The One Who Is Least
Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!" In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God. Job 1:20-22
An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." Luke 9:46-48
Piety
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
My Spirit rejoices in God my Savior
For He has looked with favor on His lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
The Almighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His Name.
For He has looked with favor on His lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
The Almighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His Name.
Study
Who among us has been tested as much or as deeply as Job? Job’s story is an “exquisite dramatic treatment of the problem of the suffering of the innocent.” Yet, despite Satan’s best efforts to have Job betray the Lord, God’s confidence in his servant Job is not in vain. Job’s reaction to multiple tragedies of loss does not result in a lack of faith in God. With nothing to his name, Job was powerless, penny-less, and poor in spirit. He lost everything yet still blesses God for the gifts he was offered.
The child whom Jesus holds up as an example in his lesson has as many possessions to his or her name as Job has left. Nothing. Yet, Jesus holds up the powerless, the poor, and the weakest among us as equivalent to Himself.
“Looking with favor on his lowly servant” is a theme we encounter throughout Luke’s writing. The theme is set up early on in the Canticle of Mary:
He has shown the strength of His arm,
He has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
And has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
And has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
If Job has not lived 500-700 years earlier, he would have truly identified with the humility of Jesus and Mary.
Action
Today’s Memorial to Saint Thérèse reminds us that Pope John Paul II proclaimed her Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II. She is only the third woman to be so proclaimed, after Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa of Avila.
St. Thérèse wrote once, 'You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them."
Job. Mary. St. Thérèse. Let these lead us through life as examples of humility and love in action.
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