Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 - Tuesday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 3:1-13 and Luke 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 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." [Luke]
The evangelist Luke presents this story along with the healing of the centurion's servant (yesterday's gospel) as examples of God's mercy and the coming of God's kingdom in the person of Jesus. The reaction of the crowd: "A great prophet has arisen in our midst," and "God has visited his people" recalls the words of Zechariah at the beginning of the Gospel According to Luke" "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people." Jesus, like Elijah, restores the son of a widow and "gives him to his mother." [1 Kings 17:17-24].
But there is another aspect worth recalling as well. Jesus himself would be the only son of a widow. The fate of a widow in biblical times, without a male relative to care for her, could be very difficult and vulnerable. "Widows and orphans" are often cited as the poorest of the poor in the bible. We know from the Gospel According to John [19:25-27] that Jesus, on the cross, committed his own mother to the care of the Beloved Disciple.
The dramatic examples of the healing of the centurion's servant and the restoration of life to the son of the widow of Nain should not blind us to the many examples of care that can be given and are given every day by faithful people who care for a neighbor in dire need. These are examples of God "visiting his people." Can we be one of those examples? AMEN