6 One day
when the angels came to report to GOD, Satan, who was the Designated Accuser,
came along with them. 7 GOD singled out Satan and said, "What have you
been up to?" Satan answered GOD, "Going here and there, checking
things out on earth." 8 GOD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my
friend Job? There's no one quite like him--honest and true to his word, totally
devoted to God and hating evil." 9 Satan retorted, "So do you think
Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? 10 Why, no one ever
had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens
to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does--he can't
lose! 11 "But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took
away everything that is his? He'd curse you right to your face, that's what."
12 GOD replied, "We'll see. Go ahead--do what you want with all that is
his. Just don't hurt him." Then Satan left the presence of GOD. 13
Sometime later, while Job's children were having one of their parties at the
home of the oldest son, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen
were plowing and the donkeys grazing in the field next to us 15 when Sabeans
attacked. They stole the animals and killed the field hands. I'm the only one
to get out alive and tell you what happened." 16 While he was still
talking, another messenger arrived and said, "Bolts of lightning struck
the sheep and the shepherds and fried them--burned them to a crisp. I'm the
only one to get out alive and tell you what happened." 17 While he was
still talking, another messenger arrived and said, "Chaldeans coming from
three directions raided the camels and massacred the camel drivers. I'm the
only one to get out alive and tell you what happened." 18 While he was
still talking, another messenger arrived and said, "Your children were having
a party at the home of the oldest brother 19 when a tornado swept in off the
desert and struck the house. It collapsed on the young people and they died.
I'm the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened." 20 Job got
to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell to the ground and
worshiped: 21 Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I'll return to the womb
of the earth. GOD gives, GOD takes. God's name be ever blessed. 22 Not once
through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame God.
Food for
thought!
Why do bad
things happen to good people? Why does evil exist? Did God ever create evil?
Why does God let evil be? Today's First Reading, and much of this week, will
try to answer these and similar questions.
Job was a
good man; he was a God-fearing person. The Reading says that «There is no one
like him on the earth: a sound and honest man who fears God and shuns evil».
Good and God-fearing as he was, Job
suffered evil: in a single day, he lost everything he owned, including his
family.
What would
you do, if it was you? What do you do when bad things happen to you? The
Reading says that «Not once through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame
God.» Why? Because Job did what many of us don't do when misfortune visit us.
«fell to the ground and worshiped: 21 Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked
I'll return to the womb of the earth. GOD gives, GOD takes. God's name be ever
blessed!’»
Job
worshipped God in his misfortune. Suffering did not take Job away from God, it
brought him closer. There is no better time to prove our loyalty to God as in
hard times. Hard times, suffering, problems should always bring out of us, not
the worst but the best of us. This way,
hard times become good times.
Something
else to note, is that although God can and does allow evil to exist, although
God can and does allow bad things to happen to good people, God still assures
our security. The Reading said that God said: «We'll see. Go ahead--do what you
want with all that is his. Just don't hurt him.» In other words, everything we
have can be taken away; every possession can be dispossessed, except one thing,
our being, our person. This is protected. All the rest is not. God said to
Satan, «Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!» our being, our
person is protected because God made it in his own image and likeness, as the
book of Genesis says: «God created human beings; he created them godlike,
Reflecting God's nature.» (Gen. 1:27).
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