“And it came to pass afterwards, that he went into a city that is called Naim; and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her: Weep not. And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it, stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to thee, arise. And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all: and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen up among us: and, God hath visited his people. And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the country round about.”
Luke 7:11
Above is the Gospel passage for today, the 2nd Sunday in this month of Our Lady of Sorrows. Do you notice anything? This account of one of Our Lord’s miracles of raising the dead, foreshadows the Passion and the Resurrection. Mary was a widow at the foot of the Cross, which is why Jesus gave her to Saint John, to be cared for by him. Her Son was crucified, but raised after 3 days! She never lost hope, trusting that this was part of God’s great plan for the redemption of the human race.
Our celebrant at the Tridentine Mass in Glen Cove, New York, brought light to this scripture. He mentioned that the crowd would have been astonished by Our Lord touching a dead body, as this was considered unclean. He drew the parallel to us when we are in a state of sin. Christ reaches out to us in our misery, to lead us to the sacrament of Penance and the great peace that follows. It is a bathing of the soul. We are all that young man, given back to our Holy Mother Church, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
Another point Fr. Daniel made, was that once you are forgiven, it is time to become a witness. As soon as the boy was raised, he spoke. How important this is in our own time, as the world has forgotten all that is good and Godly. Let us courageously speak of the love and mercy of the Most Holy Trinity to all the world and transform the face of the earth!