Tuesday of week 26 – Job 3:1-3,11-17,20-23; Ps 87:2-8; Luke 9:51-56

Lord my God, I call for help by day

I cry at night before you.

Let my prayer come into your presence. (Ps 87)

Going with the disciples on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus encounters a certain problem. He was not accepted at a Samaritan town where He planned to stay. The Samaritans often showed an aversion to Jews, especially those on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. James and John, known as ‘sons of thunder’, demanded retaliation, punishment for their inhospitality. However, Jesus forbade them. He showed an understanding for their inhospitality: He quietened the anger of the apostles and showed that it’s not always necessary to react with anger to opposition. It’s first worth calming down, being quiet, so as not to accidentally wound someone.

And I, when I encounter problems, if someone wounds me, I should first calm my bad emotions. How? That’s just what Job shows me – tell God about them in an attitude of confidence. Trusting in this: that these evil experiences may be necessary, so that I reach out my hands to Him. Job rebels in his misfortune but does not accuse God for what he has met. He expresses his feelings, his sadness, but he does not leave God. He regrets the loss of everything. Despite rebellion he does not sin, because he does not accuse God of misdeeds. Neither does he accuse those who have harmed him. How far away am I from such love . . . . but I want to . . .

Lord, let me be willing to put up with all the suffering, hardship, and pain that may come my way in serving You.