Saint Bruno, Priest (Optional Memorial)
I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. (Job 42:5)
Today’s first reading tells the timeless story of a righteous man questioning why bad things happen to good people. Job’s loss of his family members, his belongings, and his health seemed like a punishment from heaven, but he knew he was innocent. Even his friends suspected that he must have done something to deserve such a punishment.
Finally, after hours of arguments between Job and his friends, God intervenes. He doesn’t reprimand Job for any sins he may have committed—no, he rebukes him for failing to recognize that sometimes God’s plans are just plain beyond our understanding. God didn’t explain why Job had suffered. Instead, he reminded Job that only God knows the “whys” of life. Cut to the heart, Job recognized how small and limited his understanding was. “I disown what I have said,” he confessed, “and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).
Like Job, we can wonder why life doesn’t go as it should. Troubling events can shake us to the core. A child is diagnosed with a life-altering disability. A spouse becomes unemployed. A friend betrays us. Did we do something wrong to deserve these afflictions? But through Job, God reminds us that he is not the source of suffering and hardship—even if he sometimes uses it to teach and form his children. And while many questions remain unanswered, the story proves that God loves us and is worthy of our trust.
We don’t always see the full reward of our trust in this life, and we won’t always understand why. Sometimes we have to trust God and believe that our reward is waiting for us in heaven. This isn’t always easy to do, but there are ways we can build our trust over time.
One way is to acknowledge our disappointment and bring our questions to the Lord. Then use stories like Job’s to help you find his answers. Another way is to practice gratitude. Count aloud your blessings, and see if your perspective changes. Or perhaps you need to talk with someone who can help you remember God’s love for you.
Yes, life can be hard and painful at times. But one thing is true: our God, whose ways are mysterious, is worthy of our trust.
“Father, I choose to trust you today.”
Psalm 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130
Luke 10:17-24
Hermas (2nd century)
The Shepherd, 10th precept (SC 53)
"Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit." "You have received the seal of the Holy Spirit: do not grieve him" (Lk 10:21; Eph 4:30) When an indecisive man fails in some business or other, sadness fills his soul, grieving the Holy Spirit and casting it out… Drive away sadness from your heart, then, and do not quench the Holy Spirit who dwells in you (I Thes 5:19) lest he summon you before God about it and abandon you. For the Holy Spirit, placed in your flesh, cannot bear either sadness or care.
Put on gladness and take your delight in it. This is what gives pleasure to God; this is what he favourably accepts. For a joyful man acts and thinks aright and treads sadness underfoot. The sad man, on the other hand, is always doing wrong . In the first place he does wrong by grieving the Holy Spirit who has been given to man in joy; then, he acts impiously by not praying to the Lord and praising him. For the prayer of a sad man has no strength to rise to the altar of God… As vinegar mixed with wine causes it to lose its taste, so sadness mixed with the Holy Spirit weakens the efficacy of prayer. So purify your heart from this pernicious sadness and you will live for God, as will all those who have stripped away sadness and clothed themselves with joy.