October 3, 2026 // Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17

Reflect on the Word // 

I finished telling the priest all the things I thought were going wrong and how much I didn’t understand what God was doing. He replied with a truth so simple and yet so profound that it altered how I viewed prayer: God can handle my emotions. I can approach Him at the altar with confidence and ask Him from the depths of my confusion and frustration, What is going on, Lord? 

As I considered these words, I recalled the story of Job. Job lost his wealth and livelihood, grieved the sudden death of his ten children, suffered from physical ailments, and lost the emotional support from his wife and friends. Yet, in today’s First Reading we hear Job say, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand” (Job 42:2-3).  

With deep faith, Job approached God with confidence and boldness. He entered into a dialogue with God, unafraid to ask questions, authentically sharing what he felt. He didn’t pretend to be okay but rather allowed God into the reality of his heart. Ultimately, God restored him and brought healing. In His faithfulness, God “blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones” (Job 42:10).

Job thought his life was over. He experienced profound tragedies, ones that perhaps we can see elements of in our own lives, but there is no suffering, ailment, or calamity on this earth that cannot be lifted at the command of Jesus. We believe in a God with the power to part the sea, make the mountains move, and even make the permanence of death crumble before Him. 

Wherever you are in your life right now, carrying the weight of your own crosses, I implore you to take heart. “Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5).  May we, like Job, never fear to approach God with confidence and boldness, assured of His presence and His faithfulness, and invite Him into the realities of our own hearts.

Relate to the Lord // Take time today to think and journal about the “tragedies” in your own life. Ask the Lord to give you enduring faith like Job.