Eventide & Altar

The Book of Job ends with a sentence written for people your age. The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones. It does not say the later years were easier. It says they were blessed. The blessing came after the storm, after the silence, after Job had put his hand over his mouth and repented in dust and ashes.

You may not have expected a blessing at this stage. Most people expect the later years to be mostly loss, and they do bring loss. Yet the book claims that something can come to a person late that is richer than what came early. It came to Job in the form of children, a house, and years of quiet.

The last verse is plain. Job died, old and full of years. The book does not say he died successful or admired or right. It says he died full. That may be the most one can ask of a life, and the Church keeps it as a word for the elderly.

Between those two sentences the book gives Job one more gift. He saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren. It is one thing to be remembered by them. It is another to see them. If any of yours are near you, this reading asks you to look at them as Job did, as the blessing.

The Joyful Mysteries tonight, since it is Saturday. Offer the second mystery, the Visitation, for whoever came to see you when you most needed a visit.

• For the grace to receive the latter days as a blessing, we pray to the Lord.
• For everyone who is old and full of years, that they would know they are loved, we pray to the Lord.
• For all who have died, that they rest full of years in the presence of God, we pray to the Lord.

Write down the names of your children and grandchildren on one page. Read the page slowly once. Then say aloud, "Lord, I have seen them," and thank God for each name.