Fr. Altier: Keep your eyes on God in times of despair

"In the midst of his suffering, he took his eyes off of God and put them on himself."

Fr. Altier on EWTN (EWTN/YouTube).

Fr. Robert Altier of the Church of St. Raphael in Crystal, Minnesota, reflected on the trials of Job, an “extraordinarily devout man,” in a homily Sunday.

“In the midst of all of the sufferings, we hear Job today talk about how man’s life on earth is a drudgery. And, at the end of the reading, he goes even further. He says, ‘I will never experience happiness again,'” Altier began.

“In the midst of his suffering, he took his eyes off of God and put them on himself, which is normal for us to do. And he despaired,” he added.

Job’s experience, said Altier, is particularly relevant right now because there are “lots of people who are despairing, who are depressed, who are discouraged, who are down.”

“In the midst of all of this, we have to look to heaven. It is absolutely essential for us,” he said. “Learn from Job. As devout as he was, when he took his eyes off of God, he crashed.”

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Alpha News Staff