Bishop Morlino: "During Lent, stop whining and listen to God more"

It’s hard to believe Lent is upon us again, but here it is! And though it might not always be our first response to that reality, I wish to say first, “thanks be to God for that!”

Thanks be to God who in His wisdom, expressed through the Sacred Tradition of His Church, has given us this time each year to focus intensely upon our lives and specifically upon that which remains unresolved in our conversion, and to seek repentance and renewal on the way to Calvary and to the Resurrection.

Reflection leads to gratitude

The readings of last week, and the First Reading (Jb 7:1-4, 6-7) in particular, provided a starting point in my own Lenten reflection. It’s a reflection about Job and about whining, and it’s a reflection that leads to gratitude, thus: thanks be to God!

Job, as we know from his story, had been a very wealthy man. He had everything. The devil made a bet with God, that if Job lost everything, he would also lose his faith. So, Job lost everything. And in Chapter 7, we come upon Job after he lost everything. What was Job doing in that reading? He was whining. Go back and read it if you don’t remember. (Job actually whines for about 20 chapters, so it’s hard to miss.)

That reading from the Book of Job is about whining. And that is a very important thing for us, no matter our situation (we don’t have to lose everything to feel like Job sometimes).

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