Overview:

The Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

A Reflection for the Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

“Should he come near me, I see him not;
should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” (Jb 9:11-12)

Find today’s readings here.

A year and a half ago, our podcast team created “The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.,” which many of you have listened to. (Thank you!) One interesting feature of each episode is our audience question, which we solicit and then put to Father Jim and his guest. We want the show to address very practical questions about God, faith and the spiritual life. What better way to do that than to tackle the real questions of our listeners.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most common question topic is about suffering: Why do we suffer? How do we explain inexplicable suffering? What does our suffering mean?

In the Catholic lectionary this week, we read sections of the Book of Job, a penetrating reflection on unjust suffering from the Judeo-Christian tradition. We’re all familiar with the basic story: A successful and upright man, Job’s prosperous life is turned on its head when he experiences a series of crushing life events. He loses his children and his property, becomes physically ill and falls into a depressive state. He acknowledges God’s great and mysterious ways (our first reading today), but, unsatisfied, he demands an accounting from God.

God eventually answers, but not in a rational or immediately satisfying way. God asks Job, “Where were you when I founded the earth?” In other words, “Who do you think you are? Why do you, a finite creature, feel entitled to understand the mysteries of the cosmos?”

Job accepts God’s response in humility: “I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.” And, in the end, Job’s health, wellbeing and progeny are restored.

Job’s struggle is ultimately an internal one: Can I truly be humble in the face of what I don’t understand? Can I let go of my egotistical, rational and entitled perspective? It’s not just a question of unjust suffering. It’s a question at the heart of all spiritual wisdom, including the cross.

God’s response to Job remains controversial. The question of suffering has endured and preoccupies many of us, including our podcast audience. What does it mean to be humble when everything seems to be going wrong. Why does it feel, at times, like the universe has turned against us?

There is some consolation in solidarity. Job’s struggle is our perennial struggle. That’s why the book’s unknown author wrote it down. And, 2,500 years later, new and intriguing points of connection and solidarity are emerging. 

Recently I read an article by theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli, in which he acknowledges that “reality is more complex than we expected,” and explains that physics today, which he calls “the most objective among the sciences,” is revealing that objectivity and knowability are far more illusive than post-Enlightment rationality presumed. Science, he says, “offers an enormous body of knowledge that is effective and, in many domains, far better than all the alternatives, but it gives us no absolute certainty, no ultimate story, no Truth with a capital ‘T.’”

He concludes that this insight—this truth with a small “t”—“could help us become a bit less arrogant, a bit humbler and wiser.” I can’t help but think that, looking up at the vast cosmos in completely different epochs and with completely different life experiences and epistemologies, Professor Rovelli and Job have tapped into the same mystery.

Sebastian Gomes is America's executive editor of audio and video.