{"id":7370,"date":"2015-02-14T16:11:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-14T16:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=7370"},"modified":"2015-02-14T16:11:23","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T16:11:23","slug":"5th-sunday-of-ordinary-time-08-02-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=7370","title":{"rendered":"5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (08.02.15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (08.02.15)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The readings in today\u2019s liturgy emphasise two important lessons \u2013<\/p>\n

Firstly<\/strong>, as we dwell on the story of that upright, blameless man, Job, and how his virtue was sorely put to the ultimate test by unspeakable suffering and loss, yet how he never lost his faith and hope and trust in God through it all….always accepting his lot with the words and sentiments therein :-<\/p>\n

\u201cthe Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.\u00a0 Blessed be the name of the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Is that how we feel or respond in the face of cruelty and unfair treatment of good people \u2013 or do we complain as did Job\u2019s friends and acquaintances exclaiming: –\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhy Job?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhat harm has he ever done anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n

When we or those we know and love have to suffer, do we ever think or say: – \u201cWhy me.. or him.. or her?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, it is natural and understandable to ask \u2013Why suffering!<\/p>\n

But let us look at how Jesus dealt with it during his life on earth, as He devoted his time to answering the plea of all who came to Him for healing –\u00a0 day and night,\u00a0 everywhere He went.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He continued His compassionate ministry throughout His life \u2013 following the will of His Father.\u00a0 That is why He had come.<\/p>\n

The questions of the suffering Job \u2013 and indeed of anyone else who cried out in endless anguish at their own or other\u2019s\u00a0 seemingly unjust plight –\u00a0 are not answered in the Gospel.
\nRemember, Jesus Himself did so during His Passion \u2013 \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me!\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, during His public life Jesus stays committed to caring for the sick and suffering without question.
\nThat is His witness, and that must be the enduring witness of His followers.<\/p>\n

This shines through when we hold fast to the truth that God loves us in our weakness and fragility, in our sickness and suffering… exemplified\u00a0 in the dedication of doctors, nurses, carers, hospital chaplains and all those who tend in any way to the suffering of others.\u00a0\u00a0 As Denis McBride puts it so aptly \u2013 \u201cThey are God\u2019s compassion in flesh, God\u2019s care in motion.\u00a0 No doubt all of them have reason to wonder, to protest, to be angry when they see the innocent\u00a0 suffer, but they carry on their good work.\u00a0 That is their enduring witness.\u00a0 Like Jesus, they know that this schedule of care must be kept.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Secondly<\/strong>, we are reminded that in addition to His busy daily schedule of travelling about – healing the sick, casting out devils, dealing with impatient apostles etc.\u00a0 Jesus always found time to \u201dgo off to a lonely place to pray\u201d!<\/p>\n

Why! Because even He could not live a life of feverish activity and self-giving without from time to time standing back from it and seeking strength in solitude and prayer.\u00a0 Here likes the secret of His successful ministry!<\/p>\n

As Mother Teresa said \u201cIf you want a lamp to keep burning, you must keep putting oil into it.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Whatever our role in life, we too need a lonely place in our busy lives \u2013 a breathing space… a chance to recover lost energy, physical, mental and spiritual… time to pray ….time to keep clearly in mind the main purpose of all this activity \u2013 to focus on the will of God, not our own will!<\/p>\n

Christ\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0 admonition is –\u00a0 \u201cWhen you pray, go to your room and pray to your Father in secret.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We should not imagine that this lonely place is necessarily a place far away, or that by \u201croom\u201d He means four walls separating us from others.\u00a0\u00a0 It is rather a place within ourselves \u2013 \u201croom\u201d in our innermost heart where we can be still and hear the still small voice of calm inspiring us to \u201clisten to Him<\/strong>\u201d!<\/p>\n

This room is within us at all times.\u00a0 We carry it around with us wherever we go… a place where we can retreat from time to time in order to find rest and spiritual recovery in the presence of the God of love who dwells within us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (08.02.15) The readings in today\u2019s liturgy emphasise two important lessons \u2013 Firstly, as we dwell on the story of that upright, blameless man, Job, and how his virtue was sorely put to the ultimate test … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7370"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7372,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370\/revisions\/7372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}