Gospel – Luke 7:11-17
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 of 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, crying out
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst, “
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.
Reflection on the Gospel
Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.
On this Sunday we are shown once again God’s tremendous power over sin and death. Sin and death are two things that we all have to deal with on earth. When our loved ones pass away and even as we get closer to our own death we may have moments of sadness or fear of the unknown, much like the mother in today’s gospel. We see the mother grieving and she was most likely in an extremely sad and lonely place. She was already a widow and her only son was now dead. In what appears to be a very dark moment in her life God chooses to do something incredible in it. Jesus looks at the mother, feels her sorrow, pain, and grief and performs a miracle by raising her son back to life. Miracles like these are very powerful because Jesus demonstrates power over sin and death. This should provide us all with hope in knowing that if we put our faith in Christ and live according to his word that we too will be raised to new life in heaven. When we place our trust and faith in God then death is no longer something to be fearful or anxious about.
Another key point to recognize in this gospel is the response the crowd makes after Jesus raises the son from the dead. They say in Luke 7:16, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst.” It is good the crowd has recognized that God has performed this miracle, but it appears from the outside that some of the people still question Jesus’ divinity. The crowd is there with the woman and they are mourning with her. Again from the outside it appears they could be without hope because they know that there is nothing that can do for the woman. We often find ourselves in the same circumstances when we try to do things on our own, and still experience failure and disappointment. Often pride comes in and we turn even further away from God’s will for our life. Feeling anger, fear, and abandonment. We cannot fall into the traps of pride and despair but rather we should allow God’s will to be revealed to us. Just like God’s will was revealed through Jesus’ miracle in the gospel. With this mindset of recognizing God’s presence in all things then we are able to truly exemplify our Lasallian charism. It is all about our daily call to prayer when we say, “Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.”
Therefore, from this gospel today we should hopefully be energized in our devotion and reliance on God. This should happen because we see the tremendous power Jesus has over everything including death itself. When we are compliant and actively seeking to do God’s will this power can be shown through us to others and bring them closer to Him. We have the luxury of knowing our Savior has already sacrificed himself for us so we can have eternal life with Him in heaven. This message of God’s presence cannot just be hidden in our hearts, we should to show it in our thoughts, words, and actions.
Mr. Kyle Goldcamp
Central Catholic HS – Pittsburgh, PA
Saint John Baptist de La Salle – Pray for us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts – Forever.