Job 1:21

How Greatness Is Revealed

For those who love God all things work together unto good (Rom 8:28). Job, a holy man, was tempted; he lost his sons and his daughters; his home fell into ruins; he lost everything he had; suddenly everything was gone. He was neither father nor lord; nothing remained sound in his body save his tongue with which he could blaspheme. See the tempter, the devil. From the sole of the foot, Scripture says, even to the top of his head he struck him with a very grievous ulcer (Jb 2:7), that is, with leprosy. From the ulcer, vermin spread over his entire body, and disease and putrefaction. Only his tongue the devil left untouched that he might be able to blaspheme his God.

In all these things Job sinned not by his lips (Jb 1:22). Just realize the magnitude of the temptation; reflect upon the magnitude of the virtue. Ponder well and comprehend how the saying of the apostle has been fulfilled: For those who love God all things work together unto good. When Job lost all his wealth, when he lost his sons, everything seemed to militate against him, but since he loved the Lord, the evils that befell him worked together for his good. The vermin of his body were preparing him for the crown of heaven. Before the time he was tempted, God had never spoken to him; after he had been tempted, however, God comes to him and speaks familiarly with him, as a friend with his friend. Let calamity strike, let every kind of disaster fall, as long as after the catastrophe, Christ comes.

-Saint Jerome