St. John Chrysostom
Lk 7: 11-17
Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.
When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!” This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Love Never Dies
Imagine yourself in the shoes of the woman in today’s Gospel. She has a lot to mourn. The loss of her husband, the loss of her only son, and along with that her own loss of security and livelihood. The world had to feel like it was closing in on her. What could she do now? What did she have to live for? Of course Jesus’ heart would be so moved for this woman who had lost everything. He saw her pain and felt it too. As a result he brings the man back to life.
Most of us may not experience anything like this scene, but we can know that Jesus does suffer with us, that he sees the pain and desires to bring all we love back to life. This is our faith, that we may live in hope for the resurrection, since love never dies.
—Alex Hale, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic from the Midwest Province studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.
Prayer
Now burn, new born to the world,
Doubled-naturèd name,
The heaven-flung, heart-fleshed, maiden-furled
Miracle-in-Mary-of-flame,
Mid-numbered He in three of the thunder-throne!
Not a dooms-day dazzle in his coming nor dark as he came;
Kind, but royally reclaiming his own;
A released shower, let flash to the shire, not a lightning of fire
Hard-hurled.
—Excerpt from “The Wreck of the Deutschland” by Gerald Manley Hopkins, SJ