From: Luke 7:11-17

The Son of the Widow in Nain Restored to Life

[11] Soon afterwards He (Jesus) went to a city called Nain, and His disciples and
a great crowd went with Him. [12] As He drew near to the gate of the city, behold,
a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she
was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. [13] And when the
Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” [14]
And He came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And He said,
“Young man, I say to you, arise.” [15] And the dead man sat up, and began to
speak. And He gave him to his mother. [16] Fear seized them all; and they glo-
rified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited
His people!” [17] And this report concerning Him spread through the whole of
Judea and all the surrounding country.

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Commentary:

11-17. “Jesus crosses paths again with a crowd of people. He could have
passed by or waited until they called Him. But He didn’t. He took the initiative,
because He was moved by a widow’s sorrow. She had just lost all she had, her
son.

“The evangelist explains that Jesus was moved. Perhaps He even showed signs
of it, as when Lazarus died. Christ was not, and is not, insensitive to the suffering
that stems from love. He is pained at seeing children separated from their parents.
He overcomes death so as to give life, to reunite those who love one another. But
at the same time, He requires that we first admit the pre-eminence of divine love,
which alone can inspire genuine Christian living.

“Christ knows He is surrounded by a crowd which will be awed by the miracle and
will tell the story all over the countryside. But He does not act artificially, merely to
create an effect. Quite simply He is touched by that woman’s suffering and cannot
but console her. So He goes up to her and says, `Do not weep.’ It is like saying,
`I don’t want to see you crying; I have come on earth to bring joy and peace.’ And
then comes the miracle, the sign of the power of Christ who is God. But first
came His compassion, an evident sign of the tenderness of the heart of Christ the
man” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 166).

15. This mother’s joy on being given back her son reminds us of the joy of our Mo-
ther the Church when her sinful children return to the life of grace. “The widowed
mother rejoiced at the raising of that young man,” St. Augustine comments. “Our
Mother the Church rejoices every day when people are raised again in spirit. The
young man had been dead physically; the latter, dead spiritually. The young man’s
death was mourned visibly; the death of the latter was invisible and unmourned.
He seeks them out Who knew them to be dead; only He can bring them back to
life” (”Sermon”, 98, 2).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading
1 Corinthians 12:12-14,27-31 ©

You together are Christ's body: each of you a different part

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them? Be ambitious for the higher gifts.

Responsorial Psalm	Psalm 99(100) ©