5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Discouragement is a normal part of a faithful life.

How resonant are Job’s words for you today? For different times during this pandemic? As Job goes through a season of loss and suffering and waiting, he laments the length of the nights, his weariness, his fear that this suffering will never end. This passage has been provided to us in Scripture as a balm to our weary souls. The Psalm proclaims that God heals the long suffering of the broken-hearted. The Christian community proclaims the resurrection but only after standing at the foot of the cross to witness the suffering of Jesus, our suffering. The promise of healing is intertwined with the knowledge that we are suffering and in despair. Healing comes with time. We have hope in the coming healing only when we acknowledge that Jesus is with us especially in our suffering.

Loving Lord, you have walked with Job through loss and pain, and you have walked the pain of your own suffering and fear at Gethsemane. Be with us as we wait in hurt for your healing. Help us to trust the pain that will eventually deliver your healing. Amen.

Taken form CCCB – Reflection