(Sunday sermon of October 9, 2011)
Raising of the Son of the Widow of Nain.
"And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep" (vs.12-13).
These few words, "Do not weep", encompass the whole purpose of Christ's coming to the world. Today's moving gospel reading from Luke 7:11-17 reminds us that Jesus came to wipe away our tears, to soften our pain, and to lighten the burden of life. One can only imagine how painful must have been the grief of the widow on her way to the cemetery to bury her only child - a son. St.Luke tells us that a "large crowd from the city was with her", but no matter how many people around her, she was now alone and aware only of her pain and grief. In the beautiful city of Nain in the region of Galilee, all she could see was two graves - that of her husband and now that of her only son. Now we might hastily think that this is simply the tragic story of one woman. But isn't it really everyone's story? Life can be beautiful for a while, but inevitably the day comes when it is no longer so. There is suffering; there is trouble; there is war; there is death. The result of all this is grief - an utterly painful experience that all of us must at some point in life come to terms with.
