On Job: Reflections of an Accomplished Sinner on the Suffering of the Just originated as chapter by chapter reflections on the Book of Job, while the author’s father was dying in a distant state. It was written and is intended to be read as an encouragement to the medieval tradition of lectio divina—one of the regular forms of monastic prayer—which begins with the reading of the sacred text, usually aloud (the lectio), followed by meditatio—a consideration of some of the important words, images, and occurrences therein. Being a scholar himself, Dr. Fendt turned to several of the more exacting scholars to “divine” more precisely how the original language was working. This led to his here recorded meditatio (meditation) and oratio (prayer), leaving it to the reader to join with his and her own oratio and contemplatio on each of the chapters of Job. It is offered as an invitation to a very old prayer, going on under the busy-ness of the world for nearly as long as its busy-ness has been recorded.
Praise
“In On Job, Gene Fendt patiently, gently, and creatively invites readers to engage the text of the Book of Job by use of the venerable monastic practice of meditative reading of scripture known as lectio divina.”—PHILIP J. ROSSI, S.J., Professor of Theology emeritus, Marquette University
“Gene Fendt sits at the feet of Job and patiently traces its lessons on the justice of God and of man, innocence, happiness, guilt, suffering, the wildness
of sin, the paradoxes of wealth and poverty, the hard road to discovering the one thing needful. His commentary sparkles with insights that bring Job alive as a work of philosophical wisdom and spiritual challenge for all seekers and believers.”—PETER KWASNIEWSKI, author of Bound by Truth: Authority, Obedience, Tradition, and the Common Good
“Gene Fendt is an incisive guide to the bright secret of God that Job reveals ‘like light seen for an instant through the crack of a closed door.’ He allows us to see the secret brightness behind the mystery of suffering. He allows us to peer through the crack of the closed door, and even prises the door open a little, revealing the light within.”—JOSEPH PEARCE, author of The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful
