always rejoice in that wonderful gift, even when all else fails. Jesus says to us what he says to his disciples in today’s gospel, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see.’ The Son has chosen to reveal his Father to us, and to draw us into his own relationship with God the Father. That is something to rejoice in not only for what it gives us in the present but also for what it promised beyond this life. [Fr Martin Hogan. See his new book: Know the Love of Christ — weekday homily reflections for 2017]