A complementary post on this Sunday's readings

I still don't wish to post anything self-pitying taking our reading from Job (see Job 7:1-7) as my launching point. As I was preparing for Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B of the Sunday Lectionary), I was deeply moved by Dismissal of Catechumens I found in Liturgical Training Publications's wonderful resource- indispensable for me- Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons, and Weekdays.

With few modifications, I used it for the Dismissal for the Catechumens of Saint Olaf Parish at our 9:00 AM Mass tomorrow:

We’re all familiar to some extent with Job’s experience of drudgery, restless nights, days that seem to pass without meaning or hope.

Job Rebuked by His Friends, by William Blake, 18th century

Christ is God’s promise of joy, peace, and the fulfillment of all our hope. Seek him in the Scriptures and let them reveal to you how is already present in your lives. We pray that he will bring you to union with us around the table of his word and body.

Go in Christ’s peace

Given the stunning connection between our reading from the Book of Job and the Gospel of Mark this Sunday, I pray for some beautiful homilies; preaching that conveys the healing and wholeness Christ wants so desperately to impart. His desire to heal us was so great that not only did he die, he rose from the dead.

As Pope Benedict XVI so beautifully stated it at the end of his first Easter Urbi et Orbi message in 2006: Christus resurrexit, quia Deus caritas est! Alleluia!

These two posts, taken together, give you an idea of where I would go homiletically were I preaching this week.