Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 17, 2013 - Tuesday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 3:1-13 and Luke 7:11-17]"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."
Every morning, in the Liturgy of the Hours at Morning Prayer, the churh proclaims the "Canticle of Zechariah," from the "infancy narrative" of the Gospel of Luke. The opening lines of the canticle are: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited his people and set them free!" Jesus has visited the Widow of Nain and has set her son free from the bonds of death. He has also acted like the prophet Elijah who also raised the son of a widow to life, and, just as with the Widow of Nain, "gave him to his mother." The reaction of the crowd echoes the words of the canticle and the prophetic tradition: "God has visited his people..." and "A great prophet has arisen in our midst."
This scene is an example of the "tender mercy" which is also mentioned in the canticle. The Widow has lost everything in the death of her son who would be her closest male relative. In the Middle Eastern society of Jesus' time [and perhaps now], she would become nearly destitute. [Consider the position of Mary on the death of Jesus and how the apostle, John, is commissioned to care for her. John 19:26-27].
This miracle follows the healing of the centurion's servant [yesterday] and together with it we are told that God's mercy is universal and tender. Jesus is the Lord of life and all may come to him. Indeed, he may act even when not directly asked. The Widow of Nain did not know him. Tomorrow we will remember this when John the Baptist asks, "Are you the one who is to come ?" I think we know the answer already! AMEN