Compassion for a Widow

Homily for Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel from St. Luke, Jesus brings back to life the only son of a widow. He, in essence, saves the widow’s life as well as her son’s because she was on the verge of being without any source of support. The Greek word “widow” literally means “voiceless one.” With no husband and no son, she would’ve had no standing in the community, no source of income. So, by bringing her son back to life, Jesus gave her not only a source of livelihood, but a source of hope as well.

Many of Jesus’ miracles are tied to the faith of those who are healed. In the miracle immediately preceding today’s reading from Luke, Jesus healed the sick slave of a centurion – and lauded the centurion, a Gentile, for his faith. In today’s Gospel, Jesus initiates the action. He is filled with compassion. He isn’t asked to help. His pity moves him to raise the young man.

Jesus models behavior for us today that we can use in our lives; that is, being aware of what is happening around us and having compassion for those in need. Jesus tells us throughout the Gospels that we need to take care of our neighbors. We are to love one another. We also know that love is not a feeling, but an action. Sometimes it is tender love, sometimes it is tough love, often it is somewhere in the vast in-between. As long as our love for neighbor arises from our own faith, and our own desire to love as Christ loves, then we truly do “suffer with” the other, which is what “compassion” means.

Jesus raised the young man and gave both him and his mother “new life” in that moment. We, too, are given a new life in this moment. When we profess our faith in Jesus and when we gather in his name, he is with us with his healing power. As we prepare to receive him in this Blessed Sacrament, let us glorify God as the people of Nain did. God has visited his people.