“Job spoke, saying: Is not man's life on earth a drudgery? Are not his days those of hirelings? He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages. So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?" then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn…” (Job 7).
As we journey through these months of January, February and March, the quote from Henry David Thoreau comes to mind…“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” I can’t help but think of this as we strive to wait for spring in the midst of a cold, dreary, sunless Ohio. We are waiting for buds to spring forth in our world and in our hearts. Like most of us, I am affected by the lack of sun. But while we are tempted to live a life of waiting in these months, we need to stop waiting and start living! The book of Job encourages us to ask ourselves, What is causing my misery? What is causing my restlessness? What is troubling me? In the gospel, we see how people brought their troubles and problems to Jesus and He was able to do something about it. What a great invitation for us to stop holding onto our miseries and give them to Jesus!
The time is now to move from living a life of desperation and waiting to a life of true living! The song from Switchfoot called “Meant to Live” comes to mind. Here are some of the lyrics…
We were meant to live for so much more,
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside.
We want more than this world's got to offer.
We want more than the wars of our fathers.
And everything inside screams for second life.
The second life that we long for comes to us at Easter at the resurrection. Before that, as we approach Lent, we need to be truthful about our troubles, our miseries and our restlessness. Let’s do something about them this coming season of Lent. But most of all, give them to Jesus so we can truly start living life the way God wants us to live—beyond ourselves and into the MORE of faith, hope and charity!
Start living today!
Fr. Jeremy
P.S. Keep these dates free and open during Lent. God bless!
