The Bible is more like a library than a single book: there is a great variety of books contained in it. Hence, even though the ultimate author of the Bible is God, there are many humans authors. It is only to be expected, then, that these authors will express a great variety of viewpoints about many different topics, even such important topics as death and life. Indeed, even within the same book we can meet different responses to the same question.

In today's first reading, Job's attitude to life is characterized by a series of quite negative words: drudgery, hireling, slave, misery, lack of hope: "I shall not see happiness again". We would do an injustice to the writer and to God's revelation if we were to think that Job has nothing positive to say. Later on, we shall come upon his magnificent declaration of faith and its consequent hope: "I know that my redeemer lives and has stood upon the earth".

Perhaps Scripture is teaching us that our life can be quite a mixture of both darkness and light, and that we must strive to come to the light through the days of darkness that may come upon us. Inspired by the words of the responsorial Psalm, let us pray: