The gospel that we have today is one of the most beautiful and touching miracle stories of Jesus. A closer and careful attention to the details of the story will unfold to us a God who is truly interested in what we are going through regardless of our situation. The story began telling us that Jesus was entering the town called Nain. The name Nain, in Hebrew, literally means “pleasant or green pastures”; the town was probably called such because it overlooks the green plains of Esdraelon and the Valley of Jezreel. It is a town in Galilee southwest of Nazareth and Mt. Tabor. But listening to the story in the gospel, there was nothing pleasant in what Jesus was witnessing as he entered this town — picture in your mind what Jesus encountered as he entered this city.
He was met with a heartbreaking funeral procession of a young man, the age was not mentioned, but probably he was in the prime of his youth when he died. And leading the procession was the mother of this young man whom Luke described in the gospel as a widow, and the young man who died was her only son. This description by Luke is very telling of what the gospel writer wants to convey to us — he wants us to understand that look: this woman was at the very bottom of her life. She had not only lost her husband whom she was dependent for all her needs during the time of Jesus, but now she had lost her only son, her only hope and source of support and strength. We know that during the time of Jesus, widows were considered to be one of the marginalized groups in Jewish society because they were utterly dependent on the mercy and compassion of other people to survive, especially if they had no children. This is exactly the case of this woman in the gospel today — she had no one else in her life whom she could rely on. No
wonder that as soon as Jesus knew her situation, we were told that Jesus was moved to pity. It’s interesting that the word used here literally means in Greek “to be moved from the guts” — there could be no stronger word for sympathy than what was used in this story. Jesus understood the real situation of this woman.
It must have startled and taken people aback when Jesus went in front of the procession, physically halted it, and pronounced these powerful words, “Young man, I tell you arise.” Just picture yourself being in that scene, possibly as one of the pallbearers. I would be seized with fear as well just like what they felt as described by Luke.
Death has many categories aside from physical death – that is, the permanent separation from our loved ones; we also speak of spiritual death when it comes to our spiritual life. One may be physically healthy, possessing a very sound body, but spiritually and interiorly deteriorating inside. This is especially true when one becomes enslaved to sin or to a particular vice that is detrimental, not only to our spiritual life, but also to our significant relationships. Anything that hinders us to fully grow in our relationship with God, anything that stunts the full blossoming of our relationships especially within the vocation that God has entrusted, could be lethal to our spiritual and emotional well-being. This is especially true with the different kinds of addictions that take away our focus and energy from the vital and important areas of our personal and spiritual life. Is there anything that I am particularly struggling with right now that could potentially threaten my marriage, jeopardize my job, or could put myself in a precarious situation or give a death sentence to those important things that I hold so dear in my heart? One must especially take a careful look at the quality or healthiness of our significant relationships because it is in those places that God is asking us to pursue personal holiness; if those relationships are barely alive, if those relationships are in “ICU”, then we need to revaluate what went wrong and how those things can be corrected because, in the end, God wants us to encounter him and manifest his love by strengthening those bonds especially within our families. It’s not surprising then to see how Jesus gave to the widow her son who was raised to life — it’s a re-establishment of a very intimate and personal bond.
Each of us have probably already found ourselves in a kind of “coffin” in one form or another just like the young man in the gospel today — it could be in our marriage or work; it could be a problem with self-worth, struggles with addictions, etc. In those places that we find ourselves in the tomb – dead and lifeless, whatever it is – people who have dearly loved must have mourned and grieved tremendously for whatever loss or grave difficulty that we have found ourselves. I know of a mother who for years has been bombarding heaven for help, grieving as she saw her son drowning in drug addiction and never gave up on him until he recovered from such turmoil. Whatever coffin one has entered
himself or herself into – coffin of unforgiveness, pride, arrogance, marital abuse, lack of self-worth, etc., Christ is telling us the same powerful words in the gospel, “Young man, I tell you, arise.” Arise from those things that hold us back to truly enjoy the indwelling of the Spirit within us; arise from those chains and tombs that for years have imprisoned us to become the best person that God wants us to be. No more mourning, no more weeping, just like Jesus told the widow; it’s time to experience the joy of being truly called God’s own, God’s children. I tell you, Arise!
In this bulletin, you will see some of the pictures from last week’s Corpus Christi Procession in the streets of Beaverton. It was truly a blessed event, starting with the Votive Mass for the Holy Eucharist on Saturday morning followed by the procession. There were more than 700 people who joined us in the procession. It was a powerful witness to the faith, but also a humble privilege to bring Christ to the center of our city. The same Jesus who walked two thousand years ago in this world, “walked” in the streets of Beaverton that morning. As many of you can attest, it took months of preparation and coordination to make this celebration possible. There were so many people who were involved in the process, but I want to express my profoundest gratitude to the planning committee for this event: Mary Rigert, Scott Petersen, Jeff Petersen, Jeff Flaig, Lucien and Josie Fundak, Kari Fields, John Malek and Marie Barzen. Aside from the core team, special thanks to our Legion of Mary and Neocatechumenate communities for setting the beautiful altars at the Veteran’s Park and at the Beaverton Library grounds. We also extend our special gratitude to the Knights of Columbus, who helped us financially in making this event possible and for serving as the “crowd control”, ensuring that everyone was safe. The procession was very orderly and peaceful because of the assistance of our Beaverton police—we are truly grateful for their support. The reception after the procession was coordinated by our Parish Events Coordinator, Michelle Hallett with the support of ever-dependable and generous volunteers Patti and Bob Burke,
Patricia King-Hanson, and Elizabeth Hernandez — we thank them for their wonderful service. Our gratitude also goes to our photographer, Lynne Herndon, and to our videographer, Mark Gallant — they did a terrific job capturing the special moments of this event. I am sure there are still so many people to thank — may the good Lord, who sees every action and good deed, continue to bestow on you his wondrous blessings. It’s inspiring to work side by side with these faith-filled people! – Fr. Cary