February 4, 2009
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Breaking Open the Word By James Cavanagh Feb. 8: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Scripture readings: Overview: Hope in the midst of pain. The book of Job is among the oldest writings in the Bible, and one of the most sublime. It is a dramatic poem dealing with the problem of human suffering and divine justice. At the end of the book Job’s questions are left unanswered, indicating that man’s finite mind cannot even begin to fathom God’s purpose. But Job’s question about the meaning of suffering is answered … by Christ. This week’s first reading expresses the anguish and fear that so many people today feel. Life for many seems painful, pointless and without hope. But Christ came to cast out the demons of despair and the fever of fear and worry. The problem of suffering is not a riddle to be solved, but an invitation to a relationship with Jesus Christ. In the second reading St. Paul says that he is obligated to preach the Gospel, “so that all may have a share in it.” Like a fireman going into a burning building crowded with people, Paul is obligated to preach the Gospel “to save at least some.” The Gospel is above all a message of hope. Key verse: “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come” (Mk 1:38). “Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus’ preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. It affords us joy even under trial: “Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation.” Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire” (1819-1820). Pope Benedict XVI: “‘You must not grieve as others do who have no hope’ (1 Th 4:13). Here we see as a distinguishing mark of Christians the fact that they have a future: it is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness. Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life” (“Spes Salvi,” 2). Application: Whether you’re in the pulpit or the pew, everyone has an obligation to communicate the good news of hope. Not in a facile or superficial way that ignores the real anxieties and fears that people face, but joyously, confidently and with a certain sense of urgency. Life is short and the salvation of souls is at stake. |
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