Tenth Sunday of the Year
Luke 7: 11-17
Suffering has to be taken seriously
José Antonio Pagola
Jesus reaches Nain when the small town is experiencing a very sad event. He is on a tour of villages accompanied by his disciples and a great crowd of people. A funeral procession exits the village en route to the cemetery. The mother, a widow, accompanied by her neighbors, is on her way to the burial of her only son.
Luke has described for us the tragic situation of the woman in a few words. She is a widow, without a spouse to care for and protect her in that society controlled by men. She had an only son left to her, but even he has just died. The woman doesn’t say anything. She just weeps in sorrow. What will become of her?
The meeting was unexpected. Jesus was coming to Nain to proclaim the Good News of God. What will be their reaction? According to the account, “when the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said: “Don’t cry.” It is difficult to describe better the Prophet of the compassion of God.
He does not know the woman, but he looks at her carefully. He takes in her sorrow and loneliness and he is moved to the depths of his being. The misery of that woman touches him deeply. His reaction is immediate: “Do not cry.” Jesus cannot see anyone cry. He needs to do something.
He doesn’t think twice. He approaches the coffin, halts the funeral procession and says to the dead man: “ Young man, I say to you, get up!” When the young man joins the crowd and begins to speak, Jesus “gave him back to his mother,” so she will stop weeping. They are together again. The mother will no longer be alone.
It all seems so simple. The story does not play up the sensational aspect of what Jesus has just done. It asks readers to see in it the revelation of God as a mystery of compassion and a force for life, capable of saving even from death. It is the compassion of God that makes Jesus so sensitive to the suffering of people.
We have to recover in the Church as soon as possible, compassion as the way of life proper to followers of Jesus. We have to rescue it from a sentimental and moralizing conception which has brought it into disrepute. The compassion that justice requires is the great commandment of Jesus: “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.”
This compassion is more than ever necessary today. In the centers of power everything is looked after rather than the suffering of victims. Everything is run as if there were no sufferers and no losers. From the communities of Jesus a cry of absolute indignation must be heard: the suffering of innocent people has to be taken seriously; society cannot accept as normal what is unacceptable to God. He does not want to see anyone weep.
Spread the blessing of Jesus
0 comments:
Post a Comment