Revealed to the Childlike

Revealed to the Childlike

Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Then Job died, old and full of years. Job 42:17

Lord, let your face shine on me. Psalm 119:135

At that very moment, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."  Luke 10:21-22

Piety

Ut In Omnibus Glorificetur Deus (UIOG) — “So that in all things may God be glorified.” (1 Peter 4:11)

The St. Benedict Medal Prayer:  May the intercession of the Blessed Patriarch and Abbot Benedict render Thee merciful unto us, O Lord, that what our own unworthiness cannot obtain, we may receive through his powerful patronage. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Study

After all that Job has been through, he ends up a changed man – stronger in faith now than when he lost all.  Job has total faith in God and renounces and repents for any doubts he may have had.  Despite the extreme tests and losses, he experienced in life, we see again Job the steadfast, Job the stable. Perhaps he is really the perfect bookend symbol for our age in partnership with the reformer St. Francis. Because after his life experience, Job’s final speech reflects the words he has heard from the Lord.

I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore, I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.

Job had affirmed a hope to “see” (three times) his vindicator. Now he has seen the Lord about whom he had heard so much.  The childlike Job has seen the kinds of sorrows and joys that Jesus refers to…he was a precursor to the disciples in his tests and his fortitude – in some ways for more emblematic of the cardinal virtues than Peter.

Action

As we go through our trials, can we maintain the hope of Psalm 119 and ask the Lord to shine on us in good times and in bad times?  In all things good and bad, may God be glorified.