From the responsorial psalm: “Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 7:11-17)
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.
As Jesus and the disciples and the large crowd that followed him approach the gates of the city called Nain, they see a man being carried out in a funeral. He was the only son of a widow. Moved with pity for the mother, Jesus touches the coffin and commands that the man rise, which bringing him back to life immediately. Jesus then gives the son to his mother. the people who witnessed this are terrified, and they glorify God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst.” The voice who says, Young man, arise” is the same who said: Let there be light. And there was light. “Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb?”
God, help me see in the compassion of Jesus and the truth of the Gospel that you are Lord of the living and not of the dead. Luke takes great care to describe the reaction of the crowd that witnessed Jesus bringing the dead man back to life. This is not a cleverly devised myth, but a witness of Jesus to the crowd that what he does for the young man, you do for him in his resurrection. Lord, give me the same fear and amazement the people experienced, as they exclaimed: “God has visited his people.” Saint Hildegard pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.