Suffering must be taken seriously<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Jesus arrives in Nain<\/b> while the small village is experiencing a very sad event.\u00a0 Jesus is traveling, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd.\u00a0 A funeral cortege headed to the cemetery comes out of the village.\u00a0 A mother who is also a widow, accompanied by her neighbors, is on her way to bury her only son.\u00a0 In a few words, Luke has described to us the woman\u2019s tragic situation.\u00a0 She is a widow, without a husband to care for her and protect her in that male-dominated society.\u00a0 She was left with an only a son, but he too has just died.\u00a0 The woman says nothing.\u00a0 She just grieves tearfully.\u00a0 What will become of her?<\/p>\n
The meeting was unexpected.\u00a0 Jesus came to announce God\u2019s Good News in Naim also.\u00a0 How will she react?\u00a0 According to the account, \u201cthe Lord saw her, was moved with pity for her and said to her, \u2018Do not weep\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 It is hard to find a better description of the Prophet of God\u2019s compassion.<\/b><\/p>\n
He does not know the woman, but he looks at length at her.\u00a0 He thoroughly understands her sorrow and loneliness, and he is deeply moved.\u00a0 That woman\u2019s dejection reaches into the depths of his being.\u00a0 His reaction is immediate:\u00a0 \u201cDo not weep.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus cannot bear to see anyone cry.<\/b>\u00a0 He has to intervene.<\/p>\n
He does not think twice.\u00a0 He goes near the coffin, stops the funeral and says to the dead person:\u00a0 \u201cYoung man, I tell you, arise!\u201d\u00a0 When he sits up and begins to speak, Jesus \u201cgives him to his mother\u201d so that she may stop crying.<\/b>\u00a0 <\/b>They are together again.\u00a0 The mother will no longer be alone.<\/p>\n
Everything seems simple.\u00a0 The account does not dwell on the miraculous aspect of what Jesus has\u00a0 just done.\u00a0 It invites its readers to see in him God\u2019s self-revelation as the Mystery of compassion and the Power of life, capable of saving even from death.\u00a0 It is God\u2019s compassion that makes Jesus\u2019 so sensitive to the suffering of the people.<\/b><\/p>\n
In the Church, we have to recover compassion as soon as possible as the lifestyle that is the distinctive characteristic of Jesus\u2019 followers.\u00a0 We have to rescue it from a sentimental and moralizing notion that has brought it into disrepute.\u00a0 The compassion that demands justice is Jesus\u2019 great commandment:\u00a0 <\/b>\u201cBe merciful just as your Father is merciful.\u201d<\/p>\n
This compassion is necessary today more than ever.\u00a0 As the centers of power see it, everything is taken into account before the sufferings of victims are considered.<\/b>\u00a0 Everything is kept running as though there were no people hurting or losing.\u00a0 From the point of view of Jesus\u2019 communities, a cry of absolute indignation should be heard:\u00a0 the suffering of innocent people has to be taken seriously; it cannot be accepted by society as something normal since it is unacceptable to God.\u00a0 He does not want to see anyone crying.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Antonio Pagola<\/b><\/p>\n
June 9, 2013
\n10 Ordinary Time (C)
\nLuke 7, 11-17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"