Monday, June 10, 2013

Jesus, the Compassionate

"When (Jesus) saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, 'Do not weep.'"
Luke 7:13

As I meditated about our Sunday Gospel this weekend I had a thought. I wondered if, when Jesus encountered this widow-mother, whose only son had just died, if he thought of his own mother and his own forthcoming death. Widows, it was explained in several sources, had absolutely nothing in this society, if they did not have a man to take care of them. This widow needed her young son to provide for her, practically speaking, besides the fact that she loved him dearly. Mary was presumably a widow by the time Jesus started his adult ministry, so I just wondered if he glanced ahead in his own life and saw his own mother in the same situation as this widow. He raised her son and gave the son back to his mother, in a way foreshadowing his own rising from the dead and seeing his own mother. At any rate, we know that Jesus provided for his mother from the cross, with the last few words he said, "Woman, behold your son," and then to St. John, "Behold your mother." (John 19:26-27). Jesus, so full of compassion, help me to feel with Your heart, for all those who suffer. Love, heidi

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