I’ve been preaching for quite a few years now, but there are still many questions that I have, such as why certain readings are grouped together on a given Sunday. Normally there is a readily apparent connection between the first reading and the Gospel but not always-at least not for me. For the longest time now I can remember struggling over how “Job’s lament” (as we can characterize today’s First Reading) relates to the Gospel passage which begins with Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. But I do think that I have finally found a connection. I think that perhaps what we have in today’s Gospel is an answer to Job’s lament. Job cried out for who Jesus is and what He provides. Jesus came into the world and provided healing and the warmth of God’s love to all who sought it, beginning with Peter’s mother-in-law. And what did He soon find out? That there were countless Jobs lamenting in the area of Capernaum who were desperate for His healing touch. Jesus found that the world was full of Jobs and He realized that He yearned to minister to all of them. He also quickly realized that He had no time to waste. If there were so many “Jobs” in Capernaum, how many must there be beyond its borders? So, even though every body was looking for Him He had to steal way from the crowds to spend time with His Father so that He might reach out to all the other lamenting Jobs. So that’s where we come in. The readings on a given Sunday are of course meant to connect to us. We meditate and reflect as to how the readings are connected to each other and ask for the grace to discern a message that is meant for us as a community of faith and as individuals. Today, we read Job’s lament and then reflect upon the many Jobs that encountered Jesus in today’s Gospel and to whom Jesus yearned to minister in the future, and then maybe, just maybe we can realize that perhaps as Jesus was praying and when Peter found Him, He was thinking about, praying for and yearning to reach out to us. You see when it comes right down to it, just as Job’s lament is aimed ultimately at Jesus, Jesus always yearns to minister to Job and Job is us.