10 th Sunday of Ordinary time, year ’C’

"Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. Now when he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her.

When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her ’Don’t cry.’ "

Jesus makes progress in his Mission, in his relationships with his people and with his disciples. He works marvels. He makes manifest something of his own person, of his vocation, his being, of the newness he is bringing.

When encountering a widow whose only son has just died, he opens himself up to a situation which is an extreme one.

He has pity on this woman. What she is going through will be similar to what his mother Mary will one day have to go through.

She reveals Death, this reality which paralyses each one of us, breaking up our capacity for action, making us to come to a standstill, unable to move.

On seeing this woman, Jesus says to her : ’Don’t cry’..

There is this happy crowd of friends around Jesus but there is also this considerable crowd of people who are expressing their pain and sorrow. Death is once again present in the life of this woman who had already experienced the death of her own husband.

In our own lives we are permanently in a positon between these two realities, this crowd walking along with Jesus, happy because Jesus is there, and then ’another big crowd’ in the world, very unhappy!

Jesus is there , present in these two crowds of people, and with Him we live in faith, hope and love!

“Then Jesus went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still and Jesus aid ’Young man, I tell you : get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”

Jesus is present in the life of this widow, open to what is there before him, he doesn’t slip away but feels what is going on.

What he asks first of all of this mother is not to let herself be submerged, not to let herself to sink down into distress, into an empty dark hole of nothingness.

Jesus gives out an order to those who carry the dead man and then to the dead man himself : ’Young man, I order you to get up.’ The dead man gets up. The whole crowd is overcome. All those who were weeping are now part of one crowd around Jesus, who has given life back to this man. And the same goes for us!

We too can be paralysed by sickness or nailed to a wheelchair and at the same time if Jesus is present, within us we can be standing up! But we can also be standing physically and already ’dead’ physically by a an inner death that undermines us altogether! This Love of Jesus that rises up in us and is continually offered to us so we can take on ordeals life presents to us.

"They were all filled with awe and glorified God saying ’A great prophet has risen up amongst us; God has visited his people.

And the view of him spread throughout Judea and all over the countryside."

The dead man is given back to life, back to his mother, this is a great sign. But it is just a sign that one can pass through death and that death can be overcome. Jesus has to be the first one to pass through death in order to kill death.

Mary knows too the ordeal of passing through this, so as to be able to bear our own deaths. But this sign unites the two crowds into one people, a good news spreads further again ’in the whole Judea and in the neighbouring country’.

This gospel passage reveals how in the darkness of our hearts and in the darkness of the world there is now hope! We walk in faith with Jesus, the Gift of the Living God.

Entering into hope means to believe in the new love that dwells within us and is asking only to grow. The storm of our lives is not far off, darkness is already here, it is cold and there are plenty of ordeals but Jesus is here with us, alive. This widow whose only son comes back to life has us contemplate Mary whose only Son Jesus wen through death. This crowd is humanity progressively moving towards the Risen Lord Jesus.

10 th Sunday of Ordinary time, year ’C’

“Jesus went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ’Young man, I tell you ; get up.’”

1 R.17,17-24 Ps.29 Ga.1,11-19 Lk.7,11-17

"Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. Now when he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her.

When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her ’Don’t cry.’ "

Jesus makes progress in his Mission, in his relationships with his people and with his disciples. He works marvels. He makes manifest something of his own person, of his vocation, his being, of the newness he is bringing.

When encountering a widow whose only son has just died, he opens himself up to a situation which is an extreme one.

He has pity on this woman. What she is going through will be similar to what his mother Mary will one day have to go through.

She reveals Death, this reality which paralyses each one of us, breaking up our capacity for action, making us to come to a standstill, unable to move.

On seeing this woman, Jesus says to her : ’Don’t cry’..

There is this happy crowd of friends around Jesus but there is also this considerable crowd of people who are expressing their pain and sorrow. Death is once again present in the life of this woman who had already experienced the death of her own husband.

In our own lives we are permanently in a positon between these two realities, this crowd walking along with Jesus, happy because Jesus is there, and then ’another big crowd’ in the world, very unhappy!

Jesus is there , present in these two crowds of people, and with Him we live in faith, hope and love!

“Then Jesus went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still and Jesus aid ’Young man, I tell you : get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”

Jesus is present in the life of this widow, open to what is there before him, he doesn’t slip away but feels what is going on.

What he asks first of all of this mother is not to let herself be submerged, not to let herself to sink down into distress, into an empty dark hole of nothingness.

Jesus gives out an order to those who carry the dead man and then to the dead man himself : ’Young man, I order you to get up.’ The dead man gets up. The whole crowd is overcome. All those who were weeping are now part of one crowd around Jesus, who has given life back to this man. And the same goes for us!

We too can be paralysed by sickness or nailed to a wheelchair and at the same time if Jesus is present, within us we can be standing up! But we can also be standing physically and already ’dead’ physically by a an inner death that undermines us altogether! This Love of Jesus that rises up in us and is continually offered to us so we can take on ordeals life presents to us.

"They were all filled with awe and glorified God saying ’A great prophet has risen up amongst us; God has visited his people.

And the view of him spread throughout Judea and all over the countryside."

The dead man is given back to life, back to his mother, this is a great sign. But it is just a sign that one can pass through death and that death can be overcome. Jesus has to be the first one to pass through death in order to kill death.

Mary knows too the ordeal of passing through this, so as to be able to bear our own deaths. But this sign unites the two crowds into one people, a good news spreads further again ’in the whole Judea and in the neighbouring country’.

This gospel passage reveals how in the darkness of our hearts and in the darkness of the world there is now hope! We walk in faith with Jesus, the Gift of the Living God.

Entering into hope means to believe in the new love that dwells within us and is asking only to grow. The storm of our lives is not far off, darkness is already here, it is cold and there are plenty of ordeals but Jesus is here with us, alive. This widow whose only son comes back to life has us contemplate Mary whose only Son Jesus wen through death. This crowd is humanity progressively moving towards the Risen Lord Jesus.

We ask for the grace to be standing up because the Living lord Jesus is here in our midst.