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Year B: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time First Reading: Job 7: 1-4,6-7
Job was a man under pressure. All that he had worked for - family - business - health - had been taken from him. He has reached the bottom.
Even thousands of years later, the story of Job echoes many of the feelings people have today. How many of us could use today’s reading to express how we feel as yet another Monday morning appears on the horizon? How often do we watch the clock - and wish the time away? How often do we lie awake in the dark - minds racing with worries - longing for the dawn to come?
In these days where working hours are increasing - where people often spend hours travelling to work - many people are asking - surely there must be more to life than this?
People feel that they have become wage-slaves - as Job observes: “the workman with no thought but his wages”. Job satisfaction seems to be lost as the pressures increase.
Then, at the end of the working life, what do we have to look back on. Time seems to have passed by so quickly - and yet we have accomplished so little.
Surely an example of the more things change - the more they stay the same.
So - how does the reading complement the Gospel... There we have Jesus busy - possibly overwhelmed by the demands on His time and energy: wall-to-wall people as some would say. And He gives freely. But He also ensures that He has time for Himself - away from the pressures - away from the crowds - a time to be still and to renew Himself before re-embarking on with His mission.
A deceptively simple solution to Job’s - and our - problem!
What does it mean for me?
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