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| “The Triumph of Virtue over Vice” by Paolo Veronese, 1554-56 |
Readings and
Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 1 Kings 17:17-24
Elijah went to Zarephath of Sidon to the house of a widow.
The son of the mistress of the house fell sick,
and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped
breathing.
So she said to Elijah,
“Why have you done this to me, O man of God?
Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt
and to kill my son?”
Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.”
Taking him from her lap, he carried the son to the upper
room
where he was staying, and put him on his bed.
Elijah called out to the LORD:
“O LORD, my God,
will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying
by killing her son?”
Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times
and called out to the LORD:
“O LORD, my God,
let the life breath return to the body of this child.”
The LORD heard the prayer of Elijah;
the life breath returned to the child’s body and he revived.
Taking the child, Elijah brought him down into the house
from the upper room and gave him to his mother.
Elijah said to her, “See! Your son is alive.”
The woman replied to Elijah,
“Now indeed I know that you are a man of God.
The word of the LORD comes truly from your mouth.”
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Commentary on 1 Kgs 17:17-24
The story of the raising of the widow of Zarephath’s son
stands as a second major proof of Elijah’s status as a great prophet (the first
being the rescue of this same widow and her son from famine by causing their
food to be extended –see 1
Kings 17:10-16, parallel to the
miracle of the loaves). When the widow’s
son dies, she believes it is a punishment from God, as these types of events
were understood at the time. She blames
the presence of Elijah, focusing attention on the presence of the Prophet.
Elijah takes this opportunity to demonstrate God’s mercy and
consolation. He prays (the first of his
prayers to God CCC 2583)
three times over the boy. We note the
significance of this numeric reference, which according to Hebrew numerology
would have indicated his most earnest prayer to the Father. In response to this prayer, God restores life
to the boy. For her part the widow
provides validation to Elijah saying ““Now
indeed I know that you are a man of God. The word of the LORD comes truly from
your mouth.”
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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have
rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you,
Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you,
Lord, for you have rescued me.
Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper.
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you,
Lord, for you have rescued me.
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Commentary on Ps 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
Psalm 30 is an individual hymn of praise. In this selection
we find the singer praising God for deliverance. In the second part others are
asked to join in the hymn and then a return to thanks and praise in the final
strophe. The image of the resurrection is clearly evident I the first strophe,
“O Lord, you brought me up from the
netherworld; you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.”
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Reading 2: Galatians 1:11-19
I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I
taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.
But when God, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,
I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem
to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen
days.
But I did not see any other of the apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.
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Commentary on Gal 1:11-19
St. Paul continues the defense of
his authority, challenged by other evangelists who came after him to the
churches of Galatia. The apostle begins this passage with a short history about
his own formation in Judaism. He goes further relating how he was once the
inquisitor assigned to persecute the Christians on behalf of the Sanhedrin in
Jerusalem (recall it was young Saul who authorized the stoning of St. Stephen,
see Acts 7:58 – 8:3).
St. Paul importantly mentions “when
he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace”
a clear reference to his parents presenting him at the temple and dedicating
him according to Prophetic Tradition. God’s action in setting him apart he
links directly to Jesus the Son of God.
St. Paul goes on to describe his
early ministry where he was directed by Jesus in his call without consultation
to the Apostles in Jerusalem whom he only met briefly after three years. The
time frame mentioned here is likely imprecise but underscores St. Paul’s
“Gospel” as being authorized and approved by St. Peter.
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Gospel: Luke 7:11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
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.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst, ”
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.
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Commentary on Lk 7:11-17
St. Luke’s Gospel continues the
description of Jesus ministry. Just prior to this event, Jesus healed the
Centurion’s servant. He now demonstrates his power over sin and death as he
raises the widow’s son from the dead. “Jesus' power over death prepares for his
reply to John's disciples in Luke 7:22: "the dead are raised." This resuscitation in
alluding to the Prophet Elijah's resurrection of the only son of a widow of
Zarephath (1 Kings
17:8-24) leads to the reaction of the crowd:
"A great prophet has arisen in our midst"[4]
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Reflection:
Today more than in any time in recent memory, our faith is
being challenged. It is challenged by
the secular media which has elected to establish moral relativism (that is the idea
that what may be moral for some is not dependent upon any base line moral
code). Our faith is being challenged by
radical Islam across the globe with violence being carried out or attempted on
virtually every continent of the Globe.
It is even being challenged in the United States by our own government, whose
representatives have chosen to ignore the deep and abiding faith that guided
our founding fathers in favor of a social order bereft of any semblance of
Christian values and morals.
Into this vast array of challenges and persecutions comes a
reminder from sacred scripture that we are called to believe in one who came
into the world that we might find light in the darkness and who would lead us
to life from death. We hear two stories
today that operate in parallel; the first from the First Book of Kings and the
second from St. Luke’s Gospel. In the
first, Elijah, the great prophet of the Hebrew peoples, prays for the life of
the son of a widow to whom he was sent by God.
There is no doubt that the people of that time thought Elijah had raised
the woman’s dead son back to life. There
may even be those in our time who have not considered what truly happened. But as we see, God answers Elijah’s prayer
restoring life to one thought dead. Only
the God who is the author of life has this power.
In the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus is in roughly the same
situation. While he is not staying with a widow as Elijah was, he encounters
one whose only son has died. In Jesus’
case, because he is also in essence God, needs only call out to the dead
son. The author of life again gives life
where death had removed it.
The stories of God’s desire for life should give us great
hope. We have placed out trust in Jesus
Christ. Raising the widow’s son is a
reminder of the great power and love he has for his people and we need to put
all our trust in him. Does that mean,
when we are faced with immoral acts offered by the media, the government or
other groups who profess hate rather than love, we should just drop to our
knees in prayer? No, God gave us gifts
to combat these forces. He gave us
intellect to understand and resources; spiritual, material, and mental to be
used to bring his Kingdom to earth.
We are reminded once more of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s great
quote: “We must pray as if it is all up to God, but work as if it is all up to
us.” Our faith is not meant to be
passive; each of us is called to do all we can to promote love of God and love
of each other. We are reminded daily of
how difficult and unpopular that may be.
Today we are reminded once more that we are not alone in our struggle
and the one who works with us can literally raise the dead.
Pax
[2]
The Picture is “The Triumph of Virtue over Vice” by Paolo Veronese, 1554-56
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB footnote on Luke 7:11ff
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