Life in this earthly existence can sometimes be filled with drudgery, perhaps even misery, as the prophet Job tells us in our first reading. It can sometimes seem like there is no way out of difficult circumstances, and so we even descend into despair. This is not exactly an upbeat way of beginning this discussion of our readings this Sunday, but the reality is that life can be hard, and it is not typically lived in the carefree and grandiose fashion that the media often portrays as the norm. This illusion that we have grown accustomed to, particularly in this country, is a falsehood.

Job spoke of the limited number of days that we have on this earth, and how swiftly they pass by. He spoke of the restlessness that he felt, and how sometimes he felt like a man without hope. Given what we know he endured, some of these sentiments are rather understandable. Job may have heard some of the prophecies about the coming messiah, but he did not have the knowledge of Him that we do, and that is a fundamental, and frankly mindset altering difference. We who are followers of Jesus Christ, know of the hope that is to be found in him, even when times are hard.

In our Gospel today we hear of how Jesus went about healing not only the mother-in-law of Simon, but also those even in the nearby villages. He healed those who were ill in body, and in spirit. He brought hope to those who had been without it. He labored because he loved. Everyone was looking for him like sheep who seek the voice of the shepherd that they know is their refuge of safety and hope. This is the same hope that we carry today, so that when life becomes hard, we too have that hope to sustain us. Our Lord will always bring about in us the healing of our spirit in the time that He knows to be best for us. However, He does not always heal every physical infirmity that comes in this life. This is certainly not because of a lack of caring, but because it is a reality of our earthly existence since this is not where we truly belong. Yet, this harsh reality is not without purpose. Our infirmities can be a binding force between us and others who are suffering on the journey with us, so that we can band together and draw solace from one another as we share the path of suffering in this imperfect existence. This is one of the ways in which we are to function as parts of the body of Christ – to uphold one another as sinews that sometimes share affliction and the intimacy that can come only from that shared experience. In this way we can hold one another up as we journey toward our intended life with our God.