13-Sep-16

Gospel LK 7:11-17

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst,”
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.
Reflection:
Today's gospel shows us the very nature of Jesus.
Seeing the widow woman) whose only son had died, "He was moved with pity and said to her, 'Do not weep.'"
Jesus' great compassion compelled Him to act.
"He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother."
Upon seeing Jesus raise the young man from death, "Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst..."
When Jesus walked the streets of a town, He engaged people one on one, up close and personal.
Nowadays, we regularly hear of people close to home, and elsewhere in the world, being killed in the hundreds and sometimes thousands.
My heart is not seized by fear at the power of Jesus to raise the dead. I fear that my my heart may become deadened to the suffering being endured by those who I do not know, those whom I cannot see or touch.
To keep my heart tender, like the heart of Jesus, I, too, must "go into the streets."

Like Jesus, I must come face to face with those who suffer and let my heart be rendered.
By "feeling" their pain, our hearts will be moved with pity.
Then, like Jesus with the widowed mother who lost her son, we will be compelled to act.
For it is when those who love God "act' to help those who suffer that people will believe that "God has visited his people."
"It is a Kingly act to assist the fallen." - - Mother Teresa