Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
September 17, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091724.cfm

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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 widowed mother.
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.
Luke 7:11-15

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In today’s Gospel, we read the deeply moving phrase, “… the only son of his widowed mother“. Reading it, we can feel that same pity Jesus felt as the small group of mourners passed him in the road.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We assess our own hearts to measure our Christ-like tenderness for those who are suffering – often, right before our distracted eyes. As Irene Zimmermann suggests in the poem below, in attending to these suffering people we also attend Christ.

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Poetry: First Born Sons and the Widow of Nain – Irene Zimmerman, OSF

Jesus halted on the road outside Nain
where a woman’s wailing drenched the air.
Out of the gates poured a somber procession
of dark-shawled women, hushed children,
young men bearing a litter that held
a body swathed in burial clothes,
and the woman, walking alone.

A widow then—another bundle
of begging rags at the city gates.
A bruised reed!

Her loud grief labored and churned in him till
“Halt!” he shouted.

The crowd, the woman, the dead man stopped.
Dust, raised by sandaled feet,
settled down again on the sandy road.
Insects waited in shocked silence.

He walked to the litter, grasped a dead hand.
“Young man,” he called
in a voice that shook the walls of Sheol,
“I command you, rise!”

The linens stirred.
Two firstborn sons from Nazareth and Nain
met, eye to eye.

He placed the pulsing hand into hers.
“Woman, behold your son,” he smiled.

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Music: Tender-Hearted – Jeanne Cotter

Be tender-hearted as you love one another
as I have loved you
And forgive one another with endless compassion
as I forgave you.

Clothe yourself with kindness,
patience, and humility.
Let the peace of Christ live in your hearts
and above all else, put on love.
And be tender hearted.

Be tender hearted as you live a life
worthy of your calling.
You are God’s work of art, holy temple.
The Spirit is at home in you.

Walk always as children of Light
Keep the flame of faith alive.
God’s love has been poured into your heart.
You are reborn by that love.

So be tender hearted
for you’ve put on a new self
hidden with Christ in God.
You are no longer stranger.
You’re one of the chosen
holy and beloved