The Widow of Nain

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

The story we hear today in the Gospel is particular to St. Luke's Gospel as it does not appear in any of the other three Gospels. This is the second widow who appears in St. Luke's Gospel, the first being Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She appears in the second chapter as the child Jesus is presented in the Temple. We know that Luke was a Gentile and that he writes for the Gentile Christian community. Yet he includes these two Jewish widows as an example of how the Jewish Law has failed these women.

Two people had "died" in the episode we read from chapter seven of the Gospel. The young man who is being carried to his tomb is physically dead. However, the childless widow is also "dead" in that she will be reduced to the status of a beggar with no resources because she has outlived her son. Any wealth that he had accumulated will revert to his oldest male relative who had no legal responsibility to care for the widow. She, like Anna, will spend the rest of her days begging, perhaps outside the Temple as so many widows did.

By restoring the young man's life, Jesus takes pity on the weeping woman who is following her son to the grave. Once again, St. Luke highlights God's compassion as it was shown in the life and ministry of Jesus. While care for widows and orphans was considered part of the Law, it was like many laws which legislatures pass today – an unfunded mandate. The followers of Jesus must follow in his footsteps.